u/Confident_Yak_1411

Hello! A family friend has asked me for help working out what to do.

First time they are renting privately, in London, through an agent. Rent has gone up by £200 this month. There was no warning about this, although I have checked their rental contract and the last line includes a clause that states that their rent will be increased by a set percentage at the end of the first, second and third years.

Sadly, they have used a no deposit scheme (I wasn’t aware of this until just now). They are planning to leave as landlord has been pretty useless with upkeep of the boiler, and this has tipped them over the edge. They simply can’t afford the increase.

Strangely, their contract includes the use of a deposit (despite them using a no deposit scheme). Does this invalidate the contract? Or does the no deposit scheme just mean the landlord has received the deposit from elsewhere?

What are their options? My initial thought was to continue paying the previous amount and then deduct it from the deposit when they leave, but it doesn’t appear that is an option now.

Thanks

Hello! I’m an early 30’s white male (single, no dependants) from a pretty nondescript area of the UK. I’m pretty concerned about the direction that the UK is going in economically, socially and politically. Added to that, I just feel that there is a whole world out there for me to explore, and I feel entirely out of place here in the UK.

I am still undecided on where to go. Japan, Nigeria and Germany are top of my list, but I am open to other suggestions. I have no idea where to start with the above countries, and I’m mainly looking for advice on specific areas (cities/neighbourhoods) that I could move to. I plan to take vacations to the areas before committing, I’m looking to make the move a couple of years in the future.

My work life is pretty complex and falls into two areas. Hence the wide difference in the above countries.

I’m a professional music producer and DJ. Not famous or anything, but I’ve made a living out of it. I’ve worked on countless records, had music signed to major labels and stuff on TV.

On the DJ side, I’m one of the top UK high street (I.e not famous) DJ’s for African music. So a move to Nigeria is attractive, as I could combine my DJ’ing and recording experience to find work there. I speak a little Yoruba, and all of my partners over the last decade or so have been African, so I am familiar with the culture, food, customs etc.

On the other side, I also make electronica music, under an entirely different name. It’s starting to gain traction, and most of my fanbase is in Japan and Germany. I am an avid consumer of Japanese culture, but have never been there (or to any of the other countries in the list in fact). Japan in particular is interesting, as I have received some attention from industry people there.

An ideal scenario (if Nigeria isn’t the right move) would be to find an area with a thriving electronic music scene, which also has an African expatriate community that I can DJ at venues for. Which is what attracts me about Germany (Berlin?).

I am reasonably expecting to be in a situation within 2 years, where I am reliably earning around £4K a month passively from music royalties, routed through a UK Ltd company.

I am unsure how the visas would work with this set up. Can I sponsor myself through a company like this?

Any thoughts appreciated!