Private renting question, advice needed

teabag29

Ok so we currently live in a council house and have done since the children were born. We are looking to relocate to the seaside but no available exchange so we are seriously looking into private renting (we have viewings next week).

My concern is this, do you have basically the same rights in a private rented property as obviously i'd lose the security of a long term tenancy. Im concerned because I have 4 children one of which has a catalogue of special needs and so the noise levels can get high at times.... what would happen if we ever got a complaint and the landlord wanted to evict us (we never have but obviously it could happen) or if the landlord was selling up and we couldnt find another property in time or raise the money..... would the council help to rehouse us or would we be left homeless? Im a bit scared of giving up my secure housing but its the only way to get to where we need to be..... its scary all this grown up stuff lol

BitterAndTwisted

Private tenants can be evicted at any time for any reason or no reason at all. The only security is the six or 12 month fixed-term agreements you sign.

Unfortunate/unlucky tenants can find themselves having to find another property with all of the usual outrageous referencing fees on a regular basis.

Council/Housing Association secure tenancies are like ruddy hen's teeth and getting scarcer by the minute and I'd be VERY WARY of giving one up for any reason whatsoever.

Be scared about giving up your secure tenancy. Be very scared indeed.

madison-nyc

I've private rented for 15 years and have only ever been asked leave at the end of a tenancy once as they wanted to sell the house and I had two months notice which was plenty of time to find somewhere else.


When you go for your viewings make sure you ask what the position is of the landlord, ideally you want someone who has a few properties which they rent out, they tend to be long term investors. It's the ones who inherit and rent when they decided what to do with the property which are the fickle ones I've found.


Good luck whatever you do, go on viewings and see what you can get for your money then you can decided if it's worth the move.

RAS

What is the Local Housing Allowance in the area into which you want to move? You realise that you will only be able to afford the lowest 30% of private rentals?

And that low cost private housing by the seaside are like hen's teeth outside of Margate and many landlords will not take anyone on Housing Support?

Add to that the costs (deposits, credit referencing fees, holding fees, agent's fee) of moving every 6 months (or being fleeced to re-new the contract).

And the fact that as a LA/HA tenant if anything goes wrong, you ring up and the LL will repair (eventually) whilst private LLs are not obliged to repair in the same way.

teabag29

so it costs to renew the tenancy when its up? what would happen worse case scenario if i couldn't afford the fee every 6 mths n they evicted us, would i have any rights or would the council help us at all or would we be made homeless

mumonashoestring

It doesn't normally cost to renew a tenancy with private renting but the local council aren't obliged to bail you out if you do lose your tenancy with your private landlord. Obviously having kids you'd probably be a priority for them, but I expect there'd still be a waiting list and your landlord would not have to wait for the council to house you before ending your lease.

RAS

teabag

You would be advised to go over to the renting and buying forum but the basics are

if you are in England and Wales and a property is let via an agent

1. They will charge substantial fees (plus the deposit) for set up the tenancy

2. fees to renew the tenancy

If you do not want to renew on a 6-12 month basis or do not pay the fee, this becomes a statutory periodic tenancy.

This means that you can stay until the LL wants you leave or you want to leave. At any time the LL can issue a no fault S21 notice with 2 month notice of their intention of taking back the property. You do not have to leave at the end fo the 2 months but at that point the LL will start court action to remove you.

The bit that does not come across clearly enough is that agents need to maximise income and it is in their best interests to have properties churning over every 6-12 months with a nice fee income. If you want to stay longer, you pay the fee or risk them telling the LL you want to move.

The local Authority should allow you to register as potentially homeless when you get towards the end of the S21 period but will almost certainly insist that you stay in the property at least until possession is granted and possibly until bailiffs are appointed as otherwise they will consider you to have made yourselves homeless. (Bang goes your LL reference by the way)

In England and Wales the Local authority can discharge their responsibility to you regarding homelessness by helping you gain another private tenancy; they are NOT obliged to provide you with social housing.

System

The cost of renting a house big enough for 4 children and one (or two?) adults will be much higher in the private sector. If you were to come unstuck and get evicted or get into rent arrears you would have to go through the process of applying to the council for housing all over again.

RAS

PS Watch out for the agencies that sting multiple people for £x00s in holding fees on one property and then refuse to refund. Even if you get a CCJ they just close the company and open another one.

barbarawright

RAS wrote: »

What is the Local Housing Allowance in the area into which you want to move? You realise that you will only be able to afford the lowest 30% of private rentals?

And that low cost private housing by the seaside are like hen's teeth outside of Margate and many landlords will not take anyone on Housing Support?

Add to that the costs (deposits, credit referencing fees, holding fees, agent's fee) of moving every 6 months (or being fleeced to re-new the contract).

And the fact that as a LA/HA tenant if anything goes wrong, you ring up and the LL will repair (eventually) whilst private LLs are not obliged to repair in the same way.

Am I missing something? The OP doesn't mention housing benefit.

PlymouthMaid

To be honest you would probably be mad to give up secure council housing for the unknowns of private rented. Also a large rented house near the seaside will cost an absolute fortune I should think so, whether on housing benefit or not ,it doesn't seem wise. Even if you currently have plans to work and earn at the seaside, remember that 'life is what happens when you are busy making other plans' and you would be horribly vulnerable then.