Moving out during a renovation!

[Parkmama]

Looking for advice and experiences please! We are renovating our house to include a single story ground floor extension and loft conversion. We have 2 young DD's so staying at home throughout this isn't really feasible as we need to lower ceilings etc and we hope by moving out that everything can be done quicker. So currently looking to put loads of stuff into storage (take to the tip!) and then rent somewhere up the road for 6 months. What costs should We consider apart from the obvious monthly rent? Council tax, bills, fees, deposits etc. Does anyone have any advice or experiences to share? Is it best to call regular agents? Anywhere else I could find a short term rental? All a bit naive to this and am trying to consider everything! TIA!

[pumpingRSI]

We've just done exactly this, but for shorter. Needed a place for 6-8 weeks whilst the worst stuff happened (no heating or bathrooms). Best thing we did as the builder could just get on with it, we weren't in his way and we could live comfortably. As we wanted shorter term rent, I didn't look at traditional estate agents but looked at gumtree, air bnb, owners direct. In the end I found a place by asking on my local town's Facebook site as I figured this time of year people who are selling or renting may have empty places. Hope that helps!

[MammaAgata]

I think Pumping has given great advice. I wish I had thought of that when I renovated. I put my details down with 3 local agents but none offered a short term let. The shortest terms were 12mths. I needed about 4. I thought I could hand in my 2 months notice after 2 months but no, you can only give notice (2mths) after 6mths, meaning I would have needed to rent for 8mths. I hope this is making sense! In the end I bought a cheap caravan, put in front garden, lived in it for 4mths and then resold it. Total cost about £1k but definitely not ideal for a family. It was just me and DH and we had use of our big new kitchen and had an garden office so we weren’t just confined to the caravan. I wouldn’t recommend that as a solution though, it was tough!!

[finlaythecat]

We are in a rented house at the moment whilst our renovations are going on. The house we’re in is up for sale but has been for a while so I approached the agent and negotiated renting it for 4 months as we didn’t want to be tied into a minimum 6 month contract. We said we are still happy for them to show potential buyers round while we’re here.
If you know any empty properties that are slow to sell, it’s worth asking!

[Parkmama]

Good idea to approach agents with empty properties, i know a few actually not far away! What about bills to consider whilst renting?

[minipie]

Watching, I have the same issue! Is it easier to rent unfurnished and bring our stuff, or store our stuff and rent furnished? Guess it's about what's available...

[Parkmama]

Yes I'm wondering about furnished/unfurnished too . . .