Letting a property to the council

Marvel1

Norman_Castle wrote: »

As with council housing, all costs will be covered by rental income and not funded by taxpayers.

Wouldn't the rental income be passed to the homeowner?

davidmcn

cjdavies wrote: »

Wouldn't the rental income be passed to the homeowner?

Yes, but as explained above it will be lower than the market rate you'd expect to pay to a landlord who still had maintenance obligations.

eddddy

AubreyMac wrote: »

What they don't mention is whether they pay full market rates (I presume not) or whether they contribute anything to repairs or boiler checks.

Does anyone know the realities of this?

The councils that I have come across use 'menu pricing' (rather than market pricing).

For example,
- 1 bedroom flat = £X pcm
- 2 bedroom flat (1 double, 1 single) = £Y pcm
- 2 bedroom flat (2 double) = £Z pcm

(They don't really take account of the quality of the area etc)

They have a list of other requirements - like having an emergency breakdown contract for the heating.

Some say they will fix minor problems - but all expect the landlord to fix major problems (like new boiler).

The 2 big problems always seem to be:

They cap the amount they will pay for damage to the property at the end of the lease. (e.g. If the kitchen and/or bathroom is trashed, the LL could be heavily out of pocket)

They are vague about what happens if their tenant refuses to move out at the end of the lease. (Councils don't like to do evictions where the tenant is not at fault.)

MEM62

I rented to the Council years ago. Was supposed to be a safe option with rent paid regardless (because you are renting to the authority and not the individual tenants) and they were supposed to maintain and hand back in good condition.

It was a disaster. It was occupied by a series of low-life individuals who caused significant damage and brought nothing but misery to my former neighbours with consistent anti-social behaviour.

Never again!!

Norman_Castle

cjdavies wrote: »

Wouldn't the rental income be passed to the homeowner?

Yes, minus maintenance costs.

teddysmum

Caravan holiday parks do a letting scheme for owners, but the weekly amount paid is nowhere near the prices they charge or even the rates that the owner charges.


The upside is that you get rental during void weeks, but in the case of a council which has a long waiting list,there's unlikely to be more than the odd week long voids as tenants change over.


I was thinking of the poor neighbours too, as councils move troublesome tenants round rather than evicting them and having exhausted places on their own estates, will use 'isolated' houses.

Cash-Cows

AubreyMac wrote: »

I've seen adverts from councils about letting properties for them to house council tenants. Their adverts seems good as they say they will guarantee income to the landlord regardless whether they have a tenant in there or not and that they make regular checks to the property.


What they don't mention is whether they pay full market rates (I presume not) or whether they contribute anything to repairs or boiler checks.


Does anyone know the realities of this?



In the future I would like to let my property out. I know in the private market it could fetch a good amount per month but the high turnover of tenants sounds stressful to me. I would prefer someone to stay there for a couple of years at least.

My LA pay the local housing allowance rate plus 10%.

The house has to be handed over as safe i.e. gas, electric check plus the efficiency certificate. Repairs become the LA’s responsibility apart from major structural repairs. They have to return property in the condition you give it to them. Voids are covered so rent guaranteed.

Seems a good scheme. You could get more on open market but voids or a trashed house could cripple a landlord if cash flow is an issue. You also don’t need to hand it over in mint condition that private tenants would expect.

G_M

Read the contract they offer.

Remember, this will be a commercial tenancy between you and the council, not an AST, so very different rules and protections apply.

I say agan - read the contract!

(and note MEM62's post above).

[Deleted User]

I would never let to the council.

jimbog

MEM62 wrote: »

I rented to the Council years ago. Was supposed to be a safe option with rent paid regardless (because you are renting to the authority and not the individual tenants) and they were supposed to maintain and hand back in good condition.

It was a disaster. It was occupied by a series of low-life individuals who caused significant damage and brought nothing but misery to my former neighbours with consistent anti-social behaviour.

Never again!!

Milton Keynes Council offered this to a friend of mine a number of years ago.

Each successive year the council were prepared to do less and less and expected the landlord to do more and more. Successive tenants over the years thrashed the place which broke my friend's heart. He now has it with a private agent.