Landlords - how much do you keep in your emergency fund

haras_nosirrah

Just a general query really.

I have a property I rent out. I have 5k in a savings account for the house in case of repair or no rent. Mortgage is £725 a month, rent is £950

How much do others keep back? Slightly concerned this isn't enough. Is there a figure I should aim for?

Notmyrealname

£2k which is enough to cover several months rent or a replacement boiler.

haras_nosirrah

I was going for 6 months mortgage payments. Just concerned as a few threads on here recently about landlords not being able to afford costly repairs.

jjlandlord

IMHO, to be safe you should have a plan to survive 6 months without rent payment while also being able to pay for something like new boiler, kitchen, or bathroom (ie. a costly repair)

skint_chick

I've got 6 months worth of rental income for each of my properties and I also put 10% of the rent a month for each into an internet savings account to cover new furniture/carpets at the end of the tenancy. So far it's been fine even with a new kitchen and bathroom needed for one property. Is there something specific that's worrying you? You could start adding to your repairs account each month to build up your fund if you're worried.

myhouse_2

You should have funds for a 4-6 month void and some extra for essential repairs (which might be needed to get a tenant).

haras_nosirrah

I have just had to spend 1.5k on getting two rooms replastered and new carpets etc owing to a damp problem. Don't envisage any costly problems coming up but you never know. Had to borrow 6k to get the house repointed a few years ago hence the credit card and dad loan (fortunately everything on 0%)

I don't spend any of the surplus - all goes into the account for savings for the house but just wondering what other landlords had

GDB2222

skint_chick wrote: »

I've got 6 months worth of rental income for each of my properties

Umm, not exactly skint chick?

Notmyrealname

haras_nosirrah wrote: »

I have just had to spend 1.5k on getting two rooms replastered and new carpets etc owing to a damp problem.

Bloody hell. How big were the rooms? If it was half of that amount it'd still be too expensive.

haras_nosirrah

It was a bit more than just getting rooms replastered

There was no cavity wall which was causing the problem so they put in a false wall (in two rooms) to create a cavity, replastered the walls, took out and put back the built in wardrobes, fixed a ceiling in another room where there had been a leak, repaired the floor boards in one room as some had rotted, replaced an electric plug socket that was faulty ... it's been an expensive year.

blacksta

Property drama - there must be alternative ways of making money. Why panic over tenant not paying rent or other stress,