How negotiable are rental prices right now?

[d000hg]

If you want to buy a house right now, you have a lot of room to negotiate a big chunk off the asking price. Does the same apply to rented accommodation? I don't know if it's normal to negotiate price on rented property in the same way you would with buying - make an offer and wait for a response.
Are there any general 'rules' on this, and if so how is the current crash in house/mortgage prices affecting them? I could see that low interest rates mean BTL landlords can reduce rates without reducing profits, but I have heard rent prices are possibly rising as more less people want to buy right now.

[sasguru]

What a silly question. Everything in life is negotiable. By what margin, you need to find out.

[DimPrawn]

Of course rental prices are negotiable.

However, be prepared to move around every 6 months as the landlord finds someone willing to pay a higher rent.

[NetwkSupport]

i always negotiate rent down - even if its just £15 a month thats yer sky tv bill

start with a silly offer and negotiate upwards. not too silly that you lose it to another prospective renter tho....

[NetwkSupport]

However, be prepared to move around every 6 months as the landlord finds someone willing to pay a higher rent.

Unless its seriously cheaper than the landlord originally wanted to rent it out for the Agency fees for placing another tennant are usually approx 1 months rent so the landlord will be reluctant to turf you out for another tennant after 6 months.

[d000hg]

What a silly question. Everything in life is negotiable. By what margin, you need to find out.

Yes, that is the point of this thread... to know rules of thumb, since I'm more used to buying than renting.

[Codejock]

Not sure there really would be much room for negotiation (realistically) but you can try...

After all, it's about supply and demand. Nobody's buying at the moment, but everybody needs somewhere to live.

(Spoken like a true Slum-Lord)

[Moscow Mule]

Yes, that is the point of this thread... to know rules of thumb, since I'm more used to buying than renting.

Last august, landlord wanted to up rent by 5%. He hadn't changed it for 3 years previous. We agreed to 4% on the basis that he'd fix some things in the house. Happy all round.

When negotiating a starting point I think you can easily knock a couple of %age points off. However, a lot of landlords will be operating on tiny yields so YMMV.

[Solidec]

4 months ago in my area where was a shortage of good properties to rent, landlords market, now its reversed, a glut of 2beds to rent and lots of competition for tennants means lots of wriggle room.

[d000hg]

When negotiating a starting point I think you can easily knock a couple of %age points off. However, a lot of landlords will be operating on tiny yields so YMMV.

But why is their yield so low? e.g in Durham you're looking about £800/month for something ok. Most have been owned over 10 years by the landlord, when they cost probably £100K max. More recent BTL landlords may struggle but what about long-term 'professional' landlords?