Are all the BTL's selling up?? Where do I look for a 3 bed house to rent?

CB1979_2

i'm sure you and your husband have split up and you need accomodation

that may get you up the housing list a bit quicker!

bigpat

Not sure if CB1979 was joking. You don't want to start lying to them . You'll get found out and have to pay it all back, maybe with a fine on top. It's not worth risking.

Have you considered whether you could take in a lodger if you rented that 5-bed? You can rent a single room out and don't even have to pay tax on it up to a certain level. It MIGHT bring your rent down to a manageable amount. Of course your landlord would have to agree to it in principle, but he wouldn't have to know the figures involved.

Seriously, I own two flats and when I rented one out to a single girl, she asked me two months later if her kid sister could move in too and help with the rent. No skin off my nose! If her sister is OK with the couch and wants to chip in to the rent every month, why would I care? If they keep the place OK and behave themselves I'm all for it.

deaks_2

Hi
not sure what OH field service is - so not sure if you could relocate and him still be employed, but I guess from what you have said he doesn't earn mega bucks anyway (sorry if that sounds rude, it isn't meant to)
I know what you mean re the kids and school and relocating, but many parts of the Midlands and Lincolnshire are still really reasonable compared to down south - rents of about £600 (or less) a mth for 3 beds and actually a really nice part of the world -
not sure how anyone manages to live SOUTH these days without being on the property ladder ages ago or mega wage or family help

Good Luck - come and join us up North

cheers big ears

deaks_2

Sammy85

sorry I didn't read yours before I posted, but agree, come North! - we are cheaper and friendly!

On Radio 2 today the exact same debate about benefits and working and the poverty trap ... I have many friends for whom it is just not worth working - or they loose all their benefits and then can't afford to pay the mortgage...

middle income, you are stuffed -

rich - great

on benefits, not great, but probably better off than working for crap wages

cheers big ears

boyse7en

>but many parts of the Midlands and Lincolnshire are still really reasonable compared to down south - rents of about £600 (or less) a mth for 3 beds and actually a really nice part of the world -

You can get a three bed house for £550-600pcm in North Devon, so you can even live in the countryside for that sort of money!
Wages around here are pretty dire though...

blue_monkey_2

Hi all,

A few years back hubby tried to get redundancy but did not get it as we wanted to move further north. Now we can;t really, although he is in field service he has an area to work in and it's a pretty long drive from the Midlands to North London each day So we are kind of stuck in this area but I do agree it is very overpriced and if I could move then I would.

I am not saying the schools are bad everywhere, it is just that I have had a lot of probelms with the kids and getting them into school. both are getting extra special care to make sure they can settle easier and they need this, if they have to move schools then we will be back to square one and I don;t think other school would be prepared to give them the one on one they are (they have emlpyed a classroom assistant for my son for example) and this is why I am quite prepared to travel too and from where we live to school to make sure they still get this stability in their lives.

I actually have my own business but it is not earning me any money yet - it looks like I will have to close for the foreseeable future and put the majority of my stock into storage once this kicks off. But, i am still hoping that the council can be of help. They would usually tell someone to find their own place to rent and they do top up if you are on low pay - I guess time will tell. However, there isn't anything around here to rent as I've looked. I can't even afford the deposit on a 5 bedroom house to be honest and I really do not think I am ready to have starngers in the house with the kids around, i know some people can but it is not for us (not to know the idea, I do think it is a good one). I can't bet a house and rely on having a lodger, if i can;t get one I am stuffed, I really can;t see how the LL would agree to let us have a house that costs more per month than my husband earns though.

Everything kind of feels so up in the air, I am one of these people who likes to feel secure and I don't feel that right now and this is what i am finding scary and daunting. I think tht once tomorrow is out of the way I can start feeling a little better. I am not going to lie about anything though, I would be the one who gets found out, that is just my luck really, I just have to hope they can help me and if they can't then i will cross that bridge when I come to it.

Thanks for your replies and suport though, I would love to move if we could, right now it is not for us - a few years ago we actually was looking and I know what the prices of housing are you lucky so & so's, I don;t think people can beleive how myuch my husband earns when we tell them. We are quite frugal and don't go out at all, we have a couple of holiday each year (admitedly if I can get them on clubcard I do) and this is what we have to look forward to. I am sure it would be nice to be well off but life is what it is. My husband left school at 15 and does not have any qualifications, he has got the paces he has by proving he can work hard, sure he is not very well paid but he does a good job and I am proud of what he does for his employer. There are higher paid jobs he can go for (he actually turned down a higher paid one to do the one he has now) but if he is not going to enjoy the work he does then what is the point of going in each day?

He lost his job through Industrial Asthma about 18 months ago and then he went into Field Service again, but at that time he had to go on JSA and working tax credit, seriously, the money we got could not even pay the bills so I don't understand how people can live on the money they get unless we was doing something wrong. I think we got £600 a month and our outgoings (before food) were £750. we did not claim CT and Housing benefit so maybe this was the problem but I would perfer to know we have worked for our money and then i feel hapier if I want to go on holiday or the like or spend it on junk every now and then, I felt bad 'wasting' benefit money on things I bought but did not 'really' need. I do know what you mean though, my sister went to the council with her boyfriend to get a place (his nan put some bizarre thoughts in their head!!) and they told my sister to get pregnant if she wanted a council place!! Ho hum!!

SquatNow

OP: Have you considered squatting? Find an empty investment property and move in... chances are the owner wont notice for decades.

See the squatnow sit for advice.

blue_monkey_2

Yes, maybe not. I prefer to know I'll get home and th locks have not been changed leaving myself and the kids on the street!!

Anyhow, I went to the council and they have told me that my best option is to start saving a deposit and find a private rented place and they will 'assess' whether the rent the LL is asking is too much (LOL) and then will pay housing and council tax benefit. Basically the family can 'have' around £800 a month to live on and pay bill, for each £100 after that they use £65 to pay for rent/CT and then the other £35 is yours, so if we have £500 left at the end of the month and rent and CT was £1000 a month, we would use £330 to pay the rent and HB and CT will be paid up for the other £670. Does that make sense.

More than anything I have come away feeling reassured that all is not lost, the business may have to go into storage as I would not be able to take what I am doing now with me, however, I could still run SOME of my business and work out of a self store unit, I do think that is a viable option as the amount of rent/CT/rates I claim now through the business is more than rental on a 150 sqft self store unit and I would work just a few days a week rather than every day. I actually feel like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders and I feel 100 times better than I did this morning and I feel that I am back in control of the situation.

There is a family that lives locally and only houses local people for low rents, we are applying fr one of their properties as he is a good landlord and the rent is very long term - which is much better for us, I am hoping that the property I have heard (on the grapevine) has just become available has not already been taken. It is not a huge thing that everyone knows about and it is 3 bedroom. Fingers crossed!! I may even be able to house my stock there so that is good news as well.

Phirefly

blue_monkey wrote: »

I could still run SOME of my business and work out of a self store unit, I do think that is a viable option as the amount of rent/CT/rates I claim now through the business is more than rental on a 150 sqft self store unit and I would work just a few days a week rather than every day

Do it. Its going to be a struggle and you might not feel like you have the energy but if you throw yourself into building your business, thats your ticket out of all these problems. Believe in yourself.