No recession in the rental market!

Monife

Why are rents still so high?

The OH and myself want to move somewhere in Dublin North City, preferably Santry/Beaumont but have now widened the search to Clarehall and that side of the North City. It has to be along a good bus route to the city centre (for the OH) and have parking for myself.

I have been trawling the net for months but most of the places are either too expensive (€700 is our budget, OH only getting a few hours at the mo, agency work, random places) or you wouldn't let your dog live in them.

Some people have the cheek asking for such high rents for some of the cr*p out there imho.

I am itching to move by the end of May. Am I looking in the wrong places? Are we living in a dreamworld with our budget?

Can anyone suggest any other towns that are half decent, good bus route, and good road to Swords?

wyndham

It's rent allowance and the artifical floor it creates. What about Balbriggan and further north?

who_ru

i know how you feel, but remember rents are asking rents only. you can try and explain your situation and say that you have a strict budget to keep to.

it's extremely frustrating that rents are so high considering the situation the country is in, and the fact that everyone's income has been cut, and will be cut again in the future.

stick to your guns, remain polite and hopefully you will get sorted.

edellc

wyndham wrote: »

It's rent allowance and the artifical floor it creates. What about Balbriggan and further north?

I dont know what you mean by that most places wont take RA so how can it create an artificial floor :eek:

Monife

wyndham wrote: »

It's rent allowance and the artifical floor it creates. What about Balbriggan and further north?

Too far for the OH for work and I don't think I would want to live there either as all my friends and family are in Bray, Co. Wicklow and surrounding areas.

who_ru wrote: »

i know how you feel, but remember rents are asking rents only. you can try and explain your situation and say that you have a strict budget to keep to.

it's extremely frustrating that rents are so high considering the situation the country is in, and the fact that everyone's income has been cut, and will be cut again in the future.

stick to your guns, remain polite and hopefully you will get sorted.

Thanks. Would anyone recommend me phoning the agent/landlord of an apartment for say €850 or €800 and just being out straight, let them know I don't want to waste their time or mine and that my maximum budget is €700 and can have the one months rent in advance and deposit (and references if needed) and would they be interested? Or how would you word that kind of conversation? I am good on paper but in person/on the phone or on the spot, I tend to ramble.

who_ru

edellc wrote: »

I dont know what you mean by that most places wont take RA so how can it create an artificial floor :eek:

i think a lot of LL's figure, 'okay worst case scenario, i can go for a single mother who can get 930 euro p.m. RA', and kind of sets his/her rent against that price. it does act as a benchmark i think.

the price of 1 bed apts is particularly ridiculous, they are either just below the price of 2 beds, or the same price as 2 beds, and in a few instances higher than the price of a 2 bed.

the rental market in dublin is pretty depressing really. poor quality apts, woeful electric storage heating, little or no storage space within many apts, many LL's don't have a BER cert and are not interested in getting one either, prices seem uniform across the city regardless of location, availability of amenities.

it's hard to find the right place.

who_ru

Monife wrote: »

Thanks. Would anyone recommend me phoning the agent/landlord of an apartment for say €850 or €800 and just being out straight, let them know I don't want to waste their time or mine and that my maximum budget is €700 and can have the one months rent in advance and deposit (and references if needed) and would they be interested? Or how would you word that kind of conversation? I am good on paper but in person/on the phone or on the spot, I tend to ramble.

that's exactly what you should do. it's a conversation between adults, they have a service available, you want to avail of it. it's like buying a house, the likelihood of paying the asking price on a house is remote, so people make an offer below the asking price, the vendor expects this, probably factors this into the price in the first place.

ring around, as you say, emphasis the fact that you have references, are good tenants, that you have a budget like everyone else. if i was asking for 850pm with no takers, and an empty apt, well i'd be foolish not to consider offers below what i'm asking.

good luck.

axer

The problem is there a lot of people out there with flats that have high mortgages to pay. They are trying their best to try and get enough rent to cover the cost or come close to the cost of the mortgage when in fact realistically the flat should have been repossessed as they cannot afford it. The problem is repossessions are not happening as much as they should be thus giving landlords time to try and get the higher rent amounts.

As soon as the banks start repossessing and apartments start selling at their real prices then the new landlords can afford to rent out the apartments cheaper and still make money.

I just hope Labour do not get their way with any 2 year moratorium that they were spouting before. Whatever about saving the mortgage payers it is the renters that are getting shafted at the moment and we were not the idiots buying over priced property.

noxqs

Investment landlords don't have an inherent 'right' to have someone pay off their mortgage. And I can tell you I scan daft almost daily, and alot of apts. haven't been moving in months.

Especially the ones with the worst furniture/decor. Some of it I wouldn't even let a dog live in, location isn't everything. And landlords have to start decorating their places in a modern fashion if they want to compete for the renters who can afford those prices.

Try to see how many places you can find good decor in dublin for 700e or thereabout. Then see if you can find any place which includes a dishwasher (a very basic modcon).

Good example of a laughable place for 700: http://www.daft.ie/searchrental.daft?id=1042152

odds_on

who_ru wrote: »

i think a lot of LL's figure, 'okay worst case scenario, i can go for a single mother who can get 930 euro p.m. RA', and kind of sets his/her rent against that price. it does act as a benchmark i think.

the price of 1 bed apts is particularly ridiculous, they are either just below the price of 2 beds, or the same price as 2 beds, and in a few instances higher than the price of a 2 bed.

the rental market in dublin is pretty depressing really. poor quality apts, woeful electric storage heating, little or no storage space within many apts, many LL's don't have a BER cert and are not interested in getting one either, prices seem uniform across the city regardless of location, availability of amenities.

it's hard to find the right place.

I agree and that goes for estate agents advertizing house for sale as well.

SI 666 of 2006 Regulations, Part 3 Section 7 (2)
A person who offers for sale or letting (whether in writing or otherwise) and any agent acting on behalf of such person in connection with such offering, shall produce a printed copy of the BER certificate and advisory report in relation to the building to any person expressing an interest in purchasing or taking a letting of the building.

a person[ (a landlord or his agent) who contravenes any requirements of the Regulations commits an offence. Such an offence is punishable by fine on summary conviction not exceeding €5,000.

the_syco

Monife wrote: »

It has to be along a good bus route to the city centre (for the OH) and have parking for myself.

Why bus route? Maybe look at places next to dart/luas/train stations?

Monife

noxqs wrote: »

Good example of a laughable place for 700: http://www.daft.ie/searchrental.daft?id=1042152

This is what i'm talking about. Like how can they call the above place 700!!! ALOT of places on the rental market like this for similar or higher price!! It's depressing!

Azureus

^ Why is their sitting room a hallway?? Whoever pays €700 for that is crazy.

There are some big 1bed apartments around clare hall that are asking €850, but I know that there a good few of them so Id say maybe try ringing the letting agent and pleading your case! Once you offer the deposit and first months rent upfront Id say theres a good chance theyd let it go for a good bit less, maybe even down to the €700. Great transport links and free parking. Just a thought
I can PM you a link if you'd like to give it a try (got a 2bed in the complex recently and the letting agents are absolutely lovely, although strict on references etc, this is why i mention it)

If you find somewhere you like in general there would be no problem ringing the letting agent/landlord and explaining your situation. Once your upfront and can provide references/deposits, Id say a lot would be willing to accept it over possible bad tenants paying €100 a month more-itll cost them more in the long run.

syklops

Monife wrote: »

This is what i'm talking about. Like how can they call the above place 700!!! ALOT of places on the rental market like this for similar or higher price!! It's depressing!

That place is a joke. Its basically a tunnel, so you cant swing a cat in there.Do you think the guy put his briefcase on the stand to make it look like there was a TV in there?

I remember looking for a flat, 2 years ago. I was living in a nice house in a nice part of Dublin but I couldn't afford the Celtic Tiger rent anymore(I cringe now when I think what I used to pay), and I went looking for somewhere to move to. I was shocked at the amount of really bad quality properties. Dozens of places that were never intended to have someone living in them that had been painted and furnished, and their owners looking for 7-800 euro a month for them. Some places I had to give them credit for the creative ways they had come up with to hide the fact that the places was a **** hole.

I'll never forget one place. Its kind of hard to describe, but the kitchen and living room were on the first floor, and the stairs up to them, was in the middle of the floor, with banisters on either side of the gap where the stairs was, and laid over the banisters and screwed down was the kitchen work top/kitchen table/breakfast bar. You couldnt get you knees under it, because the bannister was in the way, and if you were chopping veg you would be continually dropping them down the stairs.

They had basically taken what could have been a nice albeit small 1-bedroom terraced house, and turned it into a 2-bedroom apartment in the hope of making more money from it. I still wonder who in their right mind took it, if anyone.

Monife

Azureus wrote: »

^ Why is their sitting room a hallway?? Whoever pays €700 for that is crazy.

There are some big 1bed apartments around clare hall that are asking €850, but I know that there a good few of them so Id say maybe try ringing the letting agent and pleading your case! Once you offer the deposit and first months rent upfront Id say theres a good chance theyd let it go for a good bit less, maybe even down to the €700. Great transport links and free parking. Just a thought
I can PM you a link if you'd like to give it a try (got a 2bed in the complex recently and the letting agents are absolutely lovely, although strict on references etc, this is why i mention it)

If you find somewhere you like in general there would be no problem ringing the letting agent/landlord and explaining your situation. Once your upfront and can provide references/deposits, Id say a lot would be willing to accept it over possible bad tenants paying €100 a month more-itll cost them more in the long run.

That would be great if you could PM me that link. Would one landlord reference suffice or do you need more? Have lived in the current place a year and previous place 9 months but before that was living at home.

axer

Are you sure you would want to live in Clarehall? I work here but I dont know if I would live here. Too many scumbags living closeby.

Monife

axer wrote: »

Are you sure you would want to live in Clarehall? I work here but I dont know if I would live here. Too many scumbags living closeby.

Is there? A friend lives there and she said it is a lovely area.

I just don't know anymore. Places either have scumbags or the ones that don't the prices are through the roof.

I think I could accept a small few scumbags for a nice apartment in a reasonable area for a decent price.

It seems anyway, that anywhere in Dublin is going to have its fair share of bad eggs.

axer

Monife wrote: »

It seems anyway, that anywhere in Dublin is going to have its fair share of bad eggs.

Thats true - you're always a stones throw away anyway. Is it the area around the hilton that you are thinking of? or in that big development across the road?

SteoL

Keep looking is all I can say. After years of living in dog boxes I got a lovely apartment for the same price (€750) as one of the dog boxes and it's in Glasnevin within a 5 minute walk of Botanic gardens. Am in heaven

ricman

There are large 1 bed flats ground floor or basement ,in some of the older houses eg cabra ,north circular road,clontarf, that are quite safe and are cheaper to rent than an apartment .Look in buyandsell ,the evening herald as well as daft.ie
Theres a lot of investors that bought apartments for 200k + in the boom and are now trying to cover the mortgage,they cant sell up cos they are in negative equity.

Monife

axer wrote: »

Thats true - you're always a stones throw away anyway. Is it the area around the hilton that you are thinking of? or in that big development across the road?

Don't really know to be honest. Don't know the area at all. I know I saw one apartment on Daft near the hilton but it said that was Balgriffin.

tesslab

Feel your pain OP. Have been looking for 4 months now and after seeing some of the places I wanted to burn my clothes after being in them! Went to see a house last week. Ceiling had collapsed in the kitchen and there was a huge leak coming through from the bathroom causing mold on the collapsed ceiling. Looked at the bathroom (no window or extractor fan) and a huge blanket of mold on the ceiling. Estate agent told me I was awful fussy and they wouldn't take anything less than 850 pm. Asked if they were planning on fixing the ceiling and his answer was " Sure just close the kitchen door and ya don't have to look at it. You'll spend most of your time in the sitting room anyway!" Told him if it was the "distressed look" they were going for they hit the nail on the head with that one!

Needless to say the search continues....

ricman

Its against building regs to build a bathroom with no window , or ventilation outlet.Theres a section in dublin city council who are supposed to inspect private rented accomodation.If you look on daft.ie you can see photos of the apartments for rent.Why would anyone rent a house with a leak,mould and a collapsing ceiling?IF you see a house like that you can report it to the local authority housing department.

Ray Palmer

ricman wrote: »

Its against building regs to build a bathroom with no window , or ventilation outlet.Theres a section in dublin city council who are supposed to inspect private rented accomodation.If you look on daft.ie you can see photos of the apartments for rent.Why would anyone rent a house with a leak,mould and a collapsing ceiling?IF you see a house like that you can report it to the local authority housing department.

An extractor fan is not a requirement a vent is enough.

Azureus

Monife wrote: »

Don't really know to be honest. Don't know the area at all. I know I saw one apartment on Daft near the hilton but it said that was Balgriffin.

In relation to the discussion on the area above, the one I linked you to is at Balgriffin, right beside the Hilton hotel (not the development opposite it-thats Belmayne). Clare hall shopping centre is a 2min walk
As for the area I dont know whether its officially classed as Clare Hall/Balgriffin, all I know is that the address is malahide road, Dublin 17, but Ive had no trouble here at all! I posted a thread up here before I moved wondering the same about the location because its close to Darndale/Coolock but theres no hassle where I am, so personally I wouldnt rule out anything in the area Just ym 2cents. You can search for the thread I posted on it and it had nothing negative about the area either.

As for references, we only needed one-that of our last landlord, so one is fine. They also wanted a a work reference and a bank statement to prove we had cash flow, as well as the deposit. All fairly standard, theyd no unreasonable demands and were really nice to deal with. Good luck with your search!