Rent to Increase - Opinions Please

Kintarō Hattori

Hey Guys,

My GF and I rent an apartment in the New Hardwick which is in Dublin 7. It's a one bedroom place. We currently pay €1000 at the moment. Our lease is almost up and we want to renew it. The landlord informed me that the rent will be going up but he hasn't told me by how much. I've had a look on daft at similar properties in the area but I'd like your opinions too on how much you think would be a fair price to pay for this place.

The images below are of the apartment, please excuse any mess.

Living Room 1
http://www.flickr.com/photos/liamandagnieszka/2494745163/

Living Room 2
http://www.flickr.com/photos/liamandagnieszka/2495559332/

Bedroom 1
http://www.flickr.com/photos/liamandagnieszka/2494741189/

Bedroom 2
http://www.flickr.com/photos/liamandagnieszka/2495555504/

Hallway
http://www.flickr.com/photos/liamandagnieszka/2494748671/

Bathroom
http://www.flickr.com/photos/liamandagnieszka/2494752949/

Also to anyone who is a landlord and may be reading this post I have a question or two if you don't mind. If we are going to stay here another year there are one or two things we would like the landlord to change:

The second sofa up by the window isn't used at all and only takes up space. Would it be unreasonable to ask him to remove this?

There is a glass panel in the shower. This isn't very good at keeping the floor dry and we were thinking of asking him to put up a rail and curtain. Again is this too much to ask?

Finally this may be a bit cheeky. The blue sofa is about 3 years old and was used by the previous tenants as well. It's very uncomfortable and lumpy as hell. Would it be cheeky to ask him to replace this?


In our defence we are quiet tenants and don't cause any trouble, we have no wild parties etc. When we first moved in we had a pretty major coackroach problem which I couldn't get either the letting agent or landlord to sort out for six weeks. Eventually it was sorted out after I paid some exterminators €115 of my own money to come and sort out.

I know it's a long post so thanks for your patience.

Diceicle

I wouldn't pay more than €1100 thats for sure. I'm in a similar sized place and pay €1000 and am a similar distance to town.
I'm sure you could haggle with your landlord over the rent increase amount (I did) because it seems to me that there are plenty of apartments available to rent in Dublin, around Dublin 7 and 8 especially, so your landlord would be stupid to let good tenants go for the sake of a few Euro.

ronbyrne2005

Sounds like he is chancing his arm. Tell him there are loads of one bed aprtments in the area for around 1000euro and you are'nt paying anymore. I looked at daft and theres loads of one beds for rent. PRint off a few adverts for one beds from daft to back up your case, remind him of the expense your incurred from cockroaches and if he is'nt reasonable I'd tell him to f off and give him the required notice and rent elsewhere from an appreciative landlord.

Trinity

I'm renting a poor standard place at the moment for 1400 so not sure if my opinion counts :eek:

But no i have been renting for 5 years and i most definately would not pay more then 1000. You are lucky in a sense you dont have kids to lug around and have a bit more freedom to move, i know its a pain in the ass but for the sake of saving a couple of hundred a month i would do it.

Dublin1600

1 bedroom, cockroach invested apartment for €1000 = US$1550 + possible rent hike. Are you crazy!!!

latenia

I'd ask him to put some carpet in the bedroom-those tiles must be bloody freezing in the winter

The_Conductor

Rents are trending downwards- not upwards.
If you check DAFT- for example here you will find plenty of 1 bed apartments in the D7 area for under 900- never mind over 1000. For exceptional properties (e.g. 2 balconies, 2 parking spaces, secure storage) they may get a premium (of up to 1150 for a 1 bed).

Personally I would suggest to the landlord a EUR100 reduction to EUR900 per month, as you have been good tenants etc. (not really expecting a reduction- but its a good bargaining position). I would print a load of D7 properties at 900 or under from DAFT to strengthen your case- it will give the landlord food for thought........

I would not expect the landlord to remove the second couch or replace the first one- regardless of whether you consider it to be a bit lumpy or not. You can pick up some very comfy cushions for it locally which would transform it. Re a shower curtain- the landlord might agree for you to get a curtain and rail yourself (they are very reasonable) but will probably want the glass door to remain.

Re the suggestion that you get the tiles in the bathroom swapped for a carpet- don't go there- you'll regret it.......

Ps- the apartment does look rather compact- the landlord really is chancing his arm suggesting he/she will increase the rent. Likely he/she is paying more back on the mortgage with the increase in interest rates, and is trying to pass this onto you......

adam.number2

Hmmm, Shane I followed the link you gave... from that I would have thought somewhere between 1000 and 1100 was about the right price. There were a couple at 900, but by far the majority were 1000+... I could calculate the average and median, but I'm not at work now so... ;-)

Kintarō Hattori

Thanks for the great advice guys, I've taken it on board.

The_Conductor

adam.number2 wrote: »

Hmmm, Shane I followed the link you gave... from that I would have thought somewhere between 1000 and 1100 was about the right price. There were a couple at 900, but by far the majority were 1000+... I could calculate the average and median, but I'm not at work now so... ;-)

There are a couple of examples from Smithfield and Churchstreet of around 850-900- and if you are willing to consider the North Circular Road area, Phibsborough or Cabra there are loads of examples around 600-700 mark.

What I think though- instead of looking up the average & mean is simply print off 4 or 5 from the actual area (rather than going to the other end of D7) below 1000 (there are examples there- maybe not on the first page- but they are there) and use those.

latenia

smccarrick wrote: »

Re the suggestion that you get the tiles in the bathroom swapped for a carpet- don't go there- you'll regret it.......

I said bedroom not bathroom-the flooring in the place is more suited to a Spanish villa than a Dublin apartment.
On the other hand I can see 70s style jacks making a comeback in the next couple of years with lavender and turquoise sanitary wear, carpet around the toilet, and toilet paper kept in a Spanish dancer thing:pac:

The_Conductor

latenia wrote:

I said bedroom not bathroom-the flooring in the place is more suited to a Spanish villa than a Dublin apartment.
On the other hand I can see 70s style jacks making a comeback in the next couple of years with lavender and turquoise sanitary wear, carpet around the toilet, and toilet paper kept in a Spanish dancer thing:pac:

Feck- don't get me started. I'll post a few interesting pics from a few houses we're looking at at the moment- one looks like the extravagent bathroom has carpet from a plush early 70's Parisian hotel, another is a shocking purple colour.....

Kintarō Hattori

Good news! I got a call from the landlord yesterday and he told us that he was happy with us as tenants and that he's not going to increase the rent. Woo Hoo.

The_Conductor

Well done. Don't be afraid to sit down and bargain in future.

Kintarō Hattori

smccarrick wrote: »

Well done. Don't be afraid to sit down and bargain in future.

I won't, not after all the good advice I've received here.