Rental Property - Someone Want's To Pay Me Good Money Sound Dodgy!

mrsmith68

Hi All,

New to the form, need some help in regards to a rental property I have.  The long term tenants we had unfortunately they have vacated the property so is now empty, didn’t want to pay an estate agent any fees so I put up a piece of paper with the usual info got a call a few days later from an interested party.

The fella came down was highly interested as it’s a 4 bedroom house we got talking & he said he would pay me £1k a month for the next 5 years we was getting £650 a month before told the missus about this & she said it sounds dodgy! Why would he want to pay me a extra £350 a month am I missing something?! he did mention he wanted an agreement for 5 years only?

Any help would be appreciated!

Brie

drug farm?  party house?  bordello????  did you ask him why?

Brie

Oh and can you get it all up front??  

theartfullodger

He'll probably pack it with many exploited workers charging them a fortune.  You'll be liable for an unlicensed HMO.

He assumed you didn't understand the game from your paper advert. ,

Speak to a couple of local agents see what they suggest.  Look on Zoopla and Rightmove see what market rents are.

But yes, possible cannabis farm or brothel.

Avoid his kind offer.

gingercordial

Presumably he knows the previous rent was £650?

Rental agreements over 3 years need to be signed as a deed.  Tell him you'll need to get lawyers involved.  If he's dodgy (I strongly suspect he is) I'm sure he'll suddenly be far less interested in your property...

https://www.landlordzone.co.uk/news/legal-issues-signing-an-agreement-as-a-deed/

mrsmith68

Brie said:

drug farm?  party house?  bordello????  did you ask him why?

I did ask why he was willing to pay me £350 more a month his response was that he was going to re let out to individuals who the council provide & that everything would be done properly which I found strange, we have had the house for many years the family previously living there (5 plus years)  never gave no problems always paid on time & kept property in tip top shape!

london21

He will likelty rent it from you and sublet it as each indivitual room.

so for example £1k to you.

rent it to 4 different invituals at £400 per month for example. 

mrsmith68

theartfullodger said:

He'll probably pack it with many exploited workers charging them a fortune.  You'll be liable for an unlicensed HMO.

He assumed you didn't understand the game from your paper advert. ,

Speak to a couple of local agents see what they suggest.  Look on Zoopla and Rightmove see what market rents are.

But yes, possible cannabis farm or brothel.

Avoid his kind offer.

to be honest I don't understand the game, as mentioned the previous family who we had there 5+ years always paid on time etc no problems kept the house in tip top shape, unfortunately they have had to relocate due to work commitments, he did mentioned that the local council would provide people to live in the property could do with the extra money! but if its dodgy etc I don't think that £350 would be worth the extra trouble it comes with!

mrsmith68

london21 said:

He will likelty rent it from you and sublet it as each indivitual room.

so for example £1k to you.

rent it to 4 different invituals at £400 per month for example. 

how do the local council fit into this? he said the tenants would be provided by them did try & call them earlier on with no luck!

dimbo61

You will be handing over your Rental property to a complete stranger.
Your still legally responsible for everything about the house but have No control who the Rent To Rent cowboy puts into the house.
They can rent out each room to a couple and turn it into a HMO without a licence or following the Rules required ( fire safety) room size, EPC EICR GSC pat testing etc.
Your don't see a Penney of the rent and can take years and thousands of pounds trying to recover your home.
You need to pass any contract they offer you to a good solicitor and local council housing services.
Don't do it.
We get letters every single week from Cowboys offering to manage our HMO because our details are on the local council HMO website 😞

RAS

Listen to dimbo61.

Firstly, any arrangement to rent for exceeding 3 years should only be taken by a very experienced LL who understands the pitfalls, and I doubt one who did would agree to it.

Secondly, there are numerous threads on here about naive LLs who 

a) accept a guaranteed income from an EA, who then acts as LL instead, leaving the owner unable to evict tenants who cause serious damage etc or
b) allow the local Council to take over the property and sub-let.

Your guy will agree to pay you £1,000 but you may not be able to enforce that. He will then let each of 4 bedrooms plus the reception rooms (possibly divided) at a around the Local Housing Allowance, so about double what he's offering you. And your property will be returned wrecked, eventually.