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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Renting a 2 bed house to a family with 3 kids

462 replies

Beetle76 · 31/01/2020 02:51

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

OP posts:
MrsElijahMikaelson1 · 31/01/2020 07:52

I probably would not do this-the wear and tear will be considerable. When DH and I married we lived in his house and tried renting mine out for a while-disaster and cost me thousands in a very short space of time-we sold it as soon as we could after that experience!

Cornettoninja · 31/01/2020 07:53

Why are you charging the same as a large 3 bed down the road?

Quite. This will highly likely give you a massive clue why it’s not a viable property for her to rent.

Have you actually met her and done the viewings? I think crying dishonesty is unfair when there’s a realistic chance she has mentioned it but to the agent not you.

I don’t think it’s for you to decide what’s big enough or not. It’s patronising. Just be honest and admit you don’t want three kids living in the house instead of dressing it up with faux concern. Your perfectly within your rights to rent to who you like, let’s not pretend you have any kind of social responsibility towards this family, from what I’ve experienced your best off compartmentalising when you’re a landlord anyway. Sob stories have a habit of biting you on the arse.

If it were me I’d take a punt on them with the proviso of quarterly checks so I could review the situation regularly.

SallyWD · 31/01/2020 07:55

I think the dishonesty is bad. My friends actually live in a tiny 2 bed house with their 3 massive teenage sons! I haven't visited them since the kids were babies (different cities) but I really can't imagine what the set up is.

NoIDontWatchLoveIsland · 31/01/2020 07:55

Schadenfreude

If it is a school place swindle they will be planning to actually live there for a year, only to move to a larger house further out of catchment in a year's time when they have got a place.

JeansNTees · 31/01/2020 07:55

I agree with the school catchment argument. We've had people rent in our block of flats for this reason and it is very annoying because then they move out, go somewhere cheaper, and have to drive their children to school everyday - and they park in our flats parking spaces! CF.

I'm a bleeding heart and I'd still say a big No to this setup. 3 kids can do a lot of damage and it would be a very costly mistake if they only lived there a year, trashed it, then refused to move so you had to go down the legal eviction route in court.

BellatrixLestat · 31/01/2020 07:55

Perhaps she is not the resident parent. The children may live with their father most of the time so she didn't feel the need to put this on her initial application.

Could be a possibility?

DonnaDarko · 31/01/2020 07:56

I would ask why she didn't mention the kids and go from there. Have you asked the lettings agent yet? For all you know, someone fucked up on the paperwork!

It's a small space but maybe she doesn't have much choice. Not many places will accept cats.

We are 3 adults, a child and two cats and most places turned us away despite us all working, having excellent references and not having any problems on our credit report, purely cos of the cats.

Northernsoullover · 31/01/2020 07:56

I've just checked and apparently depends on their ages. If they are under 8 its an ok size. If any children are over 8 and of a different sex its insufficient.

NailsNeedDoing · 31/01/2020 07:57

Quite simply, if you will be living in the house again yourself after a year, you want tenants that will cause the least amount of wear and tear possible, unless you have the money and the inclination to completely redecorate and make any repairs as soon as they move out. Allowing an overcrowded property with not only too many people, but two pets as well, is not going to do that for you.

MyOwnSummer · 31/01/2020 07:59

Another LL here, chiming in to agree with PP that this is a bad idea. You don't have the full picture.

Honestly I would avoid agents and use OpenRent because yes you do the viewings etc yourself but it is fully worth it to vet applicants in person. I recently posted on another thread about some of the characters I had apply - but the nice family I eventually rented to would have been excluded due to self employment status / lack of proof of earnings. Having met them in person and seen alternative proof I was ok to proceed, but with an agent you don't get that.

An agent has no incentive to get the right tenant in, only to fill the property and get their fee.

SchadenfreudePersonified · 31/01/2020 07:59

LoveIsland

Ah!

Thanks - I'm not really up on these things. Yes - I can see how she might be trying to fiddle that.

Tatiannatomasina · 31/01/2020 08:00

The wear and tear will be significant. She is not your responsibility and she has failed to disclose significant information. I let my house to a couple with an adult dog and a puppy. In reality it was three huge dogs that terrorised the neighbours on every side and they were late and short with the rent. I had to evict them and apologise to all three sides who were up in arms. My experience has made me very wary and I caution you to be the same. I previously had a couple apply, then it transpired it was them, another couple and their sister. Nope.

GiveHerHellFromUs · 31/01/2020 08:02

Would you have accepted her if she'd been honest up front? If not then don't accept her now.

DP rented out our house before we moved in (he owned before we met) to a 'single woman with one child and a small dog'.

She moved her husband in plus another two kids and two big flea ridden dogs.

She stopped paying rent and wouldn't leave. It took about 6 months to evict her, and it's even harder to evict tenants now than it was then.

The house was a complete shithole when she finally went.

He'd accepted her as a tenant because she'd spun a story about getting away from her husband (the one she moved in and never mentioned of the tenancy).

GFJoe · 31/01/2020 08:05

I wouldn't. Partly because of the wear and tear, which would be significant, but mainly the dishonesty.

Urkiddingright · 31/01/2020 08:07

The dishonesty is an issue but she must have been desperate, maybe you were the only one who allowed her to rent with her pets? Many landlords won’t allow it at all.

If the children are all under ten and the bedrooms are fairly roomy they could either all share one bedroom or one could share with the Mother. All three of mine shared until the eldest was 6, they enjoyed sharing.

Iusedtobeapartygirl · 31/01/2020 08:08

I'm a former landlord.

If you feel unsure about this tenant and feel misled then refuse the tenancy. Always go with your gut feeling.

I agree that if she has lied or misled about 3 children then it is likely that she will not be honest about other things in the future.

You don't want to end up in a nightmare situation of a tenant stopping paying rent and refusing to leave.

It's your house, you make the best decision for you.

Hadtoask · 31/01/2020 08:12

It’s the dishonesty that would be a red flag to me.
It reminds me of the time that I was interviewing for a post and I gave the job to a particular candidate because she said she had come from the USA on her own and was finding places to rent. It all sounded really difficult so I gave her the job. She was really weird. Lots of weirdness followed. And it transpired she had come to the uk to live with her doctor partner. Lots of lies followed.

Absolutely nothing to do with your story OP except that lies about big things are a red flag. I would pull out of the arrangement if I were you.

BorneoBabe · 31/01/2020 08:13

Another LL here. They've lied to you already. It would be a 'No' from me.

TooleyVanDooley · 31/01/2020 08:14

No way, too much wear and tear and the dishonesty would be a deal breaker for me. If she’s lying now, I would worry about her actually leaving at the end of the tenancy.

vdbfamily · 31/01/2020 08:15

maybe she is divorcing an hd trying to buy somewhere but needs to get out short term. If looking to buy she will want to save as much as she can and not rent somewhere more expensive. Maybe the kids are not there all the time. You do have a choice because the wear and year will be on your property but she ultimately gets to choose how she is prepared to live and as others have said, if youngest is toddler she may be happy with a bunk bed in one room and a cot in with her. It is only short-term after all.

Afrigginggoat · 31/01/2020 08:19

This poor woman, found somewhere to rent for her cats and kids, kids are perhaps with dad fifty percent of time so she reckons she can manage and you want to take the roof from her head?
I think it's awful to go back on your agreement. You realise you could be leaving her homeless?

EntropyRising · 31/01/2020 08:19

No way, she fell at the first hurdle. You'd be mad to go forward.

MintyMabel · 31/01/2020 08:20

Some really shitty assumptions being made about this proposed tenant.

TARSCOUT · 31/01/2020 08:20

I would not rent due to the dishonesty and I would tell her that also. What else is she hiding?

ChardonnaysDistantCousin · 31/01/2020 08:22

Two cats and three children is a lot of wear and tear in a small space. It’s easier in a big house, but the more cramped the worse it is.

Also, I would worry about getting the flat back when you return. Some posters are speculating that this might be a divorce case, and I know I’m speculating as well, even further, but the fact that she’s leaving the house with the children suggests an arrangement that’s not amicable.