To be SO fed up with not having a home?!

[missyelloww]

I'll keep this as short as possible but it has been a few years in the making!

DP and I lived in Cornwall when we found out we we're expecting DD. In December 2018 we moved in with DP's parents (approx 150 miles from Cornwall) temporarily as we wanted to be closer to family when DD was born. The plan was to wait until she was a few months old and then find somewhere of our own to rent.

We have now been looking for over a year and I am absolutely at my wits ends with the constant let-downs and rejections. Living with PIL has always been temporary (we thought we would be out by Christmas 2019 at the latest!) so we are crammed into one room with most of our belongings in the garage. Whilst I am so grateful that PIL are letting us stay here, we are all in need of a bit of space, and DP and I are so desperate to have a home of our own again. We must have enquired about hundreds of properties and gotten absolutely no where. Either they're already gone by the time we ring up or there are no agents to take us for a viewing.

We have put offers in on 4 out of the 5 properties we have managed to view, and they have all been turned down. 2 of those properties are still on the market 3 months later!

Since Covid we have stopped looking due to viewings being stopped (understandable, obviously!) On a whim, I looked on Rightmove yesterday afternoon. Found a beautiful property - well within our budget, exactly what we are looking for. It had only been added on Rightmove 12 hours before. Rang and asked about a virtual tour, and they said they would get back to us within 24 hours. We said that as long as we could have some more pictures of specific things we would happily put a deposit down without an in person viewing.

Just received a voicemail saying that as they can't do viewings the property has been taken off of the market until at least July. I am so frustrated! We are SO desperate to move, but it seems that no one wants to take our money?! Has anyone been in a similar situation before? Is there anyway we can make ourselves more appealing to landlords?

Both of the estate agents we have been using use 30 x rent for affordability (and 36 x for guarantor). There was one property (one of the ones that are still on the market) that we were slightly under this so do understand why this landlord might not have wanted to go for us. It was quite a lot more expensive than the others though!

We offered 6 months rent upfront for the 2 that remained on the market after our initial offers were rejected as advised by the agent - hope they don't think we're drug dealers now!

We have saved a bit whilst living here (£10k) but don't earn enough for a mortgage - we're in a fairly expensive area but certainly not near London prices. We looked into shared ownership initially, got a mortgage in principle etc but in the end were too late for the development and they had all been sold. We are still on the lookout but there don't seem to be anymore developments planned in our area at the moment.

2 of those properties are still on the market 3 months later!

Try again- a different market now from then

Maybe they want to rent to locals? If you’re new to the area perhaps there’s a risk that you won’t like it and will move on?

Sorry missed this one - we are originally from this area. Moved to Cornwall as that is where I went to University and we wanted to stay there for a while. Have no intention of moving away again!

We rent out a house we own. Tenants left in February and we decided to do some work on it (new kitchen) and general decoration.

By the time it was ready it was almost lockdown but the new rule of no evictions for 3 months so our agent said don't rent it out. The new tenants could pay for a month's rent and not pay again. Also Courts are closed so they could wreck the house and still no rent might be paid to us.

Agent advised us to keep it empty (like your renting in July property).

That could be it. It sounds really mean to keep it empty but we took the agent's advice.

I think there are some areas where it is really hard ... my son was looking to rent for ages in the Cambridge area, it was exactly as you describe, with lots of viewings and the property going to someone else, sometimes before he'd even got there.
You might want to consider putting your own "wanted" advert out there - on local rental pages, FB local pages etc. Make sure if you do arrange a viewing to make it as soon as possible and get there early.
Check listings every day, if you are going through estate agents ring them every day, be really pushy and persistent.

Do you have a previous eviction, criminal record, giant dog? It is unusual for a landlord to leave a property empty rather than take a tenant who meets the income
Criteria.

Are you perhaps trying to rent a studio or
1 bedroom? I have definitely had landlords who don’t want to rent anything smaller than a 2 bedroom to a couple with children.

I know you say you don't earn enough but would it be worth saving a bugger mortgage and try getting share ownership again rather than putting your money into renting as once you rent you won't be able to save much. I know all this from experience, I am here to say I know partly how you feel!!

Renting for 9 years 2 children, moved in with in-laws to save for a deposit all crammed into one room and furniture in garage the four of us, but ended up splitting from dh after a terrible arguement, I went to my mums thinking I'd be going back after a few days but the split lasted a while so now at my mums with no home of our own, the kids have no bedroom we are sharing a bed and trying to bid on council houses which is the longest process in the world, I'm not even classed as urgent and come last in every bidding even though I am overcrowded etc. Sorry to go on but just to say I know how it feels being crammed with nowhere to live

This is so buzzard. Why wouldn’t the landlords want to rent- there must be something. Is there a problem with your partners credit? Or bad reference that you don’t know about? It must be something!

That is weird, so sorry for you - used to let out my property and the agent always did vetting straight away for interested parties: now, to be fair, I cannot imagine there were ever dozens wanting to fight it out but as a landlord, I cannot remember ever turning someone away unless they were dhss at time of appication as my bank would not allow that (although when one tenant lost her job I did vouch for her with the bank and got them to agree to renew the let with a guarantor). I even considered families with pets as I had struggled myself to find a tenancy with a cat.
So am really surprised unless you are bound to a postcode or the area is super competitive. I would always have taken professional couple no kids first but had nothing against families, if anything probably a safer bet for long term tenancy once in school. Maybe they only want short term rather than settled but

Bizarre*

www.gov.uk/government/news/complete-ban-on-evictions-and-additional-protection-for-renters

The link explains more clearly about the no evictions rule. This might be what is stopping you renting.

If you could offer a whole year's rent up front that might help. A big ask.

application
good luck btw

I would really urge you to be saving every penny you can for a mortgage deposit. Do you and your DH have any desire or plans to ever own? Once you get back into renting it's nearly impossible to get out of it!

It should get better once the lockdown is over for you OP. So many people have lost their jobs that landlords will be favouring families like yours with employment.

I'I'd definitely ring about the two you were rejected for. Ask why and explain that you're still interested and ready to move in ASAP (within current restrictions obviouslu). I just can't imagine a landlord would rather have a property empty than rented. With then one off the market until July tell the agent that July is fine, you want to be first in the queue and are happy to pay for the relevant credit checks, get the paper work in order etc. I'd ring around all of the agents, explains your current position, give them agents an idea of what you need and how eager and ready you are to move and ask them to consider you for any suitable properties.

From personal experience, I'd suggest contacting several agents in the area who specialise in rental properties. Tell them your story , make sure that they know you are genuine, and that you are financially viable. Ask them to let you know when something comes up . Offer to take a place without inspecting it - this is a risk but on the other hand, you'll be first in the queue. Offer above the asking price . Make sure that you have the application forms for each agent, so you can have it filled out and ready to go.

With renting, it's the early bird who catches the worm. Good luck !

I also live in an area (not in the UK) that has this system of renting, where they do viewings for a week and then look at all the applications and pick one. It's brutal! It's also very common here for people to take months to find a place.

What seems clear is that landlords will pick the applicant with the most money, it is that simple. Maybe the second or third most well off, depending if they want someone with or without kids for example, but in general it just comes down to how much money you have.

You say you are in an expensive area so it sounds like there are probably lots of people around who are well off. In this case it doesn't matter if you meet the 30x rule, or if you have an impeccable record, as long as there are people around with more money, it will be really tough to find a place.

I don't think it's a bad idea to offer more rent upfront, this might give you an advantage. Go on all the local FB groups and websites and see if any private landlords are advertising.

But really I would suggest either trying to buy or looking in another area.

Have you looked on Open Rent? You can then deal directly with the landlord instead of estate agents

@Maybeimweird That sounds like a nightmare, I hope you find somewhere soon!

No criminal record, no big dog! Looking at 2-3 bedrooms. Definitely no issues with credit or references.

I would really urge you to be saving every penny you can for a mortgage deposit. Do you and your DH have any desire or plans to ever own? Once you get back into renting it's nearly impossible to get out of it!

We would absolutely love to own and understand how difficult it is to rent but we'd be looking at saving for 10+ years with our current earnings!

We have asked to put a deposit down on the one that has been taken off of the market until July without seeing it. I just want to make some progress!!

What seems clear is that landlords will pick the applicant with the most money, it is that simple. Maybe the second or third most well off, depending if they want someone with or without kids for example, but in general it just comes down to how much money you have.

I think this is it. I'll be the first to say we don't earn a lot but we certainly earn enough!

I meant understand how difficult it is to save whilst renting!

If you are 150 miles away from the properties you are trying to rent do the landlords presume you will lose your jobs if you move ?
Will you ?

really feel for you. if you're still in the SW (which I'm guessing you might be), I can imagine how tricky it is; finding somewhere affordable to rent which is liveable can be just awful in some areas.
I don't really have any helpful tips except to say keep phoning agents and chat to them; put out all community "feelers" (like FB posts, etc) and I hope something comes up.
as a life-long renter, I know how tough things can be.

All sounds very strange, I also thought that it was just a case of first-come-first-served with renting - providing you meet the criteria/pass the checks etc!

The only thing I can think of is that they don’t want to rent to a couple with a baby...I know I had trouble when my DS was 18 months old and I was looking for somewhere. I was mainly looking at flats at the time and was told on a couple of different occasions that they didn’t want to risk the hassle of complaints from other tenants re a crying baby!

I am a private landlord and extremely fussy about who I rent to. I will not consider any prospective tenant who has a pet, who is unemployed, whose income is insufficient to live on after paying the rent and council tax plus utilities, anyone who cannot provide references and anyone who does not seem suitable at interview.
However.....I need to make an income and the worst possible scenario for me is to have an empty property. It is not just the lack of income, it involves costs too. When empty I have to pay maintenance charges, council tax, gas and electricity myself for the property.
You need to target private landlords. Sites like gumtree or Facebook, local newspapers, or take a walk round the area looking for To Rent signs.
If possible do try to buy. You have saved quite a bit, is any family member able to lend you enough to fund a deposit? Good luck.

I understand where you're coming from OP as I experienced similar recently.

Relocated for new job so I was looking for a rental while my old house was up for sale.

Couldn't believe how competitive it was. Property gone within 24hrs sometimes so hard to get in for viewings. Letting agencies wouldn't let me take without having viewed first.

Saw one property at same time as loads of other people and multiple people said we wanted it same day. I ended up emphasising to the estate agent how financially secure I was (while cringing I was resorting to this - but was desperate), and finally got it. Letting agent also said landlord picked me as no kids...

Just keep trying and you'll get there in the end. Position yourself in the best possible light. I'm sure all the letting agents knew the sound of my voice by the end.

I found it just as tough getting in to view a house to buy. No chance of 2nd viewings here! I have now got an offer accepted on a house and looking to move after lockdown.

I don't know your financial position, but if you are able to, then try and save for a deposit to buy. Depends on house cost, deposit amount etc, but mortgage on my new house will be less than I'm currently paying in rent.