Renting Privately Help

Rosesgirl

My situation is I've been a homeowner for 20+ years and now I'm looking at facing having to rent privately. Shock to the system the last time I rented privately was at least 23 years ago. Can anyone give me any idea realistically how long it will take to secure a private rental the buyer wants me out of my house by October. When I last rented it was case of just viewing with the landlord or letting agency and if you were happy you shook hands and paid your deposit. I'm worried that I may be asked to provide a guarantor and i have no one I can ask . Plus it seems now there are realms of paperwork to fill in before you even stand a chance of securing the property can anyone advise how realistically it could take to find somewhere considering the buyer wants me gone by October.

Cheers .

youth_leader

I get the impression from various posts on here that rentals are hard to come by at the moment, so you might want to start registering at agencies now so you are ready to start viewing as soon as possible.  There is very useful advice at the top of this forum.

I had to supply the agency with proof of funds by uploading three months bank statements which wouldn't work, in desperation I had to allow a third party to access my on-line banking. 

I was selling at auction in March 2020 just as lockdown happened, but had already found and accepted a rental in the February (the landlord allowed my dog and cat), luckily I had savings as I had to pay double council tax/bills for four months. 

I had gone for a viewing at another rental and the couple that rudely interrupted my viewing were chosen over me.  There is a formula used to check you can finance the rent from your monthly income, I can't remember what it is, but my sizeable savings were not able to be ncluded in the calculation. 

If you find and are accepted at a rental, do check your deposit will be held in a protected scheme.

I had a great time renting, do not be fearful, think of it as an adventure whilst looking for your forever home.  My rental was a cottage in a terrace and it was a lovely community.

Rosesgirl

OK thanks for that I'm slightly worried when you say that your sizeable savings could not be included in the rent affordability check can you provide any more clarity on that as it's my house proceeds obviously that I'm going to use to pay my rent .

borkid

Hi, my experience at renting privately. We had buyers for our house pushing for exchange but we had just pulled out of our purchase. We decided to keep the chain intact to rent privately until we found somewhere else, this was late March this year.

We knew it would be difficult because we had 4 cats and most places advertised said no pets, also a properties were being listed in the morning but by midday all veiwing spots were booked.

I decided to get proactive. I emailed every lettings agency in the county setting out our sitaution. One replied saying they had a property due to be listed in the next week or so. We offered to pay 6 months rent upfront if necessary. After seeing the video tour we agreed to rent. Checked the tenancy agreement etc. Affordability checks done, we didn't need to pay 6 months upfront as my OH pension was enough.

From first contacting the lettings agent to getting the keys was 19 days.

swingaloo2

I rented a few years ago and I found it was impossible to rent through an agency as there is a formula, something like you have to be earning X times your annual rent and as my husband is disabled we didnt meet the criteria. We had more than enough coming in but because it was not all 'earnings' we couldnt get a look in with an agency.

I tried searching on Openrent where you deal direct with landlords and it's so much easier to explain your circumstances face to face. An agent is not interested unless you tick the boxes.

Rosesgirl

Thanks for that yes I seen a nice property listed yesterday when I checked again a few hours later it was already shown as let even though it was only listed yesterday it looks like you have to work fast not sure how anyone could have viewed it that quickly but I guess I've learned you certainly have to move fast. Yes I think open rent is definitely more user-friendly and you can speak to the landlord directly which has to be massive plus .

Thanks .

fiveacre

Annual income 30x the monthly rent is a common criteria, though if you can offer rent upfront you might be able to get around that.

HampshireH

Rosesgirl said:

Thanks for that yes I seen a nice property listed yesterday when I checked again a few hours later it was already shown as let even though it was only listed yesterday it looks like you have to work fast not sure how anyone could have viewed it that quickly but I guess I've learned you certainly have to move fast. Yes I think open rent is definitely more user-friendly and you can speak to the landlord directly which has to be massive plus .

Thanks .

The estate agent would have advertised it to people on their contact list before listing it.

I expect the viewings were either already done or booked for first thing

Jaybee_16

Last year I needed to find a rental after being an owner for 30+ years. Had no references and nobody to act as a guarantor but my bank statements showed the proceeds of my flat sale so looked rather healthy. That seemed to cover the guarantor issue.

What shocked me as a complete novice was just how fast the rental process happens. Viewed two properties, drove down the road to think about them and when I called the letting agents about 15 minutes later they had been let. Viewed a third and whilst it wasn't ideal I agreed to take it whilst at the viewing stage. Couldn't risk losing another.

Rosesgirl

Exactly I think that's the thing that's perturbed me it's stressful enough being in a completely new situation without the added stress and frustration it would seem in even securing somewhere with all the hoops you have to jump through .

deannagone

The present situation (and already living in an area where rental properties were oversubscribed three or four years ago) makes me very very glad I have social housing.  I wouldn't stand a chance of a private rental anywhere in Kent, no guarantor, fixed benefit income etc.  No idea how local authoriy Housing is coping with what must be a massive increase in applications.  It was bad enough four years ago.  My rent is now a third of the equivalent in private rental.  Must be a nightmare for so many people, even people who are earning a good salary. Of course, there are some challenges, the place was a wreck when I got it but I'm very slowly getting it how I want it.  Just one big job left now.  The council installed a strange boiler that means I can't install a shower even paying for it myself.  But we do have a stable home and I don't mind paying to do repairs myself (you get to know which repairs its worth getting the council to do and which you are better of doing yourself) when I know I'm paying so little compared to a private rental.  

However the suggestion to use OpenRent is a good one.  My ex had two dogs, couldn't get an agency to even put him on their books, viewed three private rental places through OpenRent, was selected for two of them.  Sure its tougher than that now (again 3 years ago) but it does seem to be more acheivable.