I am so stressed out right now
By sephrenia
@sephrenia (567)
November 21, 2007 3:19am CST
Let's see,
It's been ages since I was last on here and I reckoned I would come here again as it's the one place I know I can let off steam without going insane.
My biggest worry right now is housing. I've rented the house I'm in for two years and we have, or rather had, a good relationship with the landlord. Then yesterday, out of the blue, the landlord rang me to tell me that he's sending an estate agent in to value the house because he's selling it. I couldn't believe what I was hearing! I mean, did the guy not even think about me and my kids?
I wouldn't have minded even that much but most other landlords require a deposit up front which I wont have till January plus no other landlord in my area has a property that is in my affordable range which means that I'm probably going to have to move to a different area, uprooting my kids again when they've just settled down in a great school and goodness knows how this is going to affect my university studies.
Theres not even much point applying to the local council as it can take up to two years to get a house with them so now i'm going to be in some kind of limbo. I got so bad with it yesterday that I ended up at the doctors because they thought I was having a heart attack which scared the bejeebus outta me.
I'm just so mad at my landlord, I was slowly saving up to buy the house from him anyway but now that he's thrown this at me, any savings I have will be frittered away on getting a new place to rent.
I'm sorry this is so long but I needed to get it out. Is there anyone else in england who has had this problem and can give me some kind of advice here?
1 person likes this
6 responses
@SViswan (12051)
• India
21 Nov 07
Oh! I was wondering why I wasn't seeing you on MyLot for quite sometime now.
Can't you talk to the landlord about buying the house from him (pay in instalments like rent or something like that?) Or maybe you can get a loan to buy the house and repay the loan. Anyways, you are paying the rent, that money (or maybe a little higher amount) can go into repaying the loan?
Isn't there some notice period that the landlord should give before he springs such surprises on a family (a month or so)?
2 people like this
@sephrenia (567)
•
21 Nov 07
hey hun,
thanks for replying to this.
I honestly thought about asking him if I could do something like that but I reckon he wants the up front deposit and the nice hefty paypacket from selling it.
As for lending the money from a bank or something, If you want to buy the house you gotta get a mortgage and I havent a good enough credit rating to get one and because they take into account your partners credit rating when you apply for one, my hubby cant get one either which makes me feel real bad.
The landlord says he wont be selling till the beginning of next year but that doesnt give me a lot of time to sort stuff out especially with the pressure of university.
At least maybe i will be able to get some money together for a deposit on a new house. because we're on short term lets (we renew every 6 months) he's allowed to give us just two weeks notice if he feels like it and theres not a lot i can do so i should be grateful i suppose that i found out now.
Thanks again for replying
*hugs*
@SViswan (12051)
• India
21 Nov 07
Gosh! That's going to be tough...what with your studies, the kids schools and shifting!
You can start house hunting right now and maybe you will hae the time to settle things down before you are asked to move.
I hope it all works out for the best.
1 person likes this
@sephrenia (567)
•
21 Nov 07
*hugs*
you're right and thats what i'm doing now. I figure we can get through christmas here and in the meantime i can househunt and see if there is anything fairly cheap for rent in the local area.
who knows, maybe there is a reason for it and i just cant see it yet lol.
Thanks again for taking time to reply :)
@Stiletto (4579)
•
21 Nov 07
I'm in Scotland so hopefully that's close enough although tenants rights are a little different here.
Anyway, I would apply to the Council. You have children and you are facing being made homeless so they have legal obligations as far as that's concerned. It's true that they can put you in some grim places but at least it would be a last resort to fall back on if all else fails in the meantime. Also see if there is a local housing association where you are. There are quite a few of them in Scotland and they have housing which they allocate to homeless people and others with special needs or in a "vulnerable" category. Their rents are mostly similar to the local council rents but their properties (here at least) tend to be better.
As someone else has suggested you could always approach your landlord about buying the property yourselves. I notice you mentioned about difficulties with getting a mortgage. I can tell you that a poor credit history is not a problem as far as that goes nowadays. I have a bad credit history and there are a lot of companies around that will still take you on. The banks and building societies won't of course. You would have to look online and of course you would pay a higher interest rate than normal but it might be worth your while considering this. I pay less for my mortgage than I was paying in rent anyway. I'm talking about reputable companies as well - not loan sharks or anything dodgy.
Anyway I hope it all works out for you in the end and that you find somewhere else quickly.
1 person likes this
@sephrenia (567)
•
24 Nov 07
Hi there,
I read through your response and like someone else, you gave me a lot of hope. Would you be able to pm me with some details about companies who would help out someone with bad credit?
If i could get a mortgage i would feel a lot happier about the whole thing. I honestly didnt realise anyone would take a chance these days on someone like me.
Thanks again!
1 person likes this
@livewyre (2450)
•
21 Nov 07
Hi
Of course, the landlord has his own reasons for selling the house, after all it is just an investment as far as he is concerned.
However, you don't say much about your tenancy agreement - it is likely he will have to sell it with you as sitting tenants which means you have some protection. It is also likely that he will sell to someone who wants a regular rental income from reliable tenants. Your agreement will be part of the sale, he can't just chuck you out if you have a contract.
Your best bet would be to start talking to your landlord about this, and find out where you stand.
For the record, my sister-in-laws house gets regularly valued by estate agents and hasn't gone on the market yet.... (this has been going on for five or six years or more...)
1 person likes this
@sephrenia (567)
•
24 Nov 07
Thankyou so much for replying!
your response has given me some hope. I'm seeing the landlord next week so i'll talk to him about what you said.
Thanks again!
@livewyre (2450)
•
26 Nov 07
Like you, I often spend time fretting about something when addressing the issue head-on is actually a much better use of ones time... It makes sense to talk to the landlord. He may be able to reassure you that he expects to sell to the rental rather than residential market.
A lot of landlords have recently been hit by rising mortgage interest charges, he may be one of those that has been stung by the deflation of the 'buy-to-let' market. He may even be in a worse financial position than you right now...!
@livewyre (2450)
•
26 Nov 07
Oh and thanks for the 'best answer' - have you tried housing associations BTW?? they will be geared up to help you buy your own place as well as provide accommodation for rent. If you are seriously interested in buying, they sometimes offer schemes where you pay part-rent, part-mortgage and they pay some of your mortgage for you. I don't want to get false hopes up, but it might be worth pursuing for the future if not right now.
@beaniegdi (1964)
•
21 Nov 07
Have you tried the local council to see if they have any houses available, if you have children you would be a priority and they are not always on estates, some really nice private houses belong to the council. You might find you don't have to go on a waiting list and it's better to try them then make an assumption that you won't get one. I'm on an ex council estate, twin valley, and it is really nice where we are, very quiet with big, big gardens. Plus you wouldn't have to put down a deposit on one just move in and start paying rent. You could always do it until you found something else you really wanted. Good luck and try not to panic, easier said than done I know. If the doctor didn't give you anything try kalms and relaxation excersises.
@sephrenia (567)
•
24 Nov 07
Hi there,
I talked to my local council and they were useless to be honest. All that they could tell me was that even for those who are homeless and that they have a legal duty to house there is an 18 month waiting list and as i have a roof over my head i wouldn't get priority status which sucks big time.
Our local council isn't exactly leaving me brimming with confidence over the whole housing issue but i've registered with their housing department anyway to bid on houses just in case.
Thanks again for replying though, it was a good idea :)
@kwenge (2487)
• Kenya
21 Nov 07
Am sorry am not in England but i thought I can just tell you how sorry I felt for you after reading this discussion. In our country you can sue your landlord if he does something like this to you. He should give you two months notice before even thinking of evicting you or else he can be sued. Try looking for options near you hope you get. Everything happens with a reason, maybe something good will come out of all this. I wish you luck.
1 person likes this
@sephrenia (567)
•
21 Nov 07
hey thanks for replying here.
It's different here, because were on short term let, he doesnt have to give us more than two weeks by law which majorly sucks but what can i do?
I am looking into other options and i hope that i can get it sorted out pretty quickly.
Thanks again for replying
Emma
xx
