Sunday Times on haggling for a lower rent:

Ms. Starkey, 26, of London, haggled down the cost of her rent by negotiating through her estate agent, saving £60 a week. Her flat in central London was advertised at £325 a week — but she bargained the landlord down to £265 a week, saving £60 a week off the original asking price or £3,120 a year.

Sarah Shortridge of Foxtons, the estate agent, said: “This is an unusually high saving. However, with the economy so unpredictable and mortgage rates higher than they were two years ago, landlords may be prepared to negotiate to secure tenants for two or three years, instead of six to 12 months.”

So how much should you ask the rent to be lowered?

If the rental seems to be priced right compared to other offers in the same location, about 5-15% discount is definitely alright to ask.

That doesn’t mean you are guaranteed to get the discount, as it depends on too many factors – the demand in the area, the landlord’s financial situation, your credibility, etc, etc.

Read our 8 Tips For Negotating a lower Rent.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 14th, 2008 at 12:37 pm and is filed under For Tenant. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.