Updating post from Reddit.
Hello all,
My current tenancy is running out and the landlord informed me he wants to sell the house. He’s told me to take as long we need (within reason!) to find a new property as we’ve been good tenants. All is good, such is life right?
Well apparently not. Getting an estate agent to actually respond in a reasonable time is impossible and when you finally get to the rental application stage you fail with little feedback why.
I am a police officer (secure job), willing to offer several months rent in advance. My partner and I have no credit issues and no pets. I’d like to think we are the ideal prospective tenants.
This leads me to my question. Am I missing something? Is there something crucial I need to be putting in my applications? Is there another way to find a place to rent outside traditional estate agents? Because soon me and my family are going to be homeless if I can’t figure this out.
You are not missing anything. Lot of landlords are leaving the market meaning there’s loads of applicants for each property now and estate agents can be totally rubbish and still get the place leased.
It sucks for tenants at the moment but this is what happens when landlords are vilified in the media over a 10+ year period as well as the government making is genuinely an unappealing prospect to rent - many are choosing not to, including your landlord.
The latest round of new regs have really had an impact by the looks of things, there’s loads of people on Reddit with the same story as yours right now. It does make me wonder if the government will need to u turn on it or water it down because this situation is only going to get worse and people are going to end up homeless, which will increase pressure on councils
Tbf, the experience of being a tenant in the rental market over the past 25 years… these reforms took an exceptionally long time to come through. Whilst there certainly are good landlords out there, the ones who aren’t put everyone else to shame.
Add to that a culture of people who cannot afford a second home, but have raised deposits if mortgaged to the eyeballs has been left unchecked for way too long. The market needed containing. It’s a shame that the government stopped at bringing in rent caps as the unfettered rise in cost of housing has decimated the disposable incomes of an entire generation - which is way more detrimental to the economy than a few sad landlords.
> It’s a shame that the government stopped at bringing in rent caps as the unfettered rise in cost of housing has decimated the disposable incomes of an entire generation
And now people like OP get to be homeless instead, great plan. The only thing that has decimated this country is a lack of housing. That's the only thing that fixes this issue.
It's really difficult ATM, depending on what area you are in. I know of so many people whose landlords are selling up. Sometimes people post on Facebook local groups with details of their circumstances and I do see replies, so maybe you could try that.
Whereabouts in the UK you are looking to?
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Very expensive and full of shortages area.. move northern
Well I for am a private landlord. I use open rent & vet my own tenants. Never used an agency for a few reasons.
Have you looked at purchasing? I know of 2 police officers. 1 is purchasing a 2 bed house. The other is purchasing a 1 bed flat. - I know it’s easier said than done. But what with LL’s selling up to make a quick exit.
Why not ask your current LL to purchase his property. You are renting that place for a reason.
I’d love to but at this point I can’t really afford it and besides I am looking to emigrate in a few years.
Can’t you ask your landlord if he can put up with you for a few more years? - He may not get a buyer straight away. Or find out if he will sell with tenants in situ?
He’s moving abroad so wants the house sold before he goes. I don’t think staying is an option.
Lack of feed back, we no longer give any feedback other than the LL chose a different tenant. We will not elaborate in any way shape or form, there is potential for people to claim discrimination so simple answer is to not give any feedback. If pressed our letting agents will say the LL did not give any reason behind their choice.
Its very difficult at the moment, most LLs are super cautious, evicting non paying/ problem tenants is VERY difficult and going to get harder. So any extra problems are avoided. Would evicting a police officer be more difficult than another person? No idea it feels like it would.
The little feedback part interests me. Is there any reasons you can think of which LLs may choose others over you?
You’ve only mentioned your job as a police officer and nothing about your wife working.
Off the back of what you’ve said I would question whether you’re sole income no guarantor in which case most applicants I have do have this and therefore I would favour them.
The only other insight I have is that problem tenants are a nightmare at the best of times, let alone when they’re in the police. I read a yougov poll that said something like 50% have lost faith in the police; so perhaps LLs are seeing your job as less of a benefit for security and more of an unnecessary problem.
Hope this helps.
She is currently unemployed due to childcare but is starting teaching in September. I thought my income and savings would be enough but you may be right. I can also not be made redundant etc which is an advantage.
People may have lost faith in the police but generally most of us are of good character which I thought would go a long way to show we will treat the house with respect.
Yes I imagine it’s likely that only one of you is employed and no guarantor. Personally I would choose tow people earning minimum wage than one person earning £50k as even if one loses their job there’s still another which will have an income. Especially if they have a parent or someone with assets who will act as a guarantor.
So basically have rich parents as a sole earner or get fucked? Nice 😂😂😂
It just is like that. I've been given 0 feedback and we're 2 healthcare professionals, no issues with past tenancies.
Same for jobs, experience and qualifications don't mean you'll get interviews left and right. That's just how things are these days, it is what it is.
I always ensure I get back to all applicants. Even recently when there was over 50! It’s a shame but unsurprising that many others do not.
The market is tough right now. It’s very easy for me to get tenants who seem lovely but also earn £60k+ and have a guarantor with their own home.
Changes in the market like legal requirements, interest rates, taxes etc has made the market shrink massively. NRLA data showed 26% of LL sold at least some of their portfolio which ultimately is only going to have one effect for tenants.
I find the government clocked onto an easy target of a group who generally have a poor reputation (LL) with another group who may not appreciate the ramifications for themselves straight away (tenants). By the time everyone clocked onto the big problems government changes have caused the local authority and HMRC have already done a runner with all our money leaving tenants with less rights and higher rents.
I guess the writing was on the wall that the government wasn’t being sincere with their meddling of the rental market when local authorities are some of the biggest perpetrators of poor rental housing!
We only got 15 minutes to view a property and we were happy with what we've seen, we are happy still now as we move and clean the place to make it more homely and have deliveries, but we've started to notice some issues like a little bit of water leakage here under the sink, some lights are literally touching my head(I'm 183cm/6ft, not that tall) as I pass under them, power sockets I'd say half of them were loose and needed screwing in to sit properly... literally had engineers, electricians whatever a week ago before us going in..had to report all of this to landlord and we just move in, what's happening lol??
We're a bit in a situation here where we don't want to start off on the wrong leg with the landlord,, but also we're not allowed to repair stuff or drill holes as we could fix everything ourselves and not bother the landlord.. it's a bungalow and the loft has been shut, just..why? 2 outside side doors locked, no keys given, garden left high grass, weeds?
Kind landlord, how would you advise we proceed? I'm sure you understand that we're in a position now where we're like..we can fix it all, but wtf? I suppose you don't care either if we drill all your walls and change your doors if wanted to?
Never had this issue before!
Generally with my tenants I given them 6 months to raise any little odds and ends which need sorting. After the first 6 months I become a bit more critical as to what they’re asking and why. Generally I find if it’s not an issue in the first 6 months then becomes increasingly odd when it does become an issue. After all no property is perfect so it’s very much finding that middle ground (albeit that middle ground should be to a high standard).
I would prefer my tenants to give me a list formally with an email explaining that it’s normal for these odds and ends to be missed until someone is living in the property but nonetheless it’d be great to get some timelines in place as I know all of this will be fixed by the end of the week but would still like an idea of when they may get crossed of. Also be practical, as tenants are obliged to conduct general maintenance of the property like cutting the grass, changing lightbulbs etc. If it’s something that the majority to homeowners could do, like tightening a loose screw, then make mention of it but confirm you’ve sorted that yourself.
The locks on the doors for example may be something the LL will think is a hassle but often is just buying a new lock (a few quid) and offering him a key. If you volunteer to do it for the LL then either he’ll rush around and do it himself or he’ll appreciate you taking something off his plate (assuming like most LLs either they have a portfolio and are always rushing around finishing odd jobs or have a full time job themselves).
Thank you.
OpenRent.
That's where you are going to find landlords putting up ads without letting agents.
Every time I publish an ad, it shows first in OpenRent site, and it takes some time, maybe a day until it shows in rightmove. If the rent is priced in the lower price range of the area, I've had times getting more than 20 enquiries in 1 day (East Midlands)
In any case, competition is high, and you need to be using alerts or browsing every day to ask for a viewing as soon as anything shows up in the market.
When asking for viewings, mention the fact you are police... I believe that increases your chances.
Could you buy the house? You seem to like living there? Would the landlord be up for a private sale?
Realistically couldn’t afford it right now.
Nah it’s a housing crisis and fixing it is gunna take a while
I don't know your location, but besides OpenRent where landlords list their properties directly, try a letting agcy that does not do sales as well. We never used an estate agent because of their priorities. And having had to sell two of the flats that belonged to another family member, I would not ever use that agent again if we had to ever sell our own flat we live in.
Our letting agent always gave us a profile of an applicant. They screened for salary requirements, and credit checks so occupation was the only important thing left. If there was a choice between any employment sector and a police officer, you'd get the flat. I would feel more confident that my property would be respected. And as I lived in the building, safer too!
The cynical side of me wonders if those you have dealt with so far might be sailing close to the wind legally? Don't give up. And thanks for choosing a tough but much needed career. 👍
Thanks.
I did have a wonder about wether some of the landlords were potentially dodgy or didn’t want someone clued up or laws etc but I’d like to think most LLs are normal people rather than the sensationalist social media portrayal.
I just let one out - I had 26 applications. There was nothing wrong with most of them, but still only one house available. I chose a family who were being evicted due to their previous landlord selling up and have a child at a local school.
Many landlords are selling up, some are taking up the Serco offer because financially, its a no-brainer - especially as contracts for 5 or 7 years will cover the period where EPC improvements need to be made, meaning serco (aka, you, me and the rest of the tax-payers) will pick up the bill.
If you really can't find anything, get your landlord to actually evict you as you will then be eligible for emergency help from the local authority. Not ideal but probably the only way they'll house you if you can't find another rental.
Section 24 of the housing act is a financial killer, renters reform bill putting more power to tenants and EPC nasty requirements with massive fines just means landlords will sell.
You're not going to be homeless any time soon, from a landlord giving you a valid section 21 to courts actually allowing bailiffs to evict you is 6 months at least. There's lots of advice relating to this on the shelter website.
Only other thing I can suggest instead of a traditional agent is OpenRent which in theory cuts out the middleman between you and the landlord. The risk of this being while agencies are a pain they do generally know the law and their responsibilities where you could get absolutely anything thrown at you without them.
I wouldn’t really want to cause a hassle for my landlord. Not only would it cause issues professionally but they’ve been very kind.
true, but just be aware that the tenant would be liable for court and bailiff costs if it goes beyond the S21
but the landlord wants you to stay until they start talking about exchange which will take months. there will be a deal to be done, rent wise, to minimise the LLs void.
The OP also will not want an eviction on their record. It will make it many times worse.
I'd agree with purely_specific: there's a big shortage of properties to rent, as least where I am in the south. This is especially true for reasonably good 3-bed houses, although it's affecting all types.
As to why:
In your case, it may be the single income, or it might just be you are third or fourth down behind a bunch of other identically good applicants. The only thing you can do is keep hammering away, and apply as fast as possible - from what I can see on OpenRent many of them vanish after only a day or two.
This is 10000% a chat gpt generated reply 😂😂
Nope. I just like bullet points. Very organised, much pointness.
I’m a UK landlord ( who lives overseas in the US) my thoughts are yes you’re an ideal tenant based on your job and assuming you meet the income criteria etc but the new renters law means good landlords like myself are nervous of new tenants because there’s no way we can protect ourselves anymore . No more upfront payments to ease the way with a tight credit score . No more guarantee of a year at a time lease ( expensive to have a changeover ) the EPC requirements especially in older houses will be a nightmare to satisfy. Many of us are thinking of selling up when our current tenants leave . I actually live abroad and the worst is I have rentals in Florida too . 3 day evictions here if they miss a payment by 10 days , squatters no court process just pay for sheriffs to accompany and help if they don’t leave . So I do feel sorry for you but it’s probably not your fault it’s the government and their stripping landlords of all rights over their own property ! Makes me mad it my property my asset not theirs !
Sounds like your expectations on reasonable time doesn't fit reality. You call them, book a viewing, turn up. Take it or don't. Not sure what's so complicated.
Reasonable time would be answering the phone or email within a few days. But surely you know more than me about my experience.