Renting flat off my sister.

[Auntieaunt]

I'm in my mid twenties, professional in the public services and looking for somewhere to rent.

There's nearly a twenty year gap between us and she bought this flat 20 years ago and currently pays £79 for the mortgage with the help of our deseased parents. She's on a 6 figure salary with no kids and a few investment properties (places where she's lived, upgraded and now rent out).

The area where we live has become crazy expensive due to us being in the home counties and where the flat originally cost under 40k it's now worth nearly 150k.

While it's in an expensive area it's still located in the dodgy side of town and she's had quite a few dodgy tenants i.e. people who hasn't paid rent, trashed the place, illegal activities etc. I'm now hoping to rent somewhere else as I've been living with friends, they're moving out and I can't afford to pay rent by myself on my salary.

This one bed flat would be perfect but she's renting it for £525 - the amount she pays in legal fees to get people out, when they trash the place etc aibu that she helps me out by lowering the rent? I said I was looking for a place with the max rent £450 and that can only get a shared place.

Aibu that I'm upset that she won't lower the rent to £450 when that will still give her an extra £380 profit each month? Especially as our parents helped her out in the first place?

But with a flat come service charges, ground rent etc..... and who's to say she hasn't remortgaged and owes more on the mortgage? I think you are being unreasonable as you are not entitled to rent out her flat for a cheaper price just because it's your sister. Yes it would be nice of her but she may need that money. Sorry!

Personally, if I was in a financial position to do so, I would agree to lower the rent for a close family member.

She is unwilling to for a reason, perhaps she does need all the money? Or she could just be a bit spiteful, but she has every right to be.

You're not U to ask.

But she's not U to say no. That's her right too.

It would be nice if she did but you are effectively asking your sister to give you £100 a month. It's always better to do as much as you can for yourself rather than ask others for help in my opinion otherwise your indebted to them.

Did your parents only give your sister money? Did they not give you any?

She wouldn’t really be gifting her £100 a month though. Firstly, the difference is £75. Then, she’d have to pay for estate agency fees for finding new tenants. Also, as you say, if they trash the place it costs an awful lot more than £75 a month. Redecorating a one bedroom flat could cost up to £1000 plus carpets etc. Even if she claims off the insurance there’s still excess to pay and the insurance premiums go up.

I’ve let out a flat myself in the past to a family member and did reduce the price for the reasons given above and the peace of mind which is worth a lot.

I’m also interested in why your parents didn’t help you out financially.

The thing is is that we're pretty close - she knows I'm struggling financially because the increase in house prices and I can't move away due to my job.

I've helped her redecorate the flat after it's been trashed (it's been trashed a few times over the years).

She's one of those people whos always given me tough love but I think this one is a step too far especially when she had help from our parents.

My dad was the main breadwinner who died a couple of months after he lost his good job with life insurance. Our dad brought us up and we both had little contact with our mum. I'm not even sure what she's up to at the moment.. while our dad didn't give her money towards the flat he did let her live rent free at home for a year to save up and bought her all her white goods + main furniture.

£525 pm sounds pretty reasonable to me. Can you ask your parents to help you meet the difference as they helped her, or have they already helped you?

Bmw6 see my previous post

Cross posted with your update.
Letting a child live rent free at home for a year is not in the same ballpark as your sister losing £75pm rental income.
OK her bought her furniture but that's a one-off, not regular expenditure.

Could you meet half way - say £490pm? Would your sister agree to that?

I own two rental properties, and to be quite fair if I was in your sisters shoes I would probably give you the discount, on the condition that any problems with the flat is fixed by you. (I have spent thousands on mine and to be fair if a family member had stayed there I would not have needed to, so for example issues with water pressure or a stiff door, not something that causes massive problems but as a landlord you need to put right!) and I would also set up an AST as well to set out the conditions of the tenancy.

As a previous poster has said she would not need to pay a finders fee to an agent or potentially pay an agent to manage it, so it might work out better financially to rent it to you.

However there are other things that your sister would need to pay out for other then the mortgage, for example if your sister has had to claim off her landlord insurance in order to remedy the flat after it had been trashed or even if she has had to pay for it out of her own funds that would probably hurt the purse strings.

There is also sometimes a reluctance from some landlords to rent to family, so for example (and I’m not saying you would do this) but it may be easier for a tenant who is a family member, to be short, late or even not pay the rent without any fear of the repercussions. Renting a property to someone can also be quite a strain on your relationship and she may want to have kept her properties (in effect her business) separate to her family as it could be too close to home if something was to go wrong.

As I believe that families should help one another I'd rent it to you for a lower rent in a heartbeat. Particularly as you'll look after it and save her paying agents' fees. She's hardly going to miss the money if she's on a six figure salary and has other rental properties.

I think people can be reluctant to rent to relatives as it can be awkward.

It's all sorts of issues from the broken item that they each think the other should pay for, the month the renter is short on money and thinks that the relative won't mind being paid late, when the renter thinks that the carpet needs replacing and the landlord thinks it doesn't, and the awkwardness of having to tell them that they've decided to sell or the rent needs to go up etc.

Maybe also she's now got some good renters in there and doesn't want to evict them.

But the way you write this does come across to me as entitled. It's irrelevant why she has the flat, and how much money she earns. It is hers, and you are effectively asking her to give you some money, even if it's not the full amount of the difference in rent it will be something.

Nice if she'd offered, but I don't think you should be asking.

Yabu

Firstly to rent off family, this is going to cause huge issues when something goes wrong, my DM turned in to a psycho when she was renting off us (she begged us to have the house, we gave it to her cheap, she complained about everything and then broke the fridge which we then had to replace)

Your rent won’t just cover her mortgage. It will cover things like the fridge breaking down, other maintenance, you don’t even know for sure if that IS her actual mortgage amount.

She's hardly going to miss the money if she's on a six figure salary and has other rental properties.

Her accountant, are you?

BTL mortgages usually state that you cannot rent to family members.

Even if hers doesn't it may be that if she has more than one rental property that the expenses of the combined properties vs their incomes does not allow her to give this discount.

Maybe she has used this as an excuse because she believes you will not be a reliable tenant and that she would not have the heart to have to evict you if you didn't pay up etc.

You do seem to think she owes you something and perhaps she has picked up on that.

Did your Dad not leave you anything in his Will?

£140,000 for a property in the expensive part of town. Where is this out of interest?

So you imply on the opening post she had help which perhaps wrong, I read as your parents giving your sister £££
and currently pays £79 for the mortgage with the help of our deseased parents.

And the reality is she got relatively minor help
Lived rent free at home for a year to save up and bought her all her white goods and main furniture
So Alllllll her white goods translates in reality to a washing machine and fridge freezer - hardly life changing stuff

What I think is interesting is if your father died and had a good job so presumably there was life insurance/ an inheritance.
Was this split equally?
What did you do with your half?

To answer though yes - YABU

1. Renting to family is always a mess.

1. you also sound a bit entitled like “ ohhhh she has all this stuff why can’t she give some to me.”

FWIW I have never lived on my own because sharing was cheaper and I was initially saving up for my own place, then was renting a room in my place to help pay the mortgage.

Why did you not also live at home rent free and save up?