First Time Landlord

mortgagenewbee

Hi,

I am looking to rent my property out and have been advised by friends and family that the best option is to give the house to the council who will rent the place out.

Has anyone on this forum let the property out to a council. If so, what's your experience like, is it preferable letting it out to the council or using the services of an estate agent?

Fire_Fox

What are the terms and conditions of your BTL mortgage/ consent to lease? Many lenders do not permit landlord's to let to those on benefits.

mortgagenewbee

I'm mortgage free but would like to remortgage in a years time.

Fire_Fox

Perhaps you might speak to a broker at this stage to find out whether how easy you will find it to remortgage with a 'DSS' tenant in situ?

G_M

Assuming permission is not an issue (see Firefox above)
Pros:
you delegate a lot of the hastle (though you are still legally liable as landlord
you (usually) get guaranteed rental income

Cons:
Rent will be lower than market rate
Condition of property will deteriorate (councils rarely re-instate as promised to original condition)

mortgagenewbee

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Perhaps you might speak to a broker at this stage to find out whether how easy you will find it to remortgage with a 'DSS' tenant in situ?

this is an option i will consider

mortgagenewbee

G_M wrote: »

Assuming permission is not an issue (see Firefox above)
Pros:
you delegate a lot of the hastle (though you are still legally liable as landlord
you (usually) get guaranteed rental income

Cons:
Rent will be lower than market rate
Condition of property will deteriorate (councils rarely re-instate as promised to original condition)

thanks

Your right that rent is lower than the market rate. The council is willing to offer 1083.33 per month where the market rate is about 1300.00 or more.

I think the management fee of agents is about 13% so income is £1131. So about £48 pcm less if I go with Council.

Touch choice really. I could just manage the property myself if I go to the market and when I'm ready for remortgage get an agent to manage the property.

G_M

Don't under-estimate the damage your property might suffer. Doubtless I'll get slated by DWP claimants who are model tenants, but it's more about how the council maintain the property during and at the end of the period. There have been horror stories from LLs here.

Having said that, there are horror stories about everything here!

elise83_2

While I'm sure there are lots of good council tenants (my grandmother was one for years and kept her home immaculate, got on well with the neighbours etc.) two of the apartments in our building have been rented out to the council once, and only once, because of all the hassle they had with the tenants. One had to go so far as to evict their tenant by boarding up the front door while they were out.

I'm sure some private tenants can be just as bad, especially in terms of upkeep of the property, however the private tenants in our block have been better behaved and get on better with the residents.

I suppose it all depends where you live and what kind of tenants you get - up in the North I have a friend who is a single mother of two and gets her house through the council. She keeps the place immaculate obviously to ensure that her kids have a good healthy environment to grow up in.

mortgagenewbee

elise83 wrote: »

I suppose it all depends where you live and what kind of tenants you get - up in the North I have a friend who is a single mother of two and gets her house through the council. She keeps the place immaculate obviously to ensure that her kids have a good healthy environment to grow up in.

The property is a very good size family home, next to a good school which is in demand. So am expecting a family to move in with kids aged between 11-18. So one would expect a family to keep the house in immaculate condition.

Fire_Fox

If you run a search on the board you will understand why GM says "don't under-estimate the damage your property might suffer."