u/Elladarcy18

Hi, my partner and i are moving soon for the first time not living in student properties after graduating from our postgrad degrees.
We encountered an issue today where a estate agent was tentative to let us view the property because with our estimated income we would fail the rent affordability checks. I offered that we both have reliable Uk guarantors (which we have been using for years in student property) but he said that made no difference. I think its relevant to say that I am on disability benefit hence why the income is lower, but my partner works.
We are still viewing the property after redoing some maths and negotiation etc so thats not an issue, but for future reference, can an estate agent completely refuse to acknowledge a guarantor? He said he was new, so was he maybe just misinformed? He said the company they use for rent affordability checks is “GoodLord” (which ironically is the company we use now for our guarantor service)
This is in England for reference, with a small local estate agents.

Tldr: can an estate agent refuse to acknowledge a good guarantor if we fail our rent affordability checks or is out estate agent confused, lol

Hi, moving house soon and was curious as to how regular it is to make an offer on a rental, e.g £50-£100 less than listed price pcm. Viewed one property where estate agent told us landlord was happy to accept offers (it was very run down and this made sense), but if asked for a reduced price when it wasnt explicit, would that be taboo/looked down upon? Also curious if I could put down a holding deposit and then negotiate? Does anyone have any experience/insight?

Im thinking a simple question at the viewing “would the landlord be open to offers”?

hi! i’m currently brainstorming for some final pieces for my art degree. i am trying to fighre out subtle ways to include writing in my work, i was curious if anyone had any insight into this idea,

would it work if i wrote a word over a finished painting with matte varnish? would it be readable at all? im thinking if it caught the right light, it would be, but i dont have much experience with the varnish process. has anyon tried this before? or have any examples of pieces that are partly glazed matte?

im not sure if im looking for suggestions here, maybe it would be nice to hear from others in a similar situation but i am open to advice i suppose.

i started writing all the details of it but im not sure its relevant so ill stick to the main bit: worrying about sleep and getting enough sleep is keeping me awake and making me exhausted, but the kicker here is that i have chronic fatigue and autism so i find this much more distressing, uncomfortable, and day-altering. it makes the stakes of sleep feel so much higher, which adds pressure, anxiety etc, ultimately making the situation worse. ive never been a great sleeper but its becoming a much more regular and distressing thing

if i have something to do in the day and ive slept badly, its not just a case of oh well, feel a bit tired and maybe go to bed early tonight - its headaches and nausea and body pain and increased distress and not being able to leave the house or do what i had planned. im not working right now but when i was i felt this creeping in then whenever i had to get up for work - the anxiety of not enough sleep keeping me awake

ive done well in therapy for emetophobia ocd but i feel a lot of my tools for that dont apply here, as its lots of “this bad thing wont happen and if it does you will feel better after and it will be over quickly”, but this keeps sort of manifesting itself and reinforcing the fear

i guess what im trying to ask is how do you practice logical thinking about something where the outcome is genuinely something to be feared?

edit: i feel the above question isnt phrased well, of course most ocd themes are things we genuinely fear. i guess i mean where the feared outcome is happening constantly and burning me out in the process