Rental Property Standards Seem Low

gazfocus

My wife and I have been looking at rental houses available in our area and I’m genuinely surprised at how poor they seem to be at present. I know some tenants don’t look after rental properties as much as they should but as a landlord myself, I wouldn’t want to rent out a house that is in a generally poor state of repair. 

We are talking about one house that has built in units in the bedroom with one door being missing completely, and the hinges for that door having been snapped off so that the blistered chipboard is showing, laminate flooring being really spongy when walking on it, really dirty grout around the bath, kitchen units falling apart and being 25+ years old. 

Another house had wallpaper that was filthy in some areas and literally peeling off the walls in others, one bedroom had damp issues and a very questionable combi boiler that must have been 30+ years old. 

Another house we saw had an en-suite shower that wasn’t working at all, toilet that was dripping. Cupboard doors hanging off in the really greasy kitchen. 

My question is, if you were moving to a house you could see yourself living for 5+ years, would you rent a house if you as a tenant had to spend money getting it up to a standard you’re happy living in? Excluding ‘basic decorating’ as everyone’s taste is different but thinking of ‘immediately needee decorating’, replacing kitchen taps, potentially kitchen cupboard doors, major tidying up of gardens, etc?

i_like_cats

The problem is that if you spend money to bring it up to scratch, the landlord will put your rent up to match its improved condition.  Despite the fact you’ve paid for it!   He may put the rent up by so much you actually have to move out.   

Such landlords who don’t maintain their properties are likely bad’uns and best avoided,.

There may be cases of tenants who paid to improve properties, their landlords didn’t “retaliate” by putting the rent up to meet the property’s new standard, and they lived happily ever after enjoying a nicer property at a cheap rent.  

But you can never predict if that’s how it’ll play out.   So it's best to hold out for responsible landlords with well-maintained properties.   I appreciate they may be impossible to find in certain areas, but anything else is a risk.

gazfocus

i_like_cats said:

The problem is that if you spend money to bring it up to scratch, the landlord will put your rent up to match its improved condition.  Despite the fact you’ve paid for it!   He may put the rent up by so much you actually have to move out.   

Such landlords who don’t maintain their properties are likely bad’uns and best avoided,.

There may be cases of tenants who paid to improve properties, their landlords didn’t “retaliate” by putting the rent up to meet the property’s new standard, and they lived happily ever after enjoying a nicer property at a cheap rent.  

But you can never predict if that’s how it’ll play out.   So it's best to hold out for responsible landlords with well-maintained properties.   I appreciate they may be impossible to find in certain areas, but anything else is a risk.

That’s actually a very good point. I never thought about the possibility a landlord that neglects their house might in general be a bad landlord (more than just seeing the decor etc as a tenants opportunity to make the house theirs). 

I had considered that an unreasonable landlord could use the tenants improvements to make their house worthy of a higher rent but I’d hope that in a tribunal, if a tenant can prove they paid for the improvements, the landlord might lose…as you say, you never know what you’re going to get though. 

Herzlos

It's possible that the landlord would do some redecorating before the new tenant moves in, but I'd expect them to make a big deal of it at the time.

Most likely, the landlords just don't care; someone will rent it and it'll bring in money for zero effort.

gazfocus

Herzlos said:

It's possible that the landlord would do some redecorating before the new tenant moves in, but I'd expect them to make a big deal of it at the time.

Most likely, the landlords just don't care; someone will rent it and it'll bring in money for zero effort.

Think the houses we’ve seen recently are more a case of the landlords not caring to be honest…just got to be cautious that improving a rental doesn’t result in a rent increase as @i_like_cats says. 

TroubledTarts

Maybe some of the reasons

40-50 applicants per rental property in high demand areas.

Lots of BTL Landlords selling up and leaving the market increasing demand further

Rents at an all time high and so far only going one way but then so are BTL rates so less profit so they don't bother with upkeep

None of these are excuses and I agree with comments above that a grotty property in poor repair should be avoided as it should sound alarm bells.

It's just the rental stock is decreasing and demand is increasing so some landlords will make the most out of this.

RedFraggle

Are you looking at the bottom end of the market price wise for properties of that size?
Tbh, one flat I rented was filthy with broken bits in appliances (washing machine dual, fridge shelf missing, broken freezer tray) and I sorted it myself. 

Myci85

I think my worry would be that if they can't even be bothered to make the place look attractive to get a tenant in, what will they be like when it comes to maintenance? 

gazfocus

RedFraggle said:

Are you looking at the bottom end of the market price wise for properties of that size?
Tbh, one flat I rented was filthy with broken bits in appliances (washing machine dual, fridge shelf missing, broken freezer tray) and I sorted it myself. 

Not particularly. Seems to be the going rate for the size of property we are looking at but the nicely finished properties are snapped up with multiple people putting applications in. The ones that are somewhat run down are the ones that it seems you have a better chance of getting as they seem to hang around for the obvious reasons. 

I personally have no issue with sorting certain things myself and as I say, decorating is a personal thing anyway. In the past we have fixed door handles, window vents, etc, but when there are built in cupboard doors missing and completely ripped off, I just wonder what goes through the landlords mind. 

gazfocus

Myci85 said:

I think my worry would be that if they can't even be bothered to make the place look attractive to get a tenant in, what will they be like when it comes to maintenance? 

This is exactly it. I think I would be entering into the rental with the mindset that if something small/simple breaks, I might as well fix it myself. Anything big such as central heating/leaks/etc, landlord must sort but then again, what if they won’t…

Stubod

...a sign of bad landlords, and therefore properties in this condition are best avoided. Any landlord who cared would ensure the property is in good condition before it is rented out....