who rents?

[The Black Adder]

Hi.

Does anyone here rent their house? We are going to move home soon and are looking at renting a place for a few years. Does anyone have any advice on this?

Thanks

[struth]

I have a housing assoc house, and am very happy with it. Been here 16 years. Usually find they are best although getting one aint easy.

[Sovereign]

We run a building and maintenance business. We do an awful lot of maintenance work fir letting agents so I know the field fairly well, if I can be of help ?

[symon]

I do. My main advice is to give yourself enough time to find a place you like rather than a place you need. Where I live (Bristol) you have to be quick to get to see a place and then decide if you want it. For me, I have had to make a decision on my first viewing or I would probably miss it. I don't know if this is what you will experience, but you might. Letting agents are expensive but give some piece of mind.
Happy to answer questions if I can.

[synsei]

Don't rent off our landlord if you like building repairs taken care of promptly and fixed to an acceptable standard. That's the best advice I have for you ;)

[Macca]

Be prepared to commence legal action to get your deposit back when you move out.

Rent from a friend or at least someone you know if you can. Letting agencies are rob dogs and dodgy/dishonest/incompetent for the most part.

[The Black Adder]

Many thanks for your advice guys.

The thing is, our house is now sold stc. So we need to find somewhere pretty quickly. We would prefer to stay in our village but it's very expensive. We have two little un's too s we need somewhere in easy reach of a school and a doctors. Not an easy call. Peter, yes I feel that we do need to be prepared to say yes to a place on the first viewing too. They get snapped up really quickly.

Are there any hidden fee's in regards to estate/letting agents?

[Macca]

Are there any hidden fee's in regards to estate/letting agents?

The landlord pays the fees so effectively you pay them via the rent. The main problem with letting agencies, as I said before, is getting your deposit back off of the bastards.

[The Black Adder]

Yeah... I have heard of that before, Martin. Something to keep in mind for sure.

[MikeMusic]

Best of luck Joe

I have heard that it is normal for deposits to be lost so Martin's advice is sound.
Take pics before you go in for pre existing conditions.
Don't trust them
Check, for example that the gas boiler has been serviced fairly recently, no damp problems.
Read the lease carefully, boring but essential IMO

When it comes to commercial leases it as far, far worse
Anyone taking a lease these days is going to get screwed for 'dilapidations'
I bet that will trickle into private rent sooner or later

[The Black Adder]

Great advice, Mike... thanks matey.

[Sovereign]

Many thanks for your advice guys.

The thing is, our house is now sold stc. So we need to find somewhere pretty quickly. We would prefer to stay in our village but it's very expensive. We have two little un's too s we need somewhere in easy reach of a school and a doctors. Not an easy call. Peter, yes I feel that we do need to be prepared to say yes to a place on the first viewing too. They get snapped up really quickly.

Are there any hidden fee's in regards to estate/letting agents?

You will need to pay the agents referencing fees, usually 6 wks deposit and 1 months rent up front; you sometimes have to pay admin fees and after your first years there are renewal of contract fees. Other than that there shouldn't be other fees to pay, maybe ask the agents what their fees are before you look at their properties.

[Sovereign]

Best of luck Joe

I have heard that it is normal for deposits to be lost so Martin's advice is sound.
Take pics before you go in for pre existing conditions.
Don't trust them
Check, for example that the gas boiler has been serviced fairly recently, no damp problems.
Read the lease carefully, boring but essential IMO

When it comes to commercial leases it as far, far worse
Anyone taking a lease these days is going to get screwed for 'dilapidations'
I bet that will trickle into private rent sooner or later

The old horror stories of Landlords keeping the deposits are a thing of the past, there is now a Tenants Deposit Scheme. So you are safe and protected now. Here is a link to the Government Scheme. https://www.gov.uk/tenancy-deposit-protection/overview
HOWEVER, your letting Agency MUST have an inventory carried out and you MUST go through it with a fine tooth comb, making sure all the little defects nics and chips around the property are taken note of. Very much like when you hire a car. If you find defects with the property and its not on the inventory, edit the inventory on the appropriate pages and send it back to the Agents to draw up a final draft for you to sign. I think, but you may want to check, you have 14 days to do this after you have moved into the property. The Inventory is your reference point, for when you move out of the property the current condition of the property will be compared to the inventory and you will be charged for any remedials / making good accordingly. If you want to hang up any pictures, fit shelves or the like, get written confirmation before you do anything. The agents and Landlords we work for are often fair but at times the Landlords will ask the agents to take off more money from the deposit than they should, and they have not considered normal wear and tare to the property etc. If you are informed then you are very safe, many tenants don't challenge things. Most deductions that are challenged with a Government ombudsman are won in favour of the tenant.
PM me at any time should you need to, particularly mid term if you are in a battle with the agent / Landlord.

[synsei]

Okay it's name and shame time - My daughter and son-in-law rented a property from Lets Rent up until a couple of years ago and I ended up having to get involved due to the atrocious treatment they were receiving from the company. The list of issues with both the company and property are far too numerous to mention here, but in a nutshell the property was virtually uninhabitable and for the last 8 months they were there they had no heating or hot water due to a cantankerous boiler and lackadaisical staff. They both describe this period of their lives as the worst they've ever experienced. At one point I visited Lets Rents office to complain and was told to 'fuck off, it's none of your business' by a member of staff. Needless to say I wrote to head office concerning the incident but never received a reply. Phone calls I made to HO were also regularly rebuffed or redirected to dial tone. As a result I would advise anyone who is considering renting from these cowboys to reconsider and go elsewhere.

p.s. Needless to say the extortionate deposit paid to Lets Rent for the property never materialised when they moved out.

[struth]

Shocking Dave. A public whipping would be too good for folk like that

[Macca]

I only rented through an agency one time and they ripped me off for the deposit. One massive kick off later including going round to their office and behaving just the legal side of 'menacing' and I got about 25% of it back. All the other rentals I have had over the years were through a friend who has a fairly extensive portfolio so I got cheap rent and no need for a deposit. The houses were not really in a condition were they could be let out to a family, though.

[Sovereign]

Okay it's name and shame time - My daughter and son-in-law rented a property from Lets Rent up until a couple of years ago and I ended up having to get involved due to the atrocious treatment they were receiving from the company. The list of issues with both the company and property are far too numerous to mention here, but in a nutshell the property was virtually uninhabitable and for the last 8 months they were there they had no heating or hot water due to a cantankerous boiler and lackadaisical staff. They both describe this period of their lives as the worst they've ever experienced. At one point I visited Lets Rents office to complain and was told to 'fuck off, it's none of your business' by a member of staff. Needless to say I wrote to head office concerning the incident but never received a reply. Phone calls I made to HO were also regularly rebuffed or redirected to dial tone. As a result I would advise anyone who is considering renting from these cowboys to reconsider and go elsewhere.

p.s. Needless to say the extortionate deposit paid to Lets Rent for the property never materialised when they moved out.

Thats a bad one Dave. However I see similar situations from time to time. I tell tenants that if the Landlord is not prepared to maintain the property then they must report it to the Council. The council will write a comprehensive report and enforce that the work is carried out. There are problems with this though, mainly being that the LL can serve notice to the Tenant and if the Tenant does not have the money to move, deposit and 6wks rent + fees, then that puts them in a very difficult position. If it came to this and the tenant does not have the fees to move then I don't know what would happen, Being Britain I'm sure there is some provision somewhere.
This is an extreme case though.

[The Black Adder]

What do you guys think to oil fired heating?

[struth]

What do you guys think to oil fired heating?

My brother has oil fired heating. He said it is fine as long as the boiler is well maintained although it is getting pretty expensive now. Parrafin has shot up in price . Alas he has no real choice as there is no gas where he lives

[Sovereign]

Yes servicing is key.

[The Black Adder]

Hmm.. ok. There are a few options with places with oil fired heating so I suppose it could be a possibility. Thanks chaps... :) Keep it coming... :)

[synsei]

Thats a bad one Dave. However I see similar situations from time to time. I tell tenants that if the Landlord is not prepared to maintain the property then they must report it to the Council. The council will write a comprehensive report and enforce that the work is carried out. There are problems with this though, mainly being that the LL can serve notice to the Tenant and if the Tenant does not have the money to move, deposit and 6wks rent + fees, then that puts them in a very difficult position. If it came to this and the tenant does not have the fees to move then I don't know what would happen, Being Britain I'm sure there is some provision somewhere.
This is an extreme case though.

This is exactly what happened James. I contacted the council and as a result an Environmental Health officer visited the property (My daughter has two kids btw, one was a babby and the other a toddler at the time). She was so appalled by the state of the property and the living conditions she commissioned a surveyor to carry out an assessment of the property and then generate a report detailing the faults. He found 48 major issues with the fabric of the property and a further 32 which were likely to either develop into major issues at a later date or that were inconveniencing the tenants. Copies of the report were given to both my daughter and Lets Rent.

Lets Rents reaction was to commission their own surveyor who identified just one fault, which was linked to the boiler, and he wrote 'In my opinion it is highly likely that the tenant has been tampering with the unit', which was utter bollocks. The original report stated the boiler had been poorly installed and maintained, and then shortly thereafter the threatening letters began to arrive, including a demand for remuneration for the damage to the boiler.

By now my poor daughter and her husband were both desperate and deeply depressed. Because high levels of damp in the property due to various structural issues was causing health problems for the kids, my daughter decided to abandon the property and go live with my ex-wife, her mum of course. My daughter then drafted a letter to Lets Rent informing them that they were giving up the tenancy. I strongly advised them against this as they would effectively be making themselves homeless which would seriously affect their ability to apply for social housing. Things became terribly complicated subsequently which lead to my daughter having a mental breakdown as Lets Rent became increasingly aggressive in their dealings with her and her husband.

The upshot of all this is that my son-in-law dug his heals in and capitulated, paying Lets Rent everything they asked for. I can understand his decision as he was desperate to extricate his family from the dire situation they were in, but it sticks in my craw that despite official intervention Lets Rent got off scot free... :steam:

[Macca]

That's terrible Dave. He shouldn't have paid them anything, their threats were all hot air.

[Sovereign]

Dave I've been in Building and maintenance for 15 years. Heard and seen it all, but that is the worst I've heard. I actually feel sick as I type. I can only imagine the desperation of your kids and grandchildren. Really sorry you all had to walk through that!
Hope that you can some how recover and move on.

[The Barbarian]

We rent from the council. Dead cheap rent, the Rent increases are very reasonable when they come around. Exceptional Servicing of the Boiler each year. Very good maintainance of the whole property. Superb cleaning service of the outside stairwell ever Thursday. Anything Technical goes wrong they are on it no probs.

[synsei]

Dave I've been in Building and maintenance for 15 years. Heard and seen it all, but that is the worst I've heard. I actually feel sick as I type. I can only imagine the desperation of your kids and grandchildren. Really sorry you all had to walk through that!
Hope that you can some how recover and move on.

They have moved on now James and the family are living in a reasonably spacious, modern semi with no issues. They are still struggling financially due to the incident however they are gradually hauling themselves out of the mire. Things are looking up ;)

[The Black Adder]

Blimey, Dave... that sounds really awful. Glad they ok now.

[MikeMusic]

What do you guys think to oil fired heating?

Not for rental surely ?
If you are buying look at ground source or similar
Higher install cost, way lower to run and cheaper by the year (month ?)

[The Black Adder]

Hi Mike. Yes there are rentals with oil fired heating.. so just wondering if anyone uses oil for heating. Probably start a seperate thread for that one to be honest.

[Ninanina]

I have a housing assoc house, and am very happy with it. Usually find they are best although getting one aint easy.
Me too... and I love my house... They are very hard to come by...but my situation at the time was living here or be homeless... it's a very long story and I won't bore anyone with it... but it worked out well in the end..

I am very happy where I am now and would recommend a Housing Association property to anyone...

[Andrei]

Me too... and I love my house... They are very hard to come by...but my situation at the time was living here or be homeless... it's a very long story and I won't bore anyone with it... but it worked out well in the end..

I am very happy where I am now and would recommend a Housing Association property to anyone...
Here in New Zealand a State House or an ex State House tends to be a smaller house, typically two or three bedrooms on its own quarter acre section. They are highly desirable now because they were built to really good standards, though they are not in the leafiest suburbs. The governments of the 50s and 60s simply understood a couple of basic notions - 1 we want to look after these tenants as they are our citizens (and voters); 2- If we build it well now we will have less to maintain in the future. Many of the tenants had the option of purchasing, and there were in fact government incentives for this sort of thing. We have bought such a house 4 years ago and so far our maintenance bill has been $0.00.

Another thing Bev: have you ever noticed that when something bad happens it often turns out well?

[Haselsh1]

They have moved on now James and the family are living in a reasonably spacious, modern semi with no issues. They are still struggling financially due to the incident however they are gradually hauling themselves out of the mire. Things are looking up ;)

Desperately sorry to hear about these kind of shitheads. All I can hope on your behalf is that somehow, they get what they deserve at some point in the future. I do so hope that your family are all OK now and are moving on with what is clearly a fucking site more important. I truly feel for you.

[synsei]

Desperately sorry to hear about these kind of shitheads. All I can hope on your behalf is that somehow, they get what they deserve at some point in the future. I do so hope that your family are all OK now and are moving on with what is clearly a fucking site more important. I truly feel for you.

Thanks Shaun. It was a nightmare scenario for sure however despite all that happened they are truly happy in their current home and are very much looking forward to a reasonably stress free Christmas :)