Moving to a rented flat

My parents sold up their house and moved into a rented cottage.

The thing to look out for is security of the rental - I don't mean is it safe from burglars I mean is it going to be a long-term arrangements and with a reputable landlord?

My parents moved to a property owned as part of a country estate which has been in the family for generations and was unlikely to be sold off. I recommend looking at houses/flats or whatever that are managed by land agents on behalf of big estates.

It worked for them. Their house sale realised enough cash for lots of holidays and local adventures. They were permitted to build a sunroom onto the rental where they enjoyed many happy times - lots of friends said "why bother" but they loved that quiet space.

Before we bought our first house, our last two rentals were also part of estates and they don't want you out if you are reasonable tenants.

Thanks Not spaghetti, thing is I'm in London and would like to stay near London.

Mmmn. I don't know a lot about London rentals - I'd definitely look for something very "safe".

I wonder if the big estates do have London properties - or, if they do, if they just turn them over quickly in order to monetise them?

www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/celebrity-news/who-owns-london-6308427.html

I'd write to them and ask them if they have xyz and how you might go about securing a rental if they do.

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk guidelines.

Reported.

Totally ridiculous! This property came onto the market yesterday!

www.zolo.ca/toronto-real-estate/st-andrew-windfields

Until the laws regarding Landlords change, even on a ‘long let’ you will have no security of tenure.

MissOops is renting, every 2 years or so she has had to leave, either the Landlord wants to sell (and has given her notice) or they want the house back.
There is no way of arguing, it’s their house so she has had to begin the very expensive process of finding new accommodation every time.

It’s very upsetting for her, the house she is in at the moment is needed back by the Landlord next January as he wants to retire and live in it.

This is all true Oops.
In fact that is why I suggested one of the properties owned by family estates. In most areas they want a long term reliable tenant rather than a quick turnover.

We have had these tenancies, and so did my parents in their later years.

Now my DH and I have turned 80 we have talked about selling our house and renting somewhere. My DH has always done all our maintenance in the house and garden and now he isn’t able to we are shocked at the cost of everything, we have a long list of things that need to be done and the thought of them being a landlord’s responsibility is appealing. We think we may make the change when we reach 85 as at the moment we can do our own housework and gardening but friends my age have to have cleaners and gardeners because they can no longer manage these jobs. Locally there are a couple of developments that have been built as rental homes and I would imagine tenancy there would be more secure. Retirement apartments seem to incur very high charges. I think as a society renting homes may become the norm because so few young people can afford to buy, it is a great pity when I consider how easy it was for us to buy our first home when we were 22.

It’s the tenure and insecurity which would put me off, nothing more. We’ve already given our children some money, support and help and as there are 5 of them none stand to inherit a large sum.

I think we’ll probably just downsize to one level and purchase again.

Sabru, have a look at L&Q tenancies. They are a company/housing association offering secure tenancies in London.

I know someone who sold their house years ago and currently renting. Their tenancy is quite secure, she and her husband are paying rent below the market rate but she is worried about how they are going to manage financially when they both retired.

Many years ago, my husband wanted us to rent a 2 bedroom bungalow belonging to a housing association because he cannot cope with the maintenance of our house.

I am much younger than him and have taken over the responsibility of maintenance. A long list of things to do but I am getting on with it.

Can you rent out your London property and rent a smaller property elsewhere or downsized to a much smaller property ie a 1 bedroom flat elsewhere?

I did, my plan being to move to a different part of the country every 6months or year dependant on the lease I had, however I have been in the same village for 4 years as I really like it.

HousePlantQueen

*Sabru*, have a look at L&Q tenancies. They are a company/housing association offering secure tenancies in London.

There was a piece in the Guardian about this Company it might be worth reading before anyone goes to them!

We moved down market and to a different area of England when we retired. We live in a village with lovely neighbours, on a good bus route with a small shopping area in the next village. It's the best thing we ever did, we have never regretted the move.

My son rents his house out to someone and they have lived in it for 7yrs my son isn’t planning on selling as it’s for his daughters when he’s not here. My dil wasn’t planning on selling her flat but the couple that rent it lived in it for 5yrs and after Covid asked the agent who deals with the rentals if could buy it. I would check out the agents and feedback because my son as had 2 bad agents that weren’t very good.

Nannashirlz

My son rents his house out to someone and they have lived in it for 7yrs my son isn’t planning on selling as it’s for his daughters when he’s not here. My dil wasn’t planning on selling her flat but the couple that rent it lived in it for 5yrs and after Covid asked the agent who deals with the rentals if could buy it. I would check out the agents and feedback because my son as had 2 bad agents that weren’t very good.

The problem Nanshirlz is that if your sons circumstances change the tenant has no option but to move out, even if they have been there for 15 yrs! and as you say, your son will leave it to his daughters who might want to sell it to release the money, again the tenant will have to leave.

Many landlords evict so that they can put the property back onto the Rental market at a much higher rent, the amount they can increase the rent per annum is capped, again the tenant has no choice but to move out.

There is no safety net for tenants, even if they pay their rent on time and look after the property and gardens.

Quite a few years ago I hit a rough patch in my life and thought I may lose my mortgaged home.The advice I was given then by a welfare agency was not to sell my home and go into a private rental property.The lack of tenure security was the reason given.
Fortunately I was able to survive the crisis ,moved on with my life and now live in a property which I love and own outright so I know how fortunate I have been to end up where I am.

Of those I know well enough to know a bit about their circumstances, all three households have had their landlords decide to sell up in the last few years. And all have had to find somewhere else to live.
A fourth who I don't know so well did say that she rents from a friend, and so she has some security.

Thanks for all replies. Yes I have long list of maintenance jobs too like people said, very worrying. Also don't think I could rent it out. Will look into estate properties and L & Q.

Unless you really have to sell I would hang on particularly at present. We know what the present Government intended to try and do about renting but have no idea what may come along soon. Any chance you could downsize?

We sold our Victorian terraced house and moved to a rented flat two years ago now. We liked the house but the stairs were extremely steep and were going to become more and more of a problem as we get older. Also the area was increasingly going downhill.
We went on a waiting list for a modern apartment on a lovely heritage estate run by a charitable Trust who own 300 properties on the estate. We were offered a property one year later.
We have the security of tenure of social housing as the Trust does not sell properties but the rents are commercial rents.
We were very careful to make sure we could afford to pay the rent out of income, even when one of us dies.
We have no children to leave anything to so are enjoying more holidays and a nicer lifestyle with some of the proceeds from the house at the moment.
No regrets so far. It is a lovely place to live with beautifully tended gardens all around the village and it is great to just make a phone call to the Trust if we have any maintenance issues and they are sorted quickly.

I don’t understand why anyone would pay £500+ per month to live in a rented property. I don’t spend any where near that on maintenance on my owned home and garden maintenance- what’s the rationale here? What am I missing?