So moved into my new flat,getting electric, water rates, council tax ect takes for ever and I have no days off work to sort things and ended up doing them on line. Well the water one I had to phone and was given 2 passwords to log in depending if they e mailed me or not SO WHY DO THEY NOT WORK Grrrrrrr, then today got a snotty email from estate agents demanding to know why rent has not been paid, damn bank has not set up standing order by the look of it. \Had to pay on my card over phone but was so pissed at the email I sent a ->-bleeped-<-ty reply back. Sent another later to apologise ::) and now I have to do 6 modules of E learning before the end of the month to keep my job, that's 3 hrs of my very limited home time gone Grrrrrr again . should be doing it now but too pissed about it all . And work as every time I try to get a specific day off it gets blocked , wanted my birthday off to get my ears pierced but some one booked 2weeks off after I did and they got them and we are not allowed more than ! person of at a time so not even my loo day .MORE GRRRRRRRRR. That's better needed to get that off my breast forms (still have a sense of humour)! Rant over .
As a renter myself who has no chance of ever buying I will say renting in the UK is awful, we all hate it - landlords can be horrible, moving expensive, estate agents useless, the rules so restrictive I can see why people go through hell trying to buy rather than rent. They make it that way though; you know how rigged the system is to keep the house prices high and everyone scrabbling to buy.
And now having paid the rates up to the free (Feb-March) period on the family home I have got a rates bill for feb march of £161 payable now RTF and it looks like they haven't allowed for single person relief . More c**P to sort then.
Davina,
This too shall pass.... You'll get things done and then things will be better.
Hugs,
Jeanette
I know but its all at once and no time off work to sort things, tbh working 6 days a week is what is really pigging me off and my idiot manager. Time for bed as it will soon be alarm clock time again ::)
Quote from: Kylo on March 19, 2017, 11:52:19 AM
As a renter myself who has no chance of ever buying I will say renting in the UK is awful, we all hate it - landlords can be horrible, moving expensive, estate agents useless, the rules so restrictive I can see why people go through hell trying to buy rather than rent. They make it that way though; you know how rigged the system is to keep the house prices high and everyone scrabbling to buy.
On the other side... though I live in the USA, I rent out some homes of mine in the uk. I don't think I'm too horrible!
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getting sorted, water rates done, council tax sorted just waiting on electric bill
Quote from: Valkyrie_2 on March 27, 2017, 04:39:59 PM
On the other side... though I live in the USA, I rent out some homes of mine in the uk. I don't think I'm too horrible!
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If you think it's ok to
live in the house then you're probably wonderful. My landlord won't even allow me to put up a picture or decorate. Most don't allow pets, some don't even allow children. It's like most here want you to just pay them to barely use the place at all, god forbid think you can get comfortable in it. I'd get better quality of life living in a hotel to be honest. I won't go in to what my landlord's been up to but let's just say it's probably illegal.
Quote from: Kylo on March 27, 2017, 06:11:00 PM
If you think it's ok to live in the house then you're probably not. My landlord won't even allow me to put up a picture or decorate. Most don't allow pets, some don't even allow children. It's like most here want you to just pay them to barely use the place at all.
And the homes are usually beige painted walls and brown carpets?
The problem is all the things you have mentioned mean when the tenant leaves, the place will need to be redecorated. With long term tenancy, that's no problem. The right to buy nonsense means landlords don't want long term tenants,
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Yes, but I am a long term tenant. Been here 7 years already, and they're lucky, because few would want to live in this shoe box with it's dodgy electrics any longer than necessary. The turnover of people in these tiny apartments is crazy. But they insist on dividing up a reasonable living space into smaller units to get more money don't they. These landlords actually want long term tenants but their attitude means they hardly ever get them. Only one guy in this entire block and the two buildings next to ours has been here longer than me. The rest are lucky to keep someone a year or more.
Quote from: Kylo on March 27, 2017, 06:39:53 PM
Yes, but I am a long term tenant. Been here 7 years already, and they're lucky, because few would want to live in this shoe box with it's dodgy electrics any longer than necessary. The turnover of people in these tiny apartments is crazy. But they insist on dividing up a reasonable living space into smaller units to get more money don't they. These landlords actually want long term tenants but their attitude means they hardly ever get them. Only one guy in this entire block and the two buildings next to ours has been here longer than me. The rest are lucky to keep someone a year or more.
Of course, it's profit maximization. The ideal would be a stack of 20x8 shipping containers with a bed and a bucket in each and charge rent.
It's easy for a renter to forget that though they may be a genuinely good tenant, fir every few good tenants there are real horrors that cause more cost in damage repair than the place would pull in, in a year.
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I've seen my share of gross landlords too. From the guy who disappeared off the radar because he landed himself in jail and therefore had the bank repossess the flat I was renting (with nobody letting me know of course) to the guy I'm stuck with now who is a repugnant lech (who'll probably get himself arrested eventually). Oh, not forgetting that one who turned up with a "friend" unannounced to tell me he was selling the place to him and gave me two weeks to get out when the contract required four and then resorted to threats. All of them contracted through "reputable" estate agents, mind you.
Yes, if I could afford to buy I would, because renting in this country is generally soul crushing.
Quote from: Kylo on March 27, 2017, 07:13:44 PM
I've seen my share of gross landlords, too. From the guy who disappeared off the radar because he landed himself in jail and therefore had the bank repossess the flat I was renting (with nobody letting me know of course) to the guy I'm stuck with now who is a repugnant lech and probably needs arresting.
May I ask why you are renting a flat? Here, in the USA, my home is an old schoolbus I converted into a motorhome. Some facilities might not be to everybody's liking but it works. It's currently parked at a friends place and I can always hire a lockup garage to store it while living in it. It's way cheaper than paying rent for a home.
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Not being well off enough to have options.
Quote from: Kylo on March 27, 2017, 07:26:18 PM
Not being well off enough to have options.
My option is hardly expensive. An old bus for next to nothing. It helps that I have a commercial driver's license. I built everything inside by hand.
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Interesting how people who can afford things often find it incomprehensible that a state exists where people can't.
I can't even get out of this rat box, much less buy a bus and buy everything for the inside of it to make it inhabitable. I would need to buy tools, I would need to buy the fittings and the furnishings, I would need to get a license to drive it, tax and insure it, and to pay for somewhere to park it around here in this, the county of ridiculously inflated rents and low wages and opportunities. I can't just up and leave from here unless I plan on being homeless and I can't just "find a better job" because the competition for jobs is such that the best I will manage around here even with my fairly decent qualifications and experience is part time cleaning. I don't suppose you'll be lending me the funds?
Well, no driving license is definitely a problem. That could be why you're in a financially sticky spot. I don't earn much. I'm a USA school bus driver.
As far as parking and insurance are concerned, rent a lockup garage, go live in your bus while you convert it as many others have done. Realistically, you don't need much to start with. I know plenty that sleep on the floor. You can use cloth for privacy and partitions or even newspaper over the windows.
Off the road, in a lockup, no need for tax, insurance nor a license.
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That would be difficult, considering I don't actually have the funds to buy a vehicle. Aside from that it would be very difficult maintaining my current job whilst living in a shell, since I need desks, lighting, electric, heating, water supply and internet to do it.
I assume you have the additional income from your rented properties making things easier.
Quote from: Kylo on March 28, 2017, 10:57:23 AM
That would be difficult, considering I don't actually have the funds to buy a vehicle. Aside from that it would be very difficult maintaining my current job whilst living in a shell, since I need desks, lighting, electric, heating, water supply and internet to do it.
I assume you have the additional income from your rented properties making things easier.
Actually, no. One is about to undergo renovation and another two have peppercorn tenancies for the next 10 years.
It sounds from your situation that your current job just isn't paying its way. Is it one of those work from home scams?
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I wouldn't fall for one of those. It's my own business. But like most businesses, it's subject to the larger economic conditions of the country. People would certainly have more disposable income to put back into the economy/spend on stuff if most weren't paying 50% or more of their income just to have four walls, wouldn't it.
I imagine living in the US is better if you would prefer to drive a bus and live in a bus over there. I'd rather be out of this country as well, if that were ever a possibility. Not likely for myself.
Quote from: Kylo on March 28, 2017, 04:34:29 PM
I wouldn't fall for one of those. It's my own business. But like most businesses, it's subject to the larger economic conditions of the country. People would certainly have more disposable income to put back into the economy/spend on stuff if most weren't paying 50% or more of their income just to have four walls, wouldn't it.
I imagine living in the US is better if you would prefer to drive a bus and live in a bus over there. I'd rather be out of this country as well, if that were ever a possibility. Not likely for myself.
Here, rents can be as low as $500 per month for a house or apartment in a not so good areA. I lived next to the jail in an area full of interesting people. I never had an issue as being the sole white person in a racist state, I think they were afraid of consequences. In any case I got used to sleeping with a 357 under my pillow.
How I came to live here is a story not to be related online. Suffice to say I'm now dual national which has its perks and pitfalls.
Food is cheaper, clothes are cheaper, cars are cheaper, fuel is cheaper. Electricity is expensive and wages are comparable.
The Chinese products in the stores here are way better than the Chinese rubbish in British stores. Seems they sell the junk in Britain. Mind, Chinese stuff is derided here but everybody buys it. Go figure.
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Still more hassle, Got an electric bill "to the occupier" for £410 so phone British Gas again to sort it out. Will owe them till new provider takes over so they checked reading from new supplier and found of peak readings are way off. Now have to pratt about seeing how much I use over a week to correct the amount,bugger
Quote from: davina61 on March 30, 2017, 03:53:55 PM
Still more hassle, Got an electric bill "to the occupier" for £410 so phone British Gas again to sort it out. Will owe them till new provider takes over so they checked reading from new supplier and found of peak readings are way off. Now have to pratt about seeing how much I use over a week to correct the amount,bugger
That sounds costly. My electricity bill here, when I had my own bill, was between $25 and $65 a month. $15 of that was standing charge and taxes. I was pretty miffed that over 50% of my usual bill was junk I had no interest in. That led me to curtail my electricity usage.
I built my motorhome to be electric independent.
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Quote from: Valkyrie_2 on March 30, 2017, 06:02:11 PM
That sounds costly. My electricity bill here, when I had my own bill, was between $25 and $65 a month. $15 of that was standing charge and taxes. I was pretty miffed that over 50% of my usual bill was junk I had no interest in. That led me to curtail my electricity usage.
I built my motorhome to be electric independent.
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Depending on the heat source, it might not be that far off. My summer bill for an all electric house peaks out at $300 and my winter bill is around $100. It's a big house and the heat pump accounts for a sizable part of the bill.
Quote from: Dena on March 30, 2017, 06:09:37 PM
Depending on the heat source, it might not be that far off. My summer bill for an all electric house peaks out at $300 and my winter bill is around $100. It's a big house and the heat pump accounts for a sizable part of the bill.
Well, where I'm staying now they have crazy peak billing. I've seen bills in some places I've lived hitting $600+ a month. That kind of usage comes from AC, mostly.
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That's from the previous occupant who has done a runner so hope fully it wont be to much, will read meter tomorrow and then next week to see. Am at work 6 days and out most Sundays so its sort of only what is used between 6pm and 10 pm cooker telly heaters at the moment.
Quote from: davina61 on March 31, 2017, 03:43:39 PM
That's from the previous occupant who has done a runner so hope fully it wont be to much, will read meter tomorrow and then next week to see. Am at work 6 days and out most Sundays so its sort of only what is used between 6pm and 10 pm cooker telly heaters at the moment.
I use just a single fan heater, microwave, steamer, slow cooker, fridge, laptop and phone/tablet plus lighting. That's all.
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