To let my property through the council

A friend of DP's did it.

Took four years to get the house back from a short term let (it was the first one) and then it had to be completely gutted and what was left of the kitchen and bathroom rebuilt/floorboards replaced where they were soaked through - some parts this was due to multiple dogs, the rest were where the outgoing people showed their displeasure by ripping the sinks out and leaving the washing machine tap open. They had to start legal action against the council in the end, which with the repairs, wiped out the income they'd received.

They promptly sold it rather than risk having to do all of that again.

You think a landlord should have ignored water leaks? That could end up costing him a fortune to put right.

Letting one person's one experience decide for you is madness

Think how many LL's have bad tenants - if folks let one experience sway them nobody would be a LL

He should’ve ignored the neighbours it’s nothing to do with him. He doesn’t sound very experienced?

Yes these are generally good deals they will made good any damage before returning the property to you.

it’s illegal for your insurer to refuse to allow you to rent to people who claim housing related benefits so make sure you tell them that if they try it on.

most landlords who are desperate to do this find there aren’t enough councils willing to pay them, so def take advantage!

I have a BTL and turned down a 5yr council offer based on the experience of a friend . He let to the council who had a young family in there and for the first few months all was well but then he started getting concerned calls from the neighbours about noise , antisocial behaviour and randomly, water leaks . It turns out the mother had got a new not very nice boyfriend who was causing disruption . I’m not saying for one minute all tenants will be like that but this case the attractive package from the council didn’t stop the constant complaints from his old neighbours .

Oh thats a good point thanks. Any pitfalls or has it been generally good? Thanks

The pluses and minuses depend on the detail of the scheme.

Previously the one where they guaranteed the rent (so basically the council paid me and then they dealt with the tenants rent) and dealt with repairs (obviously at cost) was the best scheme.

Currently it's private letting and I can no longer pay to access the councils repair team because of their own cutbacks. Tenants still, understandably, expect council repair speed though (and round here they were very good) and that is expensive.

The big upside for me was that tenants could accept a social housing place if they were offered it regardless of their tenancy with me because the housing officer always had several more people wanting to move in. So people weren't stuck with double rent, or me with a broken tenancy and the dilemma of chasing rent. It works well for everyone.

The one thing I would say is ask hard questions if they ever want to buy. I've just went through the process of being close to selling to my council (which is absolutely logical for them) and it's fallen through. For the fourth time. Again "budgets don't allow at the moment". I won't be entertaining it again as it costs me money every time.

If you are in Wales they guarantee the rent (Leasing Scheme Wales), and will give you funding to bring up to lettable standard.

That sounds like a lovely idea, op. A family who would never be able to afford to could have a home because of you ❤️

It's something I've done for several years. Just check with your landlord insurance - I had to change company as the original one wouldn't cover it.