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Question about quality of rental properties

Never having privately rented before, I'm unsure as to what would be classed as normal with regards to the condition of rental properties, so I'd appreciate some thoughts please?

We're looking for a 3 or 4 bed family home, preferably detached with garden but we've been considering other properties too. Price bracket up to around £900 pcm. We've looked at them online first and some have looked fine but when we see them in person, we've been really disappointed.

We've only viewed 3 so far but have been pretty shocked at the state of them and either we've been unlucky or we're being unrealistic in our expectations. Hence this thread which will hopefully suggest which it is.

Property 1: described as 3 double bed but more like 1 double and 2 singles. You could technically fit double beds in them all but you wouldn't get anything else in 2 of them and you'd just be able to walk up the sides of the bed and no more. Kitchen 2.5m x 2.5m but had 3 doorways into it so useable space was limited to one bit of worktop a metre long. Hole in ceiling, and damaged floorboards (you sunk down if you walked on that bit of carpet). Only pictures online was of the outside.

Property 2: Peeling, dirty wallpaper, dark brown very chipped gloss painted skirtings etc, stained carpets, hole in back of bedroom door, damaged doorframe, built in cupboards for clothes storage were filthy and doors wouldn't close properly. Just generally rough. Letting agent sang it's praises and pointed out it's great 'useable space'. Not sure if we just have widely different standards. :undecided Online pics were of the outside, part of kitchen and part of sitting room, none of bedrooms.

Property 3: Pretty much more of the same.

One was a private LL, 2 were agency. I expected a rental property was likely going to be a bit rougher round the edges than your own owned home would be but is this really how it is?

The tv and radio shows are full of reports about how people can't afford to buy and so more are looking to rent so do people just rent things in bad condition regardless?

I don't want to say what area we're looking in but it's supposed to be 'sought after' and isn't a rough inner city type place so I thought rentals would be nice here.
Herman - MP for all! :)
«13

Comments

  • sooz
    sooz Posts: 4,560 Forumite
    I think you've just been unlucky.
    However, like house buying, if there is only a photo of the outside, it's for a reason.
    Did you give the agents any feedback?
  • Callie22
    Callie22 Posts: 3,444 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 1,000 Posts
    edited 18 June 2011 at 7:45PM
    In my experience, that sounds pretty standard for rentals. Maybe we've just been unlucky too, but having recently moved it was a case of picking the place that we felt was cleanable, and that we could live with. Every house we viewed was filthy, tired and needed attention, but that seems to be what it's acceptable to market. If I were new to this then I'd probably be really shocked at what agents and landlords are happy with, but having rented for a few years I think I've seen everything - holes in walls, leaking bathrooms, knackered kitchens, filthy toilets, broken windows, blood-stained beds (urgh), water running down walls ... and we definitely haven't been looking at the bottom of the local market.
  • Annisele
    Annisele Posts: 4,835 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Whereabouts are you? Where I am (in London) £900pcm would be hopeless unrealistic for a decent 4 bed. In other parts of the country it would be just fine.
  • aliasojo
    aliasojo Posts: 23,053 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    sooz wrote: »
    Did you give the agents any feedback?

    We didn't as we just wanted to be nice and I was worried about upsetting anyone or having them think I was 'difficult' in any way, just in case something came on their books I wanted to view in future.
    Callie22 wrote: »
    In my experience, that sounds pretty standard for rentals.

    If I were new to this then I'd probably be really shocked at what agents and landlords are happy with......

    I am shocked. I'm also getting a bit depressed at the thought of living in somewhere like this 24/7 for some time to come.

    We will eventually be renting our own house out but would not dream of putting it on the market in anything less than a clean and in good repair condition. I'm very surprised at what seems to be acceptable.
    Herman - MP for all! :)
  • aliasojo
    aliasojo Posts: 23,053 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Annisele wrote: »
    Whereabouts are you? Where I am (in London) £900pcm would be hopeless unrealistic for a decent 4 bed. In other parts of the country it would be just fine.

    Scotland. Rents for detached 4 beds start at £500 in some parts.
    Herman - MP for all! :)
  • Slinky
    Slinky Posts: 11,083 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    We rented out house out several years ago while we were living in another part of the country. One lot of tenants who took it said it was the first place they looked at that had been clean.

    We had 4 lots of tenants in 3 years and always made sure it was spotless between tenants, including redecorating 3 rooms before the last lot went in. It used to take me half a day each time to clean the oven!

    My feeling was there were a lot of grotty places out there (sorry, not what you wanted to hear).
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  • sooz
    sooz Posts: 4,560 Forumite
    aliasojo wrote: »
    We didn't as we just wanted to be nice and I was worried about upsetting anyone or having them think I was 'difficult' in any way, just in case something came on their books I wanted to view in future.

    .

    you don't have to be rude :)
    thank them for their time & comment the state of the properties, listing the reasons. Then ask what else they have on their books.
  • Alias_Omega
    Alias_Omega Posts: 7,917 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    If you like the property, why not contact the landlord through the agent to get things put right. This works both ways, you could ask them to make good before you move in, and they could ask you to make good before you leave.

    A property left empty, costs the landlord £££. So for <£200 it could be worthwhile them doing it for a long term rental income.
  • tbs624
    tbs624 Posts: 10,816 Forumite
    Eton_Rifle wrote: »
    Bear in mind that the dirt and damage you mention was caused by tenants, just like you.

    The deposit never seems to cover the real cost of the cleanup and damage repair and that's providing the tenants aren't dishonourable enough to evade the last month's rent and force you to use the deposit to cover it.
    ER - perhaps you need to improve your vetting procedures? The fact that a previous T has caused damage/left the place dirty should not mean that the LL leaves it like that for the next T. As the OPs says, many more poeple are now renting for various reasons and Ts are not some kind of general underclass. If damage/unpaid rent etc exceeds the deposit then pursue the T to court for recovery.
    Eton_Rifle wrote: »
    I can also tell you, from personal experience, that it soon gets pretty dispiriting for a landlord to clean up and repair damage out of his own pocket and restore the place to immaculate condition for the next tenants ... only to find that they leave it in an equally bad state.
    The vast majority of Ts do not treat their rented homes poorly and they are entitled to expect accomodation to be provided (& maintained)in a good state when they are paying the LLs mortgage fo them (and some, usually)
    Eton_Rifle wrote: »
    I make everything perfect again because I'm a decent, good person and very much believe in "do as you would be done by" but sometimes I feel like throwing in the towel and thinking "let the next set of pigs live in it"
    It's good to read that you do look after your property, but isn't tarring all Ts with the same brush as daft as a T who has had previous poor experiences of PRS LLs labelling *all* LLs on that basis?

    OP - have you tried contacing the local LL association or the PRS officer at the local Council? There may be a local LL accreditation scheme, and a contact list for LLs who self-manage their properties.

    As Sooz says, you don't have to be rude to let the LAs know that the properties that they have thus far shown you do not meet your expectations. If a property merely has poor decor, some Ts negotiate a reduction in the first month's rent in return for them doing the redecoration. Don't however sign up for any property on a verbal promise of improvements to be made by the LL - you'll probably still be waiting three to six months down the line
  • Mrs_Z
    Mrs_Z Posts: 1,123 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper I've been Money Tipped!
    I don't know about Scotland but here in South East, the demand seems to exceed the supply. Therefore, the landlord is not bothered because he can let out the place anyway. I recently saw a room that was up for rental and when I opened the curtains, i thought s**t, there's been a fire here - there hadn't, the frame (and part of the walls) were black with thick mould. And that room was up for £95 pw!!!

    I think part of the reason is also that any capital expenditure like renewing kitchens, bathrooms, boilers is not tax detuctable (only repairs are) so again, why would a landlord spent £££'s of doing a place up when he does not see a benefit for it? When we bought our BTL flat, I was told that it had been rented at £700pcm - personally, I would have been embarrased to show it to anyone. It was clean but nothing had been done to it since the '60s. So we replaced the kitchen and bathroom, put in new boiler, and white goods. We spent about £15k on it. It's now rented at £825pcm - so if you calculate how long it takes us to get our £15k back at extra £125pcm (10+ years!), you can see why most landlord would not bother. I guess it comes to standards at the end of the day - I would not be happy renting out something to someone where I was not prepared to live myself, and I'd rather have a clear consiousness and sleep well at night than an extra £50 in my pocket.
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