Question for Landlords

[Ossiantoad]

In my early forties I find myself as a tenant for the first time in my life having previously lived with parents or owned my own homes. Four years ago I started a new business and this meant mortgages were tricky and capital was tight so renting made more sense.

Now we live in a wonderful house in a great location and quite frankly I can see myself staying put for the rest of my days even though we don't own it.

My question relates to upgrades to the house and how this works in a rental situation. The carpets will need replacing at some point, the kitchen certainly will within the next few years and the snooker table definitely needs recovering!

Who pays for all this? If I owned it I wouldn't hesitate but I don't want to spend thousands on a place which I could legally be asked to vacate in just a few months.

On the other hand the landlord might not be delighted to have to shell out for really decent stuff when they could get away with cheaper fixes.


Not having rented before I'm not sure how to approach this; what's the form landlords?

[KevinCamaroSS]

The house, fixtures, furniture and fittings provided by the landlord are the responsibility of the landlord unless the contract says different. Replacement and repair should be requested by yourself when necessary, the landlord will either do it or say not yet.

[boyse7en]

I'm a landlord with long-term tenants (they've been in the house for 12 years now)

Over the years the bathroom has been replaced (I paid) after they managed to put a hole in the bath
Boiler has just been replaced (I paid)
The outside of the house is going to be painted (I'll be paying) and some repairs to stuff like a broken gate

They have repainted the lounge (they asked if they could, so they bought the paint and did it)
They have replaced the carpet in the lounge (they paid)

[Countdown]

Ossiantoad said:

In my early forties I find myself as a tenant for the first time in my life having previously lived with parents or owned my own homes. Four years ago I started a new business and this meant mortgages were tricky and capital was tight so renting made more sense.

Now we live in a wonderful house in a great location and quite frankly I can see myself staying put for the rest of my days even though we don't own it.

My question relates to upgrades to the house and how this works in a rental situation. The carpets will need replacing at some point, the kitchen certainly will within the next few years and the snooker table definitely needs recovering!

Who pays for all this? If I owned it I wouldn't hesitate but I don't want to spend thousands on a place which I could legally be asked to vacate in just a few months.

On the other hand the landlord might not be delighted to have to shell out for really decent stuff when they could get away with cheaper fixes.


Not having rented before I'm not sure how to approach this; what's the form landlords?

The landlord will keep the property in the condition necessary to attract the tenants he wants (and price it accordingly).

For example somebody paying £400pcm will get the basics, somebody paying £1,000pcm will expect more (and probably get more)

If you are going to live there a long time then what you may want to suggest to the LL is "going halves" on the cost of redecorating? That way, he'll know you intend to stick around and that you want to keep the property in decent condition. That may encourage him to contribute more than the minimum required.

[dazwalsh]

Be careful if you decide to do major improvements to a rental home, some landlords will be more than happy for you to do the work then turf you out because they can now get a higher rent due to the better standard of the house. Unpredictability is one of the main downsides of renting.

[Ossiantoad]

Thanks guys, very helpful. The house is not a standard rental property, being large and in the middle of nowhere with a number of features which make it unattractive to general rental market. It was a struggle for the landlord to find tenants for it and I got the impression that they just wanted the house to be let to someone who would look after it and not cause trouble. It is a very small part of a large parcel of land and property and the income is totally insignificant to them.

From what you say the answer would be to sign up to a longish tenancy agreement and as part of the discussions agree to programme of improvements over the period.

[Rangeroverover]

I did a deal with a tenant where they did a few upgrades and I gave them a guarantee they would stay at least 3 years

[BoRED S2upid]

My tenants do a lot themselves with my permission ( I don't say no often) in return the rent hasn't gone up in years, they get a home more to their tastes and have been happy there for ages.

[Plate spinner]

Talk to your landlord and express your desire for a longer term contract. It may may warm up the conversation to refurbishments required.

[The Moose]

If money isn't an issue, hassle will be. What can you offer to reduce headaches?

[Countdown]

One option for you and the LL is that you spend the money upfront and he pays you some (or all) of it back via a reduced rent.

So, for example, I know of one case where the tenants spent £500 painting and redecorating a big chunk of the house. the LL reduced the rent by £15pcm. They got their money back over 3 years(ish) and the LL had peace of mind knowing his tenants would be around for a while (and would look after the place).

[Ossiantoad]

Food for thought, many thanks for all your input.

The problem I have is that I can't get a long-term tenancy agreement as I have not been able to pass the affordability criteria of the tenants referencing agency.

I got over this initially by paying six months rent up front plus a six-week deposit (£15k in total) but the referencing agency seem to have a blind spot when it comes to income that isn't straightforward PAYE salary. Most of my income is dividends so whilst I can afford to pay £2,000 a month and have never been late with a rent payment we can't get the paperwork to prove to the satisfaction of the agency and therefore the insurers and I'm consequently on a holding over arrangement that doesn't give any security.

Anyone know how these referencing agencies make their calculations?

[BoRED S2upid]

That sounds like they are doing anew credit check every 6 months? Go to the LL direct I would bet he's not aware of this and would be happy with a longer term agreement.

[Vocal Minority]

They'll probably use an agency - Experian etc.

The way round this is to persuade your land lord to dis-instruct the letting agent and trust you are good for it.

This may be politically tricky of course.....