Getting your rent reduced when in contract?

Zascar

I moved into a new apartment building about 7 months ago - signed a 1 year lease. It was a brand new build and we were one of the first people to move in. The upper floors were not even finished. We thought we got a good deal at the time but realistically rents have come down so much we are now paying a lot more than we should - €1550 for a 2 bed in Sandyford - but it is big and very well finished. However we found out our two neighbours either side are only paying €1300 - €250 less than us. We asked out letting agent acting on behalf of the builder and he said it should not be a problem, but to contact the new managers - apparently the builder went out of business and the bank has taken over, appointing new properly managers!

Anyway, we wrote to them and said we want our rent reduced, but they came back and said we are in a 1 year lease and that cannot be negotiated until the end of the term. Now under normal circumstances this may be the case but I'm hearing stories all over the place about people getting their rent reduced when within a lease.

How should I play this? There are loads of empty apartments in the block and they would never rent it at €1,550 - so what should we do to try to get it reduced?
Thanks

D3PO

Zascar wrote: »

I moved into a new apartment building about 7 months ago - signed a 1 year lease. It was a brand new build and we were one of the first people to move in. The upper floors were not even finished. We thought we got a good deal at the time but realistically rents have come down so much we are now paying a lot more than we should - €1550 for a 2 bed in Sandyford - but it is big and very well finished. However we found out our two neighbours either side are only paying €1300 - €250 less than us. We asked out letting agent acting on behalf of the builder and he said it should not be a problem, but to contact the new managers - apparently the builder went out of business and the bank has taken over, appointing new properly managers!

Anyway, we wrote to them and said we want our rent reduced, but they came back and said we are in a 1 year lease and that cannot be negotiated until the end of the term. Now under normal circumstances this may be the case but I'm hearing stories all over the place about people getting their rent reduced when within a lease.

How should I play this? There are loads of empty apartments in the block and they would never rent it at €1,550 - so what should we do to try to get it reduced?
Thanks

sounds like your problem is that the bank now own the property , they have probably already had sgnificant crystalised losses on the development and will be keen to reduce that where possible.

this wouldnt be the norm but Id think its likely they wont budge unfortunatly.

Zascar

Thanks, yes this is true I'm sure, but why not reduce our rent rather than having yet another apartment lie empty???

D3PO

Zascar wrote: »

Thanks, yes this is true I'm sure, but why not reduce our rent rather than having yet another apartment lie empty???

and thats exactly the angle you need to take. Has the bank definatly taken ownership or is the management with a reciever ?

if its with a reciever try and negotiate you might have to offer to lock yourself into a longer lease.

i.e agree to sign a new least for a 17 month period to replave the existing lease i.e covers the remainde rof this lease plus a new 1 year lease.

without a gaurantee that you will stay they would be unlikely to accept any reduction because whos to say you dont take the reduction and walk at the leases end

RentDayBlues

We did this recently - got rent reduced by €350 by agreeing to sign another 12 month lease - we still had 3 months left on the original lease that we had already got a €150 reduction on.

gurramok

You're entitled to a rent review and the new 'owners' are entited to reject a decrease despite all the evidence around them of reducing rents. You can get payback by moving at the end of the lease to a new place and they lose good tenants.

Do what the posters are suggesting, negotiate a new one as part of any deal if you want to stay.

astrofool

gurramok wrote: »

You're entitled to a rent review and the new 'owners' are entited to reject a decrease despite all the evidence around them of reducing rents. You can get payback by moving at the end of the lease to a new place and they lose good tenants.

Do what the posters are suggesting, negotiate a new one as part of any deal if you want to stay.

The rent review is once a year, and as they signed the lease less than a year ago, will not be entitled to a review till the year is up (they can always ask for one anyway).

In a falling rental market, there is no way around these issues, would you be happy if they increased the rent mid lease if the market rate was increasing for example?

The market was also falling 7 months ago, your rent at the time should have taken that into account.

Zascar

Both of our neighbours renegociated their rent mid-contract.

whizzbang

Zascar wrote: »

Both of our neighbours renegociated their rent mid-contract.

perhaps they are renting off investors rather than the bank?

astrofool

Zascar wrote: »

Both of our neighbours renegociated their rent mid-contract.

Why would this make a difference? They either will renegotiate or not, they are under absolutely no obligation to renegotiate.