MoshiMoshi

Find a property you're interested in on a site like Rightmove. Google the name of the company marketing it (their logo is usually prominently positioned in the ad).

There are trillions of letting agents: some national chains, some regional chains, and some independents.

If there's no company mentioned anywhere in the listing, then it'll probably be a private landlord. But I don't think many private landlords use sites like Rightmove. I'm not sure where they advertise: Craiglist, Gumtree, local newspaper websites? Lots of dodgy offers on the former two (people who want you to wire them a deposit and they'll post you the key, for example: big scam), so familiarize yourself with local prices and run a mile from anything which seems too good to be true.

Pistolpete2

exactamundo!

Only thing we don't get is the bed linen, I believe, and there is an ASDA with all of that stuff just up the road.

formula

If you have a 6 month fixed tenancy, then the contract has an end date. You don't have to give notice that you are leaving, but usually the letting agent will write to the tenent beforehand to ask if they want to renew. Or they can (or might have already) issue a Section 21 to give the tenant 2 months notice to quit, but it has to be a valid Section 21.

If you go over that 6 months (and you had a 6th month contract) then it becomes a Periodic Tenancy. That means 1 month notice the tenant gives and 2 months notice that the landlord gives, from the contract date.

If you have a 12 month contract then it might have a 6 month break clause and you can give notice to quit, so that you can exit at 6 months.

formula

Welcome home.

formula

Both my children rent in London. It's not worth renting in London and the SE if you don't earn a high wage. My son is looking at other rentals again and isn't having problems finding something nice. Once he came back home for a few weeks (turned into months) while he decided the area to move to in London.


That's the lovely Section 21 that the last Labour government invented and now landlords don't need a reason to remove a tenent.

On the other hand, if they keep losing tenants, then they are going to get a void every 6 months and have to pay to advertise/pay a letting agent, to find another tenant.


If the house is in a state when you view it, then don't believe it when the letting agent or landlord, say they will fix those things. Ask the resident tenant what the landlord is like for keeping to his side of the contract. If the letting agent is with you, then come back and ask them.


As I said, my son moves a lot if he doesn't like the place. He rents furnished properties and as he often works a 60 hour week, sometimes more, he moves on Saturdays. He uses my car to do lots of trips with his stuff, but you can get a man with a van for a few quid.


Student lets can be rubbish as some lanldords take advantage of the fact they are dealing with young people. Only one of my children only had a bad student landlord and that is when I read the England and Wales housing laws.

Landlords have problem tenants too, so they are usually keen to keep one that pays on time and who doesn't destroy the property.

For England and Wales, that practice of landlords seeing the deposit as their money, was stopped in February 2007(?). Now there are deposit schemes that the landlord must use.

On the other hand, Scotland insists on their landlords being registered and we don't have that in England and Wales....yet. But then Scotland were first with the smoking laws too.

Always, always, always take out contents insurance with the added extra of Legal Cover (which costs about £20 a year extra) as soon as you rent and make sure it includes action against/or defedning against, landlords. Many insurance companies use their own legal cover and they aren't as good as those insurers using a specialist legal cover IMHA. When I last read the ARAG legal cover, they insured against landlords. It's worth a read of their policy and then you can phone up ARAG (if it is a suitable policy for you) and ask which insurers use their policy.

formula

In what way are they accountable?

Englishmaple

[QUOTE=formula;11308132]Both my children rent in London. It's not worth renting in London and the SE if you don't earn a high wage. My son is looking at other rentals again and isn't having problems finding something nice. Once he came back home for a few weeks (turned into months) while he decided the area to move to in London.


But that's the problem isn't it? The jobs are in London and SE - if I could move somewhere else and get a decent job I would.

I've been crunching some numbers this morning and have realised that even if I get a mortgage using my pension savings as a large deposit, there is no way I will be able to re-save my pension savings while paying the mortgage ... so I would end up at retirement with a mortgage paid off but very little pension provision beyond the State pension which isn't worth much.

So I've decided that once I have got my HCPC registration for UK social work and a year's experience in UK social services employment in my current job, I will be moving North and applying for professional social work positions .. and at that point I hope I will be able to afford a mortgage and to save for retirement.

Also your comments about providing support for your son (in terms of a place to stop) are admirable but not everybody has a support network around them. I don't. That's why I chose to move to the SE area - because I knew the chance of getting employment was better than moving to a cheaper place in the North - and I couldn't take the risk of months and months of unemployment (which I had already suffered in Ontario). In terms of support, the buck stops with me. If jobs were plentiful up North I'm sure more people would move there or would not leave there. I know when I did my degrees in Newcastle and Sheffield I wanted to stay in both those cities - but the jobs weren't there. Newcastle and the Northumbria coast are beautiful. Sheffield has a fantastic peak district. If you can get a professionally paid job up there, why would you move to the overcrowded expensive SE?

Excuse my rant but really people do not appreciate how hard it is to get work, particularly when you are 50, on your own, and starting over again with no support. Hence moving to the SE for me, was the most sensible decision in terms of trying to find work quickly.

Pistolpete2

[QUOTE=Englishmaple;11308185] Actually, those of us who have been looking at BE from the job perspective, whether seeking employment themselves or simply interested in the economic conditions that prevail in the UK these days, have indeed been fully aware of exactly how hard it is to find work, particularly work that will sustain you.

It is for EXACTLY that reason that for the longest while WE have been trying to get intended returnees looking for work, particularly those in your age-group, to think long and hard as to how exactly they are going to be able to get by and where and in what field the best chances exist, in spite of others who wish to portray an endless rosy picture - presumably mostly for smug I'm alright Jack reasons, one hazards a guess - of the current UK predicament where 1700 apply for 8 vacancies at ONE Costa Coffee.

There is another unhelpful issue in the area of social work and that is that UK employers have been able to recruit within the EU and this is a key area where wages have been under-cut due to supply, as also in the hospitality industry where ironically, Polish workers in the UK now find themselves better off seeking work elsewhere in the EU, such as Germany, due to better wages and conditions.

It's not easy to provide an endless mantra of STEADY AS SHE GOES on here against a general tide of cheer-leading which typically accompanies most announcements of an intention to return to the UK to work or even survive on a tight budget unless access to the NHS or benefits is IT. There are now so many things to have and to consider when making the most of the move back. Those of us who have kids who will need to make-it in the UK are probably trying to map things out each and every day to work out how they have some sort of hope in hell in the longer run.

I'm sorry that the quoting on this thread seems to have been contaminated - now mis-quoting - by something a couple of days ago.

Englishmaple

[QUOTE=Pistolpete2;11308216]
Actually my issue isn't so much with getting work - compared to Ontario, getting work in the UK was "easy" for me - it took me 6 weeks! ... I spent months in Ontario being told I needed to take yet another degree in order for employers to consider employing me (and I have 3 degrees already - 2 undergrad and 1 masters).

The issue I have is with formula stating that there's no point in moving to the SE/London area if you are on low wages.

Unfortunately the SE/London is where there is a reasonable certainty of getting a job despite the high living costs which are skewed by the property market being seen as an investment vehicle for those with more money than compassion.

I also don't think it's true that wages have been undercut due to supply with respect to social work. Maybe the wages of unqualified social services posts have been undercut? But the wages for qualified social work posts (where you need HCPC registration) look pretty good to me given what I will be earning in an unqualified post.

I also think the issue with recruiting within the EU leading to a reduction in wages is a red herring ... the issue there isn't the influx of supply. The issue is that employers aren't paying a living wage and the housing supply is inadequate and tilted towards property owners, landlords and the wealthy.

Paying a living wage can only be done by major structural alterations at government level - it's immoral that employers who pay their employees less than a living wage have their large profits effectively subsidised by government in the form of paying employees government benefits (eg help with housing costs). As well, the tax rules need to be changed so that large corporations cannot avoid paying taxes.

Sorting out the housing supply is also a similar structural issue - more homes need to be built (public and private) and legislation for rentals needs to be more respectful of meeting tenants needs.

As well, at the end of the day, people are going to move between countries. The English colonized many countries - and I myself went to live for 12 years in another country. And from that experience, I know first hand how difficult it can be living as an immigrant - it made me realise in so many ways how challenging it can be to work in another country. The issue in this country isn't with labour supply it's with employers and governments who aren't looking out for the most vulnerable and ensuring that everyone has their basic needs met.

Of course there will be many who say this perspective is rubbish ... but there are a growing chorus of academics and economists and politicians who are highlighting the destructive nature of growing inequality ... massive structural inequality (as we have now) is destructive to societies and communities.

Having said all that, I think that if people are moving back to the UK and are near retirement age and have a plentiful supply of resources (can, for example, afford to buy a house and a car) then the perspective is very different. Similarly people who already live in the UK and are close to retirement or are retired and have done well from the property market (by buying before prices went stupid) and who had decent pensions (which are now scarce) are going to have a more rosy perspective of the UK - there is a huge gap between generations and I feel very sorry for young people starting out and anyone at midlife like myself who is starting over - it's a very different society from the 60's and 70's in terms of employment provision, salaries, pensions and house prices. However, unlike in Canada, the weather is more temperate and the healthcare system is currently more generous - and the latter is another thing that the generation who are retired or moving into retirement are going to benefit more from. All that said, I couldn't get work in Ontario for love or money so coming back to the UK was my only option in the short term unless I stayed and did a p/t casual contract with no benefits at Tim Horton's - and I'm sure they would have said I was overqualified to be considered anyway!

Editha

English Maple said: Immoral or not, I can't think of a time since WW2 when housing costs have not been subsidized by government, whether in the form of social housing, rate rebate, rent rebate, housing benefit etc.

Generation Rent are calling for rent controls. I remember these in London in the sixties and seventies, and I think imposing them again would be a very good idea, at least in the capital. As well as reducing housing costs for tenants, they would dampen down house price inflation, since buy-to-let investors would have no incentive to pay inflated prices for properties if they couldn't make a profit.

MoshiMoshi

It's much much easier moving when you're young(ish) and single! It becomes so much more complicated once you have kids and pets and your own furniture. People used to wait until they owned a house to accrue these things, and I can see why, but for many in the SE house-ownership is not on the cards for years and years, if ever.

I used to be very blase about renting and moving, but our last move -- 1 mile, with baby and pets and the whole circus -- was more stressful than most of our international relocations, back in the days when we could ship a few boxes and set up wherever.

Now I'm a firm advocate of a) more security for long-term renters, and b) tighter controls on landlords and agents, since 'if you don't like it, move' is often held over families' heads as an excuse for poor conditions and excessive rent increases.

Letting agents are (as I said, ostensibly) more accountable in the sense that you have more options for kicking up a stink with a name-brand company. Complain to the branch manager; the national management; the professional association to which they belong. Tweet-shame them. Write to consumer-affairs columns in newspapers. Write online reviews. Give them bad word of mouth. Band together with others who've been ripped off and try to get publicity.

All very labour-intensive, and results not guaranteed -- but IMO it's easier to get heard when you're complaining about Known Company screwing you over, rather than just Mr Bloggs of Croydon who only rents out one flat.

Englishmaple

Oh Moshi I can so relate to your comments - especially the bit about moving when you're younger and single versus moving now.

I left home in my teens and have moved, in total, approximately 40 times - I did a lot of contract work when I was younger and I also moved a lot when I was a student. I found it stressful then and it was a relief to be out of it when I finally bought with my now ex.

When we separated in Canada it was a huge leap for me to go back into renting but I never felt as insecure as I do now. The rental setup in Ontario made me feel safe. It was a shock when the rent went up the first time (I hadn't looked into the system there and didn't initially appreciate that rents went up once a year and rent rises were governed by the provincial government) but, overall, the sense of security and the standard of rental accommodation was so good.

Contrasting that with where I am now ... and it's so hard. And rental accommodation here is so sub-standard by comparison or you pay through the nose for it. I knew it would be one of the hardest things to come back to which is partly why I dragged my feet for so long contemplating coming back but now I am back and I so miss Canadian rental accommodation. I know people have ups and downs with moving back to the UK and I am going to give it a year and I do at least have a job here (which I didn't have in Ontario) but I so miss my Canadian apartment and the sense of security I had from renting there. It's very hard coming back to the UK system.

I also still am waiting on my belongings being delivered from Canada - hopefully in the next week or two. But I'm already dreading that - when I survey the tiny room I rent and how I'm going to fit stuff in. And then, if I get rid of more stuff, there is the expense of buying stuff again if I subsequently am able to afford a place of my own - to rent if not to buy.

I think the insecurity around UK rental properties really eats into one's ability to put roots down, have a sense of community and a sense of belonging ...

windsong

I really sympathize. This has been my experience in the USA, too - nice homes/apartments to rent for fairly reasonable prices - but few jobs.

I was looking at rentals in England the other day and I think the properties for rent in England are much nicer than in Scotland for the same price. Not sure why that is.

rebeccajo

Englishmaple -

You moved to one of the more expensive parts of the UK. And you did that because of job prospects, which has paid off for you. The trade off for that is a higher cost of living, including higher housing costs. At least that's the way it works in the US. Really little apartments with high rents.

Once your career boots are on the ground, you'll be able to look around at other parts of the UK. If the housing situation in your area remains untenable for you , you'll have time to assess other areas and career options there.

I think you'll feel a lot more comfortable once you do have your possessions. That helps make things feel more like home. And once you do have a place of your own, even if it's small, your personal belongings will give you a sense of comfort.

It's all an adventure. Try to enjoy it and not fret too much. You've already made great progress. Baby steps.

Edited to add - I don't see the big attraction to owning property in old age. At least not for me. I use to think of it as security. But it's all hard work to keep a property up. During the course of my life I've had advice many times from single/widowed women who said becoming a tenant was the smartest move they ever made. It's something to think about as you consider future options.

Editha

English Maple,

I've been thinking about what I'd do in your shoes, because it is a difficult decision between a pension and buying a house or a flat.

Like you, I'd be thinking of moving north if I could because of the cheaper cost of living. I have had the experience of living in the Midlands and know that there are a lot of lovely places to live on the edge of the Peak District.

Whether I moved north or not, I'd lean more towards buying a property than investing in a pension. This is because of my previous experience, that property has always been the better investment. Also , I'd be living rent free in old age, and improving my living conditions right now, whereas you don't see anything from money put into a pension until you retire.

I've not found private pension funds to be a very good investment at all, but my pension from public service is very good. I know that public service pensions are not what they were, but I would investigate the pros and cons if I managed to get a public sector job.