oh. fuck.

[burntcopper]

Landlord called last weekend to say he had to increase the rent due to his mortgages. contract's coming up for renewal.

Just had the email from him with how much he wants to increase it to.

I currently pay £400/month, not including bills and council tax. The bigger two rooms (two small, two big - there's 4 of us) pay 450.

So that's £1700/month in total.

He wants to increase it to £2400.

Which is... FUCK. At the very least £550 for the smaller rooms. For an okay-ish council flat with not wonderful furnishings/kitchen/bathroom and a lounge. I don't know who he thinks is going to pay that much. I doubt any of us can afford that. Has he seen the rest of the inhabitants of this place? It's council flats. Families on not very high wages. Students. Lots of immigrant families. (and by this I mean a lot of the parents don't speak much english but the kids do) Who the hell does he think that can afford those prices is going to choose to live there?

And... oh fuck. I don't know where I can find anything within my price range near work. (work being off goodge street, zone 1) It needs to be near-ish work, zone 2, due to transport fees (and stress levels). I need a bloody lounge. There's nothing on gumtree whatsoever.

FUCK.

Comments

[flatlanddan.livejournal.com]

Damn.

Surely they have to give you a couple of months notice if they are changing things??? How long before your contract runs out???

[derryderrydown.livejournal.com]

Fucking hell! A FORTY PERCENT increase? That's absolutely ridiculous!

[jamjar.livejournal.com]

South of the river might be better. Gumtree has some doubles up off Old Kent road, near E&C for £115pw, which includes bills and broadband/wireless, or around Camberwell Green (Zone 2, walking distance but not right close to Oval, close to Burgess Park, good for buses) for £100 (all bills included) with some pretty nice sounding facilities: http://www.gumtree.com/london/04/10587104.html

[alysscarlet.livejournal.com]

Maybe he's just flying a kite to see if you WILL pay that much. If you're prepared to play brinksmanship, and move if you have to, you may be able to negotiate him down, just so he'll keep the 4 of you in situ. He'll be in a much worse situation if the flat sits empty.

Good luck. :-(

[cidercupcakes.livejournal.com]

What the fuck. *hugs and sends good flat-finding vibes your way*

[burntcopper.livejournal.com]

contract ends mid-august, hence why he's informing us now. We're writing him a letter laughing at how he thinks he's going to get anyone; apparently he once tried to put the smaller rooms (shoebox is generous) up to 450 but no-one gave any offers so he had to take it down.

[burntcopper.livejournal.com]

as we are telling him...

[burntcopper.livejournal.com]

apparently he once tried to put the smaller rooms up to 450, and no-one was willing to pay that much for a shoebox - they stood empty for months. we're writing him a letter laughing at him.

And looking over the tenancy agreement and going 'hmm' over the 'must be in original condition you found it' clause. :cracks knuckles: time to re-lay the dingy carpet, remove all tiles from the bathroom walls...