Share a rented property with brother and he is the main tennant and now wants to move. Few questions if anyone can help?

[Craigbadger]

Basically me and my brother have been renting together a few years, made financial sense and we get on well. It is through an agent.

He has since had a child(hes not with the mother but they get on) and he has been on the housing association list for a while as he wants to be able to have his son staying over etc. He's over every weekend anyway but stays at my dads.

Last week he was accepted for a 2 bedroom flat with the housing association and is going to accept it so will wish to leave shortly.

This leaves me in a tricky situation as I would like to stay here, it is his name on the tennancy and he obviously cant stay on it. The reason we went with his name was that I had a lot of recentish adverse credit + was self employed(this was over 5 years ago). I am still self employed and still have some adverse credit but its at the back end of the 6 years, some have already dropped off. The only recent things I have are an ee account which is spotless for 3 years. I believe they probably didnt even check me in any way.

I do deal with the agents as much as my brother though if not more + pay half of the rent from my bank.

 

Does anyone know what might happen in such a situation?,we are I believe here till October ie they charge £100 or so renewal fee(excessive I know). I know I can afford to keep the place on my own but again with the knowledge of how agents work I have a feeling I might have to go through all the application etc again. More £££, risk of credit fail and dificulty proving income again. Part of me thinks surely they could swap the names in the knowledge weve always paid without issue and in 5 years only had a washing machine repaired, bathroom floor replaced(due to damp) and a toilet flusher so we are low maintenance.

I do know the landlord as he is a friend of my dads if that makes any difference.

I presume its in their interest to keep me in as long as the rents flowing, + they still have the deposit + rent advance. I was thinking of maybe saying see where we are in October when the "renewal" comes up.

 

Any views would be appreicated.

[renegadeimp]

If you know the landlord, try going through him not the agent. The agent has to do what the landlord wishes. You may have to pay an admin fee as they're legally obliged to create the documents though

[martin2006]

I would start with an informal chat to the LL if he is a friend of your dads, possibly look at keeping things as they are till october and then continue directly with LL cutting out the agent and his 10-15% cut

[Craigbadger]

Thanks for the replies.

I will have a chat with the landlord and see what he thinks, i'm pretty sure he wont want to do it privately as I mentioned it years ago and I got the impression that he hasnt got the time nor cant really be bothered with the hassle but then I think he will also be fine with me staying on my own. I know it was his wives place originally and she dealt with us but she unfortunately passed away a few years back, he's more your blue collar worker.

[Craigbadger]

Landlords totally happy with me staying here on my own but has asked me to deal with the agents who are saying I need to prove a pretty huge amount of income which I cant so they said I need a guarantor which is not an option wither. The people that I could of asked have retired.

 

My only other option which they did not mention is to pay in advance. My dads got enough spare to pay 3, 6 or even 12 months upfront but I guess what i'm wondering is are they a. Likely to accept? and b. Are there any risks from my point?

 

Stressing me out, need a beer or 3.

[martin2006]

I had a very similar situation a coupke of years ago, i suggest either re approaching the LL and emphasise what the agent has said re earnings and 6 months up front etc and also the fact that he knows you personally, weighed against possibility of new and unknown tenants, worth a shot.

 

If you have to pay upfront and yr dads in a position to help, you coukd simply pay him back over the 6 months and ask for a 6 month interim tenancy.

[renegadeimp]

Tell your LL to get in touch with the agent and that your LL authorises you to stay there. Then you dont need to follow the agents silly rules so they can credit check etc and get more fees. If your LL tells them, then thats all there is to it. Of course, if you miss rent payments, they can take action as normal, but thats unlikely to happen.

[Craigbadger]

Right, they have agreed to it but it will be started as a new tenancy so will be some expense which I cant get out of although they are not credit searching or referencing me which is good and I guess long term having the agreement in my name is a good thing. Cant be kept in my brothers name as its a term of his housing association house although they understand there is an overlap.

 

We get our original deposit etc back which is great but I have to pay it again which is not so great as its 2 1/2 months rent.

 

There is a £400 holding deposit which I gather comes back providing I sign.

 

Tenancy Agreement £300.00 - I guess this is the set up fee, seems to be the going rate give or take.

 

Administration Fee @ £60.00pp £60.00 - Hmm???

 

Check In Fee £60.00 - Surely questionable considering im already here???

 

Either way im pleased with this, the plan is to pay the rent monthly into a savings account so it can be paid again in 6 months and even earn a bit of interest along the way. My credit history will clean up in the next 18 months and hopefully I can look into buying.

[*RainbowTears*]

Wow they are some high fees they are trying to charge you for!

 

As you already live there, I can't see how they can try charging £400 holding deposit, £60 check in fee or £300 for a TA.

 

These kind of fees are usually charged (some can be more or less depending on EA & location) before you actually move into a property not after you do so.

 

Does anyone else agree? I've lived in the PR sector for over 20 years & have a great deal of experience but I've never had this situation before.

 

In your situation I would expect an admin fee for the changes to the TA agreement/paperwork & to pay the deposit + rent. Do make sure your deposit is placed in a DPS & that you do receive the paperwork for it.

 

Keep it all safe.