HaX

Hello All, A quick update to the situation: I had several followup E-mails asking me to agree to the renewal and rent increase. I ignored them up until last week, when the Letting Agent tried to phone me while I was on holiday in Norway. I ignored the call but followed up with an E-mail advising that I would be staying, but without accepting a rent increase. They subsequently responded to my E-mail asking me to reconsider, saying "We have been liaising with your landlord on this, but a rent increase is requested as part of the renewal" (judging by the wording, I suspect the LL has not been involved). According to their lettings, the current rental is below market value. I responded back to them, stating that I would not be willing to consider a rent increase. This has apparently being fed back to my landlord. It's been over a week since I last communicated with them. I've not received an S21 or been pestered to sign or pay for a contract renewal. Hopefully this will be the last I hear from them, though I will keep you posted with further developments. Cheers HaX

Last time this happened I responded to their Email stating that I wished to stay but would not be accepting a rent increase or signing a new TA. About two weeks before my contract was due to expire I received an Email saying that they had arranged for someone to go through the checkout process and collect the keys on the date my contract expired. I contacted them and told the to cancel whatever process they had invoked and ended up signing a new TA. I queried the cost (£250), asking for a bill of materials. Predictably they fobbed me off, even saying that I was getting a good deal as the landlord also has to pay £250. I suspect that I'm in a weak position. The property is fully managed by the LA. I've not had any communication with the landlord before (though do have their Email address). I wonder if there is anyone I can report the LA to if they do screw me over. I think that some of their previous actions constitute harassment.

Hello, I've been renting a flat in Reading with my girlfriend. It's relatively low-end as I've been saving for a house deposit (£60K saved to date). Not keen on buying in Reading, though both of us enjoy our jobs so I think we'll be staying around for a while. Each year our letting agent has attempted to increase our rent by £50 per month (5%) and get us to sign a new tenancy agreement. To date, I've always refused the rent increase, though signed a new TA (and paid the £250 fee) as a gesture of goodwill. The service we've received from both our LA and LL have been excellent, and repairs/maintenance, though the quarterly inspections we've had to endure have been a little intrusive. This year they're trying again - over two months ahead of my renewal date. I will be refusing again, and also insisting that my existing AST transition to statutory periodic. Last time I requested this they claimed that SPTs didn't even exist. I'm keen to avoid being fleeced again, but am keen to avoid getting the dreaded S21. We have always been excellent tenants, scoring 5/5 each time our flat was inspected. Should I stand my ground, or am I playing with fire?

In fairness, I suspect that anyone moving from London to Glasgow would enjoy a significantly better quality of life. However, of my friends who originate from other countries, the vast majority say that they wish to remain around London, or at least relatively close, due to airport links and being able to pop back and see family etc. I suspect that places like Glasgow have significantly less choice when it comes to international flights

Are you referring to the 95% Help to Buy Mortgages? If so, these were extended to older properties some years back. HTB must be finishing soon. When introduced back in 2013, it was only meant to be a temporary measure.

I'd echo fandanman's sentiments about life in Reading. Having spent the last four years living and working there, I can confidently say that I've found it to horrible, soulless dump. A trip on the number 17 bus will take you through Cemetery Junction and Oxford Road, giving some insight into the social dystopia which proliferates throughout the town. I would not want to commit to living down here for another 5-10 years. I currently save £2K per month so have a financially compelling reason to be down here. House prices are obscene down here, no doubt partially underpinned by the social rents which get paid for the slums around Oxford Road, Cemetery Junction, Whitley and parts of Tilehurst.

I saw this reported in a Daily Mail article yesterday. According to LinkedIn he used to be employed by the Cooperative Bank. Judging by his career history and age, he shouldn't be short of cash. I wonder why he's still got a mortgage at 59?

Wow - that's quite an amazing figure. Based on the average UK house price quoted by Halifax being in excess of £2k, the average house made £5400 in August. Meanwhile, someone on the average salary of £27,000 would have earned £2250 pre-tax.

I'd move somewhere where your earnings are more closely aligned to the cost of living. I live in the South East for the simple reason that my Salary is a multiple of what I was earning in my Northern homeland. If I became unable to command the salary I do, I'd move in a heart beat.

I'm voting UKIP. Although I quite like what the Labour and the Green Parties support with regard to housing, I feel very strongly about immigration and our ongoing membership of the EU. Nigel Farage is not afraid to speak his mind, unlike Con/Lib/Lab who just utter empty populist rhetoric.

I didn't realise that this thread was still active, so thought I'd give you an update We ended up renting a 1 bed flat by the Kennet and Avon Canal - 10 minute walk from the hospital where my OH works - £975 PCM. The place is finished to a very high spec and is larger than we'd been expecting for a 1 bed. We were paying £600 a month for a mid-range two bed in Nottingham City Centre (Lace Market area). The sweet point for a decent 2 bed in central Reading is £1100 PCM. Further out (Earley etc) I saw some decent 2 beds going for £800 PCM, though due to not being able to drive at the moment need to be fairly central. Our joint income is £65K per annun (Take home just over £4K PCM). We will be saving £1500 PCM for a house deposit and £300 PCM for travel / holidays etc. Living expenses and entertainment will come to ~£2000 PCM I'd be quite happy to stay down here long-term, though suspect that we'll be unable to buy anything decent and furthermore will be squeezed by above inflation rent increases heralded by the arrival of Cross Rail in a few years.

Me too. On a more serious note, it really begs the question - if you're not poor or stinking rich, what is the point in working and trying hard? Parties of all colours appear to be forgetting the middle earners

Thanks for the helpful advice. My enquiries (contacting the local electricity company) have revealed that Spark Energy are already supplying energy to the property. I suspect that the previous tenant signed their agreement without taking issue to the clause or indeed being aware of how Spark operate. According to what I've read, I'll have to use Spark for 28 days, at which point I'll be able to request a transfer to another electricity company. It sounds as though I'll have a fight on my hands, though I'll be fighting it tirelessly.

Good Afternoon, I'm about to sign a tenancy agreement for a flat I'm hoping to move into very shortly. On reviewing my tenancy agreement before signing, I noticed some clauses relating to having Spark Energy as my electricity supplier. A quick google on Spark Energy reveals them to be very pricey and difficult to switch away from. They've even been fined for blocking people from leaving. Would simply crossing out these clauses be sufficient, or do I need to request a new tenancy agreement? When I spoke to the Letting Agent who said that I could opt out of it and that they would exclude me from being signed up, however I am reluctant to take their word over what is written in my tenancy agreement. Quote: 4.4.15 Disclosure of Tenant’s details to Spark Energy: 4.4.15.1The Tenant acknowledges at the start of the let, the Gas and Electricity for the property will be provided, or will be in the process of being provided, by Spark Energy. 4.4.15.2The Tenant agrees that the letting agent may pass the Tenant’s name and contact details to Spark Energy for the purposes of: a. registering the gas and electricity meters at the property in the Tenant’s name with Spark Energy, providing gas and electricity to the Tenant and administering the Tenant’s account with Spark Energy. 4.4.15.3Spark Energy will use the Tenant’s details only for the purposes set out above and not in any other way. Spark Energy will comply with it’s obligations as a data controller in the Data Protection Act 1998 and will handle Tenant’s data in a manner set out in Spark Energy’s standard terms and conditions 8 | P a g e and/or privacy notice. If the Tenant has any questions regarding details or use of the Tenant’s data held by Spark Energy, the Tenant may contact Spark Energy at Ettrick Riverside, Dunsdale Road, Selkirk, TD7 5EB or customerservice@sparkenergy.co.uk or 0345 034 7474. 4.4.16 The Tenant may change the Gas and Electricity supplier, but should provide the Landlords Agent with details of the new supplier within fourteen days of any change being made.

Just seen this pop up on my Facebook News Feed ; As expected, boomer types celebrating their advantageous position on the GetReading Facebook Page, with no comprehension or appreciation of the economic impact this will have on the generations behind them. The sooner this becomes a political hot potatoe the better. These people aren't in this position due to success or intuition on their own part, but in the large, economic circumstance.

Hi there, Originally from the East Midlands, working in IT, living in Reading and earning £40K Per Annun I've been down here for two years living in a houseshare saving money and clearing debt etc, Despite the fact that I like my job and the company I work for, I've been very undecided about making any form of long-term commitment to staying here due to the insane cost of living, so until recently have discouraged my girlfriend (nurse earning £25K) from coming down. Anyhow, she's now got a job and we're looking at places to live within a mile of the Royal Berkshire Hospital. Even 1 bed flats seem to hover at around £900 PCM, and the sweet point for a decent 2 bed seems to sit at £1200 PCM. The majority of flats I've seen below this price point have been disgusting, damp, poorly maintained grot boxes, riddled with mould. What amazes me most is that the letting agents don't even attempt to disguise the problems, and that the landlords don't feel the need to resolve issues with their properties before putting them on the market. I've never seen anything like it. Prior to moving down here, I'd spend a good deal of time living in privately rented accommodation in the East Midlands. In general standards were much higher, and of course you got much more for your money. My wage of 25 K was enough to afford somewhere decent and well maintained to live. If we end up having to rent a £1200 PCM place, I'll only be ~£300 better off than I was in my run of the mill £25K IT job "Up North", which to me isn't worth being away from the people/places dear to me. What are people's thoughts. Is there any point in being down here? With the exception of it's jobs market, I find Reading to be vastly inferior to somewhere like Nottingham or Sheffield. Cheers

I can only echo the sentiments raised in this thread. As an avid spectator of the pre-election debates, I held great hope in David Cameron's assertions that the Conservatives would rebalance the economy and that the emphasis would be taken away from non-productive assets. During their debates, the Conservatives explicitly referred to the fact that housing was overpriced and needed to be addressed. For the first few years it looked as though they were managing a controlled decline, though something didn't seem quite right when they appointed Mark Carney. I gave them the benefit of the doubt when HTB1 was announced, though HTB2 really gave the game away and showed their true intentions. It has worked exactly as desired. Sadly, I expect the same effect will be experienced when the new pension rules are introduced in April. I certainly won't be voting for any of the big three political parties at the next election. They have all played a part in creating the mess that we live in today.

I was also in Nottingham prior to moving down here. I work in IT and was stuck in a rather dead end role, working for a large outsourcing company. Got offered an interesting job with a firm in Reading. Moving down here was the only way I could kick start my career again. My OH has stayed up in Notts so that we are in a position to buy before the market starts leaving us behind. Spent 3 years supporting my girlfriend through nurse training while living in Notts, expected that when she qualified we could save a deposit and buy a reasonable place to live. A child is on the horizon in the next few years (we are both 33), so buying a house and banking on two full time wages is not an option. This restricts us to living in grottier / benefit street type areas of Nottingham if we buy. Resigned to the fact that governments of all colors will keep using HPI to "create" growth. No idea where to go from here. Feel quite disheartened and demotivated at the moment. Ironically, had we not spent the past 10 years working and striving to improve our career prospects, we'd have probably been no worse off. I have friends who've never left my home city (Lincoln), earn very low wages ~£16k, and have a much better quality of life than I do.

I recently moved down from the Midlands to Reading. Although earning potential is much better, (I earn £35K vs £25K I was earning in the midlands) buying a house is not really an option. I've seen a few English speaking IT jobs in Germany that I'm quite tempted to go for.... On my travels around town, I wonder how on earth minimum wage workers afford to live here. I am also astounded by the number of very poor immigrants we have living down here. The housing benefit bill must be mind boggling!

Hello, Apologies for the rather drawn out nature of this thread ; Until the government drove the housing market crazy with Help to Buy, we were happily building up our deposit with the aim of buying a £150 K house with a 25% deposit. We currently have £20K saved and are growing this by 1K PCM We ended up looking to buy a house sooner (through fear of being priced out), and have managed to find something in a reasonable area (not somewhere we'd have ideally chosen), however I have a few concerns ; The house sold for £117K in 2007, we are paying £129K for it. The EA said a lot has been done to it (including new kitchen, bathroom and conservatory), however I have managed to find it's listing/advert from 2007 (archived on right move) and the conservatory had already been built. Could redecoration, new bathroom, kitchen and carpets really add that much value? A larger house across the road sold for £122 K in April (Same number of bedrooms, similar era and style). Admittedly it's not in as good condition and is without a conservatory (which ours has), but nevertheless is cheaper The house is built ontop of a former landfill - classed as inert by environment agency landfill map (eg. buried glass/concrete etc) (flagged in homecheck searches as being potentially unstable/poluted land) The house is built on land classed as prone to flooding, the last recorded flood I have been able to trace was in 1947 (flagged homecheck searches as high risk) With regard to the searches I understand that Homecheck tend to be a bit pessimistic and alarmist, however despite this and factoring in the above, would it still be wise to proceed? What about the price of the house in comparison to it's previous sold price and the house which sold near it? Am I being fleeced? Unfortunately this is pretty critical - in order to find something nice and within our price range, we have had to set our sights on living in a smaller city with less opportunity and transport links (My girlfriend is a nurse and has managed to get a job there, I work in IT so will have to keep an eye out for suitably remunerated jobs). This does has the potential to financially ruin us if things go wrong:( Thanks

The conservatives are already in the process of reprivatising East Coast. Ideologically driven of course. Due to be completed before the General Election. I'd go a step further and say that not only do the railways need to be renationalised, they need to be brought back together. Freight and the plethora of different passenger franchises all operate as independent businesses, with ringfenced staff, yards/facilities and rolling stock. Gone are the days when spare rolling stock and/or staff could be sourced at short notice.

Having spent several holidays in Germany, and more recently a week travelling around various bits of Austria, I found coming back to the UK somewhat depressing. Travelling back home from Stanstead by train through the outskirts of London was very depressing. Urban decay was the order of the day. I can't even begin to fully articulate how much nicer and better presented things felt over there. Architecture, public transport, pavements, cycle paths etc etc. Despite the football being on at the time I was over there, I didn't really see any evidence of the chav/lager lout mentality that you get in the UK either. From what I've read on this and other sites, there isn't so much of a dependency on owning your own house due to a more tightly regulated rental sector. I find the thought of living on the continent to be quite enticing, though frightening at the same time. Just how difficult is it to set up life in a new country? I work in IT and my partner is a nurse, though I realise we would probably have to work in unskilled jobs until we became more established in our desired country.

Sorry if that came across rather crassly. What I meant to infer by that statement is my desire to live amongst people who have the consciousness and awareness to show respect and consideration to others. Having lived in what could be classed as dodgy areas before, I have experienced what it is like to live amongst people who do not conform to what I described in my earlier statement.

That would be the big question - I've seen some IT jobs advertised there, though mainly low level and well below what I am doing at the moment. I could easily do that, though I was possibly thinking about commuting to York or (at a push Leeds or Teeside). I've also got the option of contracting down in London, though would obviously need to rent a room somewhere to do that. We'd be looking to spend £130K max on a house if we went there (based on reduced earnings/increased commuting costs, inflation and potential interest rate rises, and last but not least, my OH having a child). At such a price point are we likely to be living amongst uncivilised human beings? Thanks for the link - Agreed

Hello everyone, I've been following this site for four years, slowly building up my deposit whilest feeling thoroughly disenfranchised about the the extent to which housing in this country has been commoditised and the market been fixed and manipulated . Anyway to the point ; My other half has been offered a job in Scarborough, North Yorks. I have relatives who live there and whenever I've been up to stay, I've been impressed by the picturesque scenery and the pace of life there, which is slow in comparison to what I'm used to. She is a nurse and I work in IT (in a role which pays reasonably well and offers decent prospects). The thought of partially leaving the rat race does appeal to me. Housing is quite cheap there, though not as cheap as I'd expect for somewhere which offers little in terms of employment and transport links. I doubt that I'd be able to command a decent salary down there, though this would be partially off-set by more reasonable accommodation costs. I'm a little concerned at the lack of opportunity there, and also the longer term economic outlook of the place. I suspect that a large part of the local economy is driven by retired boomers spending their retirements there, and that things may go down hill in the next 15-20 years when they start dieing off. What are peoples' opinions of the place? Would I be jumping straight into a poverty trap by moving there?