Letting rooms - advice needed

foxy-stoat

hazyjo wrote: »

Worst case scenario, you end up in jail.

Love it !!!! Going to jail for renting out a room or 2......heard it all.

smdabs

foxy-stoat wrote: »

Wrong buyers then, Brexit has been happening for 3 years and counting so that wont be the reason they didnt buy it as they would of come to view it since 2016 referendum so its not new news.

My response to my EA exactly but apparently that's all the information they gave him.

I wouldn't go as far as rogue landlord... on the basis it is fulfilling a need to those who need short term accommodation and also covers my mortgage in my current situation.

However, i would prefer to do it the right way and if that isn't actually possible without exposing me to substantial risk, i will have to leave it empty it seems!

hazyjo

foxy-stoat wrote: »

Love it !!!! Going to jail for renting out a room or 2......heard it all.

No. Not for that at all. Just saying if they treat them as lodgers and not tenants and don't comply with LL's responsibilities, they may find they've missed a whole heap of things. I said it as worst case scenario (something resulting in the death of a tenant for example).

need_an_answer

Are you selling in an area that has a particular downturn in property sales,or are you trying to sell a property for what you want it to be worth?

Obviously you haven't said how long you've owned the property that you are selling for. Could it be that prices haven't risen in the time you have owned it and now that you are coming to sell it you could well be losing out a little.

However even selling at a on paperloss doesn't always translate into a total loss...you have lived there for the time and not had bills like rent to pay for example as dead money...yes you may have had to maintain the place but statistically rent or the amount you would have paid in order to live somewhere of the same standard would probably have amounted to many thousands of pounds.

post a link to the property...we have some very good posters who can analyse it for you and give some useful feedback on how to maximise its selling potential....or indeed confirm that your expectations might be on the high side regarding selling price...or indeed something else affecting the potential sale



go on be brave...

smdabs

need_an_answer wrote: »

Are you selling in an area that has a particular downturn in property sales,or are you trying to sell a property for what you want it to be worth?

Obviously you haven't said how long you've owned the property that you are selling for. Could it be that prices haven't risen in the time you have owned it and now that you are coming to sell it you could well be losing out a little.

However even selling at a on paperloss doesn't always translate into a total loss...you have lived there for the time and not had bills like rent to pay for example as dead money...yes you may have had to maintain the place but statistically rent or the amount you would have paid in order to live somewhere of the same standard would probably have amounted to many thousands of pounds.

post a link to the property...we have some very good posters who can analyse it for you and give some useful feedback on how to maximise its selling potential....

go on be brave...

haha 'brave'. The house is no longer on the market. Buyer dropped out 3 weeks ago and EA has been sacked, so no advert. I have nothing to hide or prove here - i know what's been going on with my property.

I don't need advice on selling the property. It's nothing to do with what I think it's worth, i took the word of 3 EA'sand i funnily enough have access to rightmove and the sold prices of my area. I also know how much I was set to lose as i'm actually not too bad at basic maths either.

3 houses on the same road have been up for sale and 1 has gone through at the price i would have said would align with mine. The other 2 have also had their buyers drop out and are also no longer being sold. According to my EA, the market has indeed had a down-turn... or certainly 'slowed down' in the recent months - maybe that was an excuse. Who knows, who cares - i am left in the same position.

need_an_answer

Fair enough...

mimiduck

I would say if you don't want to be a LL then don't. Very big risk especially with renting rooms in your situation.



I might suggest (depending on the agreement you have with your agent) to swap agents. No way is Brexit the reason why the buyers pulled out...

ThemeOne

I think there are potential problems with Option 1. As others have said they will not be lodgers if you don't live there yourself.

You will obviously want to sell with vacant possession. Can you really guarantee these people will move out when you ask them to? Whatever they say at the start, people's lives and circumstances change.

I think to be a good and, by extension, successful landlord you've got to want to do it, especially these days where there is so much red tape involved. It's not a particularly easy way of making money.

G_M

smdabs wrote: »

How i see it, i have 3 options:

1. I've found people willing to rent the rooms for more than enough to cover mortgage and bills. They would not be formal tenants as such as it would be short-term
The length of time is irrelevant. A tenancy can be for a week, a month, 3 months, whatever

(this is what they're looking for as well) so technically 'lodgers'
Nothing technical in it. What matters is 'legally'.

albeit i would be a 'live-out' landlord
Then 'legally' they would be tenants. No two ways about it.

and would be able to have access to my house at any given time. (this is my preferred option)Unless they choose to deny you access. Oh! You could always enforce your access illegally I suppose..... Someone above did mention jail.....

My concern for this: I would not be able to provide an AST agreement,
You would be most unwise to not draw up a written contract. It's for your protection!

nor would i want to be held to this
You would have no choice.
Indeed, even with a verbal tenancy you would have to comply with the relevant law.

just in case the house does in fact sell more quickly than i thought.
See below for how to evict tenants.

However, what rights do i need to give them?
Standard tenancy rights whic they obtain automatically - you do not 'give' them the rights. Though as I said above, you'd be stupid not to draw up a written contract with addiional obligations on them for your own protection.

Where does this leave me in the event they trash the house or refuse to leave when the time comes for me to sell?
Damage? You a) use their deposit (which you will have to have protected in a government scheme) and/or b) sue them
If they don't leave, see link below for how to evict tenants. It takes time!

2. Rent the house out properly under AST and become a landlord - not really an option as i would need the house back rather quickly and could not promise a minimum of 6 months as per ASTs (unless it's possible to go straight on to a rolling monthly contract?)
Option 1 is a non-starter. This is how to rent a property.
Yes, you can create a Contractual Periodic Tenancy (rolling monthly) from Day one. Either verbally or in writing (see my earlier comments though!). But the law does not allow a landlord to serve notice on tenants earlier than month 4 to expire at month 6 whatever the contract type (the tenants however can serve notice whenever they wish).


3. Leave the house empty - not ideal as means i'd be covering 2 mortgages. While this would be okay in the short term, if it ends up taking anywhere near as long as it did to try (and fail) to sell it this year, it isn't financially viable. Well that will help you sell more quickly. A property with tenants is a real turn-off for many buyers, as well as (because of) causing huge potential issues during the sale

My preferred option is number 1
Non starter

however i can't seem to find the right insurances (to cover me in the event they ruined anything or burn the house down) which frankly makes me very uncomfortable.
Insurance is the leaset of your problems. Though it is not insignificant in itself

Would 'holiday let' insurance suffice given the short term nature of the tenants renting the individual bedrooms? Another whole ballgame. With tax implications. And Planning Consent.

And again, my concern being it comes time to sell and they won't leave... how would i enforce this without a set tenancy agreement? (I was going to create a lodgers agreement but i don't know if that really holds the same weight...)
As a non 'live-in' landlord, using a 'lodgers agreement' would not make them lodgers. They would just be tenants with a worthless written contract!

Are there any other options available that i've missed? If you were in my position... what would you do? Leave it empty. Re-market immediately at a price to atract a fast sale.
.

You have CTL so your options are

1) to let it properly with a written AST and expect to wait ages for a buyer willing consider a let property, and then hope the tenants can be bribed to leave when you want, or

2) leave it empty and reduce the price for a quick, trouble-free sale


* New landlords (1):advice & information :see links in next post

* New landlords (2): Essential links for further information

* Letting agents: how should a landlord select or sack?

sheramber

Could you rent out 2 rooms to lodgers and stay put. Leave you new house empty?

My son stayed in a flat for 6 months on an AirB&B agreement but it was abroad where rules may be different.