Renting My House Out to Council

Cardinal-Red

My partner and I are going to live in Australia for 2 years with work.

We own a 2 bedroomed flat in a little village in Essex. We don't want to sell (and even if we did, doubt we could!) so were thinking about renting the house out while we were gone.

One thing is, as we're away, we are unable to deal with issues that come up. So somebody suggested we see if the council wanted the place and they would manage it for us.

This all seems too good to be true, so anybody have any experience of this? Any pitfalls we should be considering etc?

Marcheline

Hi my council (in London) is always sending leaflets through the door asking for private landlords for this scheme, so I know it exists but have no experience of it myself. Don't know where in Essex you are but I found this link. http://www.colchester.gov.uk/Info_page_two_pic_2_det.asp?art_id=5501&sec_id=1471

It's on Colchester Council's website, under 'Housing' but there should be similar info on your own Borough Council's website, so maybe check that out and see if your Council's Housing department can give you further info about the pitfalls. I'm sure you'll get some stories on here from people who've used this scheme soon though. Good luck.

PasturesNew

I and a friend looked into this about 3 years ago.

For my house the amount offered was way too low. For mine, it was under half what an agent suggested I could get on the open market.

My friend's house I thought was ideal; it had two large bedrooms, an enclosed back garden and a large kitchen/diner. The location was in a small community on the edge of an area that had good employment for the region. The Council turned him down straight away saying they had no need for his sort of property in that location (which I find hard to believe as the lists were massive).

So, it's hit and miss. The only way you'll find out if it's for you is to phone the Council and ask them if they want a property like yours, where yours is and how much they'd offer. When I phoned, the man on the phone gave me an idea of how much they pay, nobody visited for that initial enquiry.

I don't know if two years might be a bit short for them, I thought it was 5 years they liked to have them for. They completely maintain the house and pay you the rent whether they have a tenant in it or not. They hand the property back to you in the same condition you gave it to them.

olly300

PasturesNew wrote: »

I don't know if two years might be a bit short for them, I thought it was 5 years they liked to have them for. They completely maintain the house and pay you the rent whether they have a tenant in it or not. They hand the property back to you in the same condition you gave it to them.

Not strictly true. I suggest you contact your local council and look at their specific website as each council has different rules.

I was researching the scheme for a colleague who lives in a London Borough and this particular council wanted you to sign up tenants for 3 year periods plus you had to do the maintenance. However it was unclear what amount of maintenance you were required to do on the property as essentially you left the property furnished with a cooker, floor coverings, curtains and washing machine point.

Pssst

Thats awfully thoughtful of you. I'm sure your neighbours will appreciate it.

Marcheline

Psst, I'm not a Council tenant and never have been, but you seem to be labouring under some some of misapprehension about all council tenants there. There are bad and good neighbours whether they be homeowners or not.

Pssst

Marcheline wrote: »

Psst, I'm not a Council tenant and never have been, but you seem to be labouring under some some of misapprehension about all council tenants there. There are bad and good neighbours whether they be homeowners or not.

Fair comment Marcheline though i do have an advantage over you in that i was brought up in council housing and was myself a tenant of such a property for some 10 years or so. I also work on a day to day basis in social housing.

As you say,its true that not all council tenants are bad but i do maintain that it is dangerous social experimentation to upset the traditional socio economic balance.

Still its every man for himself these days so lets not bother about neighbours.

socrates

PolishBigSpender wrote: »

That's a terrible thing to say about people, many of which may find themselves on benefits through no fault of their own.

I don't think you understood the sarcasm ... through no fault of your own

Marcheline

Psst, thanks for your response. I would like to say that I have some knowledge of council housing too: my nan has been a council tenant for 57 years and my dad was brought up on the same estate. Also our next door neighbours (I've lived here all my life) - although we're not on a council estate by any means - have always been council tenants: formerly a lovely elderly couple and more recently a young family, with a penchant for rather loud music! I would not call them bad neighbours though, as they are always polite and turn the music down when asked.

I think communication is key when dealing with any type of neighbour and the "unwritten rules of your road" should be spelled out straight away if a new neighbour starts overstepping the mark, whether they are council tenants or homeowners.

However, I do not disagree with you that NuLabour has been responsible for some terrible social engineering. In my opinion, the sooner we see the back of this Government the better!

Anyway, I'll stop hi-jacking this thread now!

Pssst

RomansProperties wrote: »

Your post was very usefull thanks very much

We are landlords and about 20% of our tenants are on LHA.

Back to the subject our local council approached us about housing homeless people from and advert we had put on gumtree. We have been letting to them for about 12 months so far and plan on increasing their percentage.

I'm sure your business will increase and good luck to you but would you have any of them or other social tenants as your neighbours?

socrates

RomansProperties wrote: »

Your post was very usefull thanks very much

We are landlords and about 20% of our tenants are on LHA.

Back to the subject our local council approached us about housing homeless people from and advert we had put on gumtree. We have been letting to them for about 12 months so far and plan on increasing their percentage.

Another one who has not read it properly IT WAS A SARCASTIC COMMENT! Read it that way and you will see what I mean

I can explain if you want but now its lost all its emphasis!