jay1212

I wonder what convinced them in 08/04/2016 that their house that wouldn't sell at 500K, was now 'worth' ~50% more 6 weeks later. Loads of flats from £1000-£1250 on zoopla showing as available immediately, either put on months ago or newly listed (I presume re-listed but don't have property bee). The odd price reduction here and there but these voids must be really hurting some landlords.

Can you explain what you mean when you say the landlord didn't acknowledge your notice? Surely if your landlord is setting up viewings then they have acknowledged you are moving out. I think when it comes down to it, if there is unpaid rent that will always be taken from the deposit, but its surprising to hear them mention loss of earnings as a reason. I mentioned in another thread that I don't pay any Landlord/Letting agent fees once I am in the property, inevitably they take it from the deposit when I leave, but I always claim the money back from the deposit company and have always won (maybe 4 or 5 times now). Have you read up on My Deposits adjudication process? They should have something up on there website which clearly states what they should base a decision on, so if the adjudicator has done this on a whim you might have a case.

From time to time I will spend the day working in libraries, and over the last couple of years had noticed more clearly homeless people in there struggling to stay awake. Something else Im hearing a lot more of is people who are in work but couch surfing or living in hostels.

Doesn't surprise me that would be Romans, they are the only ones who have denied my application for a flat taking the best part of £600 in initial admin and reservations fees. After paying the fees; Romans: You will need to prove you earn 30x the rent to get the flat Me: No problem, here are my self assessments going back a few years Romans: Oh you're self emloyed, we will need 6 months rent paid upfront, or a guarantor Me: OK, I will pay 6 month up front. Romans: Actually you will need to pay 6 months up front AND have a guarantor Me: I have no one that fits your guarantor criteria Romans: Sorry application denied as we are not sure you can afford the flat Me: For the last 3 years my rent has been higher than this, I'll show you the statements Romans: ... There are not many times in my life I have been as angry as I was in the office when I went down to see them. This was maybe 3 years ago, not sure what its like now but at the time Romans must have had around ⅔ of the rentals on offer so going forward I barely had any choice. Romans are my Foxtons.

They are entitled to ask, and at the end of the day I could turn down the work - the same applies with an employer/employee situation. This doesn't change the fact that most of the time this client in particular pays me to drive for a few hours with no change to my work output. I guess my point was a little flexibility can often help both parties.

I thinks its ingrained in a lot of peoples minds that work can only be done properly from an office. I have one client in particular that insists I am on-site in Oxford even though 90% of the time the work can easily be done from home. Once I get there I am often just left a list of things that need to be done, and he is no where to be seen for the whole day. Whenever I mention this can be done from home he just seems puzzled. Another part of this he doesn't get is that I am willing to be paid less to work from home, as I bill from the time I leave the house to when I get back, so I would be missing out on 2-3 hours easy money for the commute. Ultimately though, I could spend that 2-3 hours doing something useful to me, whether thats working on another project or even just running errands, so the time in better spent in my eyes which generally makes life a little easier.

Exactly, and add to that the list of similar fees they will be taking from the Landlord. All this does is give them an incentive to churn through tenancies. Why go out of the way to make sure you have a peaceful long lasting rental when they know if you get fed up and move they get a nice little bonus.

I hope if they do ban/cap these fees they do it properly and not allow the fees to just be charged using a different name. Just a quick look on Rightmove for rentals in Milton Keynes shows various Letting agents charging; Tenancy Application fee (single or joint application) Credit check fee Additional persons/guarantor fee per applicant above single or joint fee Pet fee Tenancy Contract fee (including tenancy renewals) Periodic tenancy continuation fee (if no tenancy renewal) Tenancy Check-Out fee Reference fee Personally, the only fees I pay are the initial ones like the admin and credit check fees, as you need these to get your foot in the door, but once I'm in I have always ignored any other fees and its not been a problem (maybe one day it will catch up with me). But I know plenty of people who every 6 months pay £100+ because they got a letter saying they have to and they feel like if they don't they will be evicted - and who can blame them, these letters are usually written in a way that makes it seem like you will be. The reference fee is particularly nasty as they know its needed if you are moving to another rental, and then a check out fee just to twist the knife ( imagine bringing back a car rental "Thanks for bringing back the car, now you owe us £50+VAT for bringing back the car") I'm just surprised I haven't seen paid viewings - £15 a pop just so they know you seriously want the place.

I'm a CAD freelancer, back to work today and this is my first invitation to bid on a project this year. It's on a freelancing website I am signed up to, and I was invited by Mark, who is an 'Entrepreneur'. https://www.peopleperhour.com/job/plumbing-plan-drawings-3d-cad-graphic-1405250 Not much to add, but hopefully this won't be a job worth posting by the end of 2017.

I'm sure people will be fighting each other for the opportunity to rent that at £600PCM!

God that's depressing... Would that be flat 12a, last sold less than a year ago for 43k?

The only thing 'stunning' about this one, seems to be the price.... Gumtree Link

I might go view it in the next couple of weeks out of morbid curiosity as im only a 2 minute walk from the flat. Can anyone hazard a guess to how much this would cost to build? I'm curious why the owners would have gone with this route, instead of a standard studio that would probably rent out cheaper but easier. Also, what are the planning implications? I searched the planning applications but came up with nothing. In the short time I have lived here, rents have gone up in the type of flats im looking for, but they have not gone up THIS bad. Seems like this has been empty for a couple of months and will be a while longer.....

Long time lurker etc.. I am currently looking for a new flat to rent in Reading. Not the worst in this thread I'm sure, but it's the first time I have opened a link to a flat in this price range and started laughing. Gumtree link