Renting a 2 bed house to a family with 3 kids

[Beetle76]

I’ve got my hard hat on! I am renting out my two bed house while I have been seconded to a job in a different area for a year.
While it’s a small house, it’s in a good area so I received a number of offers for the full asking rent after the first viewing day. I decided to go with the person who stated they had two cats (I know what it’s like to rent with pets so I thought I’d help them out.)
The provisional paperwork listed a single tenant with their cats and I agreed to proceed on that basis. The full lease has arrived for me to sign and now it’s the tenant, plus cats, plus 3 kids.
My view is it’s a two bed house, one living room, small eat in kitchen and is thus not really suitable for a large family.
I didn’t base my decision on no kids, I just wanted to help out another cat person, and they happened to be the only applicant without kids.
I was expecting to have a kid or two in the house, it’s a great area for kids, but I think 3 is too many for the space. I don’t see where they would go - 3 kids beds would not fit in either bedroom, they are just not big enough. Maybe a sleeper couch in the living room? I suppose a kid could live under the stairs Harry Potter style 😂
But I fiercely dislike dishonesty and I feel they have been dishonest by not saying who would be living in the house from the outset. AIBU if I decide to pull the plug on this based that it’s not what I agreed to in the first place?
YANBU = it’s ok to pull the plug
YABU = it’s none of your business how many people are shoehorned into a rental property

@ChardonnaysDistantCousin but I'm guessing you already knew that....

Maybe she didnt lie

Maybe the children were living with her parents or their dad? But maybe now circumstances have changed You just dont know do you

When we were thinking of living in a 2 bed ( 2 adults 2 children ) we were going to give the kids the bedrooms and us get a sofa bed downstairs

Sorry, no. I didn’t. Why would I be asking if I did?

OP I would choose someone else. My parents have a number of rental properties and they have had some nightmare tenants. But they all started with a small lie or something odd, now they are much stricter and have an easier life. Its actually really sad as my DPs have had loads of sad stories (fleeing DV, abuse, etc) over the years, and unfortunately these tenants have always been the ones that trashed the houses (bar one). My DPs have helped all the tenants with furniture and trying to get settled and they have been repaid with a fortune for repairs or court costs. On the other side I was a SP on benefits and it was difficult trying to find somewhere to live, a LL took a chance and I ended up staying there for 6 years and the LL begged me to stay! Sometimes it does work, but my DP must have rented to at least 20-odd times to someone struggling and it's always ended up shit for them except for 1 tenant that they've had for 15 years (she fled a DV situation) so I just think so many people lie and its difficult to work out whos the liar. You need to protect your investment so choose someone else.

@TARSCOUT I don't rent, but I used to. If I was fortunate enough to have two properties I would happily be a LL, understanding and accepting of the risks attached, taking the right legal precautions should they be necessary.

Would I be a landlord to one property and rely on this as my only income? No. Would I let out a property if I still saw it as being my own home? No. It would be the tenants private accomodation along as the contract and terms were adhered to.

But I live in an area where an average 2 bed flat would be upwards of £400,000 - so the possibility of owning multiple homes right now is out of the question. For the people who do, count yourself lucky, but know the risks. If you cant accept them, dont let, Sell! I'd have much preferred to pour all of my hard earned money into my own property much sooner than I was able to, instead of into someone else's pocket.

At the end of day, if you have specific rental requirements, stipulate them at the point of advertising.

Don't do it!!! My brother used to be a LL and rented to someone under very similar circumstances except they didn't have pets. They (not intentionally) trashed the place. The amount of wear and tear was crazy and they left so much damp - a family of that size generates a HUGE amount of washing, where can they dry it?? It was a nightmare. He'd had the house renovated before they moved in and they left about £8000 worth of damage that he had to find out of his own pocket to fix it. After one other crappy tenant he decided enough was enough and he sold the house instead.

The question you need to ask yourself is this: if things don't turn out like you hope are you happy to charitably fund this family's stay and any damage caused while you're away? If so then go ahead and let them live in your house. If you don't have thousands of pounds sitting around and can't afford that gamble then don't.

It does seem odd that she was not upfront about the children and that is a red flag in my opinion.

However, I don't think 3 kids in a 2 bed house is inappropriate especially if they are all young. also, it may be the only property she can afford in the area that she needs to live in.

We are in a cramped 2 bed terrace with 2 young children and it works ok, yes we would obviously LOVE to have a 3 bed or whatever but as we're saving to buy our own place it's not really a priority to get another bedroom at the moment

No look for someone with less children, wear and tear will be dreadful.

And I say that as a pet friendly landlord.

For me it would be the dishonesty! It would worry me

If they had openly said it at the beginning not a problem, how people chose to live is up to them.

I would refuse to let it to then

Wow. Lots of responses to consider. Sorry, I’ve been busy so haven’t been able to check back in.

It’s unlikely to be a school zone thing. I believe the 3 bedroom down the road is differently zoned for a much better for school anyway. It’s more likely to be it doesn’t allow cats.

I’m amazed at the number of people who have assumed mum. It’s a dad FWIW. (2 of my lone parent friends are dads so that aspect doesn’t matter to me).

Perhaps “dishonest” is the wrong descriptive. I’m concerned why they asked about cats but didn’t think to mention 3 kids. To me this indicates a lack of full disclosure.

It feels like I’m being given info a scrap at a time so that is part of what isn’t sitting well with me. Again, why not full disclosure from the outset if there was nothing untoward going on.

I have not been able to find this person on social media, not even LinkedIn, with the scant information I have. I’m still waiting for the credit report and references to come through.

I’ve asked the agent directly for more information and thus far I’ve gathered that it is a divorce/separation but no indication of their intended living arrangements.

I’m not going to assume that because he is a dad, the kids won’t be living with him. They have put the childrens’ names on the lease as occupiers so on that basis, I’d expect that they will all be occupying the property. (See previous comment about my single dad friends.)

From a wear & tear perspective, in my book 1 adult with cats, is preferable to 2 adults with 1 child, which is preferable to 1 adult with 3 kids and 2 cats. Which is what my decision would have been if I’d had all the information from the outset.

I’m fully expecting to repaint before I move back in because I’d like a change from what was there so that doesn’t bother me. Damage to fixtures is a worry, irrespective of the cause, as the deposit doesn’t really cover major work. However, I would expect that my landlord insurance would cover me if they did something extreme like pull the ceiling down as one PP has mentioned. (As I go off to read the small print again!)

If they don’t move out after the year when I need to move back in, I’ll be homeless 😳 I don’t see the homeless brigade worrying so much about me having a roof over my head 😂

I wouldn't take her as a tenant, she told you about the cats, not about the kids. Unless you think you won't get anyone else I'd say no.

As PPs, the sneakiness is the bigger problem. I'd cancel as I can't see this ending well with such a dishonest tenant

The more I think on this, the more it reminds me of something an old friend pulled to make herself more eligible for social housing. It ended with a court case to get her out as that's the only way she'd be rehoused & years of non payment of rent. Choosing a too small property gave her more points too.

I think you need to find out if the kids are weekends only or full time as he’s a divorced dad. If they are part time I’d be more comfortable but if full time, I’d feel much the same as others.

It might not be sneakiness tbh if he only has the kids every other weekend or whatever.

When DH and I moved into a 2 bed, part of the reasoning was because we had DSS every fortnight. But we didn’t tell the landlord. He might think it’s a good thing to disclose the part time kids if that makes sense!

Children under 18 are not cOnsidered to be tenants but occupants so YABU to accuse the tenant of dishonesty. Children are never listed as tenants on paperwork.

However YANBU to refuse to let to a family with three children due to overcrowding.

@Beetle76 OP you clearly arnt sure so just reject the application, give them their holding deposit back and choose someone else. There's no need to keep thinking about it it's just wasting time really.

You need to find out your facts about your proposed tenant and the occupancy arrangements - If you want one adult and cats (you have stated this preferable over children), then their your terms- stipulate them, but let Dad know sooner than later so he can look for alternative accommodation, he has 3 children to consider?

Has she lied though? Maybe she told the agent about the kids but the agent only mentioned her as she's the only adult? Check your facts first, to be sure before accusing her of lying.

It's only for a year and she's got next to no chance of finding anywhere else with 2 cats and 3 kids. I feel for her

Oh and the council would happily put an adult and 3 kids in a 2 bed. That's the allocation for an adult and 3 kids - 2 bed house (unless eldest over 8 and opposite sex to either of the others

I would worry that they aren't in a position to move again in a year's time. Although if it's a single dad with children, it looks like it might be a stop gap until something else comes up.

The only thing you can do is get more info from the agent and be very specific about and end of tenancy/vacation date.

FWIW, when we were looking for a rental, more landlords would take the cat than the children! Understandable as we have a few. Fortunately our current landlord was happy with the kids not the cat and cat is now living the high life with close family.

As for the school catchment, considering the other more preferable house is in a different catchment area then his children might already be in the school attached to your property location- not the 'better' one down the road - also this is a year tenancy, not long term?
If you are letting your property out for one year only, knowing that if your tenants haven't vacated at the end of term you will be homeless, you are running a very real risk regardless of who you let to. Anyone who has ever been in a chain will know this, there are multiple things that could go wrong-
You need to sit down with your agent and add some clauses in your contract in regards to your tenant finding alternative accomodation perhaps months before the vacation date - also factor in full removal, cleaning, repair....?
I wouldn't be letting my property out if I were you, or if I was I'd make it a 6 month assured shorthold.

Hi Op, thanks for your latest update. Is it possible that he didn't think to mention the 3 kids because they don't live with him full-time? Either way, I still think that with this new information, you can reasonably reject his application.

The alternative is to raise the deposit to reflect the additional people and animals living there.