Cost of living crisis.

[Greg2607]

To be fair... I hate the Tories more than most... but the Cost of Fuel is absolutely driven by the Russian Invasion of Ukraine. 

 

Now the Government COULD reduce fuel duty etc, they won't obviously, but they could. ... but you can't really blame Covid for Fuel prices right now. 

[Thefox81]

12 minutes ago, Spudulike said:

I've renewed my season ticket but the cost of getting to games is going to be eye watering (270 mile round trip). Might be missing a few. 

Dont blame you in the slightest that would be some £££s. My work is a 20 mile round trip with no public transport anywhere near. Im spending the weekend sorting my bike out so i can cycle to work instead to save some money.

[grobyfox1990]

12 minutes ago, Greg2607 said:

To be fair... I hate the Tories more than most... but the Cost of Fuel is absolutely driven by the Russian Invasion of Ukraine. 

 

Now the Government COULD reduce fuel duty etc, they won't obviously, but they could. ... but you can't really blame Covid for Fuel prices right now. 

Out of interest why do you think it’s driven by Russia alone. Oil prices aren’t at record highs and we still have dry powder to pump more 

[Greg2607]

25 minutes ago, grobyfox1990 said:

Out of interest why do you think it’s driven by Russia alone. Oil prices aren’t at record highs and we still have dry powder to pump more 

It's not solely the Ukraine invasion obviously. Don't forget that Oil is bought in US dollars and the value of the GBP has dropped significantly as well. making it more expensive for us to buy. 

 

I'm sure inflation as a result of Covid has some impact, ultimately, as Wages go up plus transport costs, it has inflationary pressure on the price at the pumps, but i don't think the price alone is as a result of Covid. 

 

 

[grobyfox1990]

25 minutes ago, Greg2607 said:

It's not solely the Ukraine invasion obviously. Don't forget that Oil is bought in US dollars and the value of the GBP has dropped significantly as well. making it more expensive for us to buy. 

 

I'm sure inflation as a result of Covid has some impact, ultimately, as Wages go up plus transport costs, it has inflationary pressure on the price at the pumps, but i don't think the price alone is as a result of Covid. 

 

 

Completely agreed, there's no one sole issue. FX rate is a good point too, cable has pretty much consistently dropped this year

[Wymsey]

Bet the Citizen's Advice service and the like are inundated with financial support requests..

[Thefox81]

16 minutes ago, Wymsey said:

Bet the Citizen's Advice service and the like are inundated with financial support requests..

Surely that is what they are there for? I used citizens advice about 18 years ago as i was goimg to be evicted from my rental property being young and dumb rent came last. Citizens advice was a mediator between me and my landlord whch resolved itself and me and ex landlord are on good terms. Think citizens advice gets a bad rep cos they try to get the best deal for their client. I cant praise them enough.

 

[Wymsey]

24 minutes ago, Thefox81 said:

Surely that is what they are there for? I used citizens advice about 18 years ago as i was goimg to be evicted from my rental property being young and dumb rent came last. Citizens advice was a mediator between me and my landlord whch resolved itself and me and ex landlord are on good terms. Think citizens advice gets a bad rep cos they try to get the best deal for their client. I cant praise them enough.

 

I hope my post didn't come across as sticking my nose up to such services; I've known someone who was having a rough time financially and mentally who said he can't speak highly enough of Citizen's Advice who helped him in different aspects and treated him as an individual and tailored the support that he needed for his needs.

 

Just saying that they must have a big waiting list of people in genuine, urgent need who require their advice/support.

[BeardyFox]

Got a text message from my landlord saying they have to/want to increase the rent by £100pcm. Really not sure where we stand, I was half expecting a raise but not by that much.

[Crinklyfox]

26 minutes ago, BeardyFox said:

Got a text message from my landlord saying they have to/want to increase the rent by £100pcm. Really not sure where we stand, I was half expecting a raise but not by that much.

Are you on a fixed term (usually six months or a year contract) which is due to end soon?  If not it may be worth taking a look at your contract to see if it gives the landlord the right to amend the rent at any time.

 

I don't know what you're paying now but £100 seems quite a high increase for an average rental.  From the landlord's perspective if you've been a good tenant they may not wish to lose you, which is what they may do if they price themselves too highly.  It may be worthwhile speaking to local letting agents to determine the state of the market and what else is currently available.

[Spudulike]

3 hours ago, Thefox81 said:

Dont blame you in the slightest that would be some £££s. My work is a 20 mile round trip with no public transport anywhere near. Im spending the weekend sorting my bike out so i can cycle to work instead to save some money.

Perhaps too much to hope the Government would've done something about it by Aug 6th. Refineries profiteering making up for their losses during covid. Feels like one big scam and not long before we start seeing civil unrest. 

[BeardyFox]

29 minutes ago, Crinklyfox said:

Are you on a fixed term (usually six months or a year contract) which is due to end soon?  If not it may be worth taking a look at your contract to see if it gives the landlord the right to amend the rent at any time.

 

I don't know what you're paying now but £100 seems quite a high increase for an average rental.  From the landlord's perspective if you've been a good tenant they may not wish to lose you, which is what they may do if they price themselves too highly.  It may be worthwhile speaking to local letting agents to determine the state of the market and what else is currently available.

We’re on a rolling 1 year contract which is up in November. But they want to do it from next month. I’ve been told that it’s only allowed to be increased by 5%. 
 

A house literally 10 doors down that’s more modernised and slightly bigger is on for £750. Last year a house 2 doors down was on for the same. Not sure if I can put in a counter offer at that? 

[Big Dave]

29 minutes ago, BeardyFox said:

We’re on a rolling 1 year contract which is up in November. But they want to do it from next month. I’ve been told that it’s only allowed to be increased by 5%. 
 

A house literally 10 doors down that’s more modernised and slightly bigger is on for £750. Last year a house 2 doors down was on for the same. Not sure if I can put in a counter offer at that? 

Landlords can increase rent by any amount they wish, but only once per year (if you are on a rolling tenancy).  Guidance says that any rent increases should be "fair and realistic", however this is guidance.  If the rent he now wants to charge will bring it in line with similar properties on the market, I would say it is "fair and realistic".  Just a bit of a pain with everything else going up.  Landlord also needs to give you at least 1 months notice.  The landlord should really be serving a 'notice' on you to confirm the increase and the start date.

There is nothing stopping you from negotiating with your landlord to see if you can meet somewhere in the middle.

[FoxesDeb]

1 hour ago, BeardyFox said:

Got a text message from my landlord saying they have to/want to increase the rent by £100pcm. Really not sure where we stand, I was half expecting a raise but not by that much.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/renting-privately/during-your-tenancy/challenging-a-rent-increase/#:~:text=Your landlord has to give,any other type of tenancy.

[The Year Of The Fox]

Germany with some common sense 🙌🏼🙌🏼

[Sol thewall Bamba]

On 17/06/2022 at 14:24, BeardyFox said:

Got a text message from my landlord saying they have to/want to increase the rent by £100pcm. Really not sure where we stand, I was half expecting a raise but not by that much.

Absolutely hate this, there is no chance their mortgage has gone up by anywhere near this amount, even if they're on a tracker which they won't be. Pure greed. 

[grobyfox1990]

22 minutes ago, Sol thewall Bamba said:

Absolutely hate this, there is no chance their mortgage has gone up by anywhere near this amount, even if they're on a tracker which they won't be. Pure greed. 

It’s definitely pure greed at that amount but other than mtg’s every other cost will have gone up. Service charge, insurance, service contract(s) cover, estate agent fees.. 

[leicsmac]

7 hours ago, The Year Of The Fox said:

Germany with some common sense 🙌🏼🙌🏼

... is the national equivalent of restarting a forty a day smoking habit now because "hey, I can worry about that lung cancer in ten years time, right?" really common sense? Gratifying, certainly, but common sense?

 

Other solutions do exist and Germany taking this one isn't sensible for a few reasons.

[The Year Of The Fox]

On 17/06/2022 at 14:24, BeardyFox said:

Got a text message from my landlord saying they have to/want to increase the rent by £100pcm. Really not sure where we stand, I was half expecting a raise but not by that much.

That’s a bit shite

A couple of months ago I thought it was pretty obvious that a recessions on the cards.

 

I decided to buy myself out of my current BTL deal (should’ve expired next May) and lock in for 5 years. That way I’m not having to pass on the costs of a high interest mortgage to my tenant next year

[ozleicester]

[BeardyFox]

Thanks everyone who has replied, looks like my best option is to go in with a counter offer and see if we can compromise.

[ren]

On 09/06/2022 at 16:57, ren said:

Been for an interview for a job offering working from home whenever I want to. Granted the salary slightly is higher than my current salary, but working from the office 5 days a week with the current fuel prices is just unnecessary for a job you can do from anywhere.

 

I'm not even unhappy at my current workplace but the money saved on fuel and the flexibility has made my mind up for going for the other role.

 

I imagine this will be the case for many others in the coming months if the prices keep going the same way.

After an application process of 3 stages I managed to land the job. The money saved from working from home with the current fuel prices is an absolute no brainer for me. I have also heard rumblings of other employees within the business wanting to move to hybrid/remote roles to keep their monthly costs down at the minute.

 

Companies insisting on full time in the office for work which can be done remotely may start to struggle unless fuel prices come down significantly.

[The Year Of The Fox]

17 minutes ago, ren said:

After an application process of 3 stages I managed to land the job. The money saved from working from home with the current fuel prices is an absolute no brainer for me. I have also heard rumblings of other employees within the business wanting to move to hybrid/remote roles to keep their monthly costs down at the minute.

 

Companies insisting on full time in the office for work which can be done remotely may start to struggle unless fuel prices come down significantly.

Well done on getting the new job and good luck. 

[coolhandfox]

32 minutes ago, ren said:

After an application process of 3 stages I managed to land the job. The money saved from working from home with the current fuel prices is an absolute no brainer for me. I have also heard rumblings of other employees within the business wanting to move to hybrid/remote roles to keep their monthly costs down at the minute.

 

Companies insisting on full time in the office for work which can be done remotely may start to struggle unless fuel prices come down significantly.

Well done.

 

Make sure you look into any tax breaks you can get from home working Claim tax relief for your job expenses: Working from home - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

[Sol thewall Bamba]

10 minutes ago, coolhandfox said:

Well done.

 

Make sure you look into any tax breaks you can get from home working Claim tax relief for your job expenses: Working from home - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Does this affect your tax code at all?