Rental properties - is this normal?

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Partner and I are looking to rent a place together in his town; he currently rents in the area, I own my home 4 hours away. New house is going to be mostly his, I'll be paying about 25% of the rent/bills and staying there about 10 days a month.

Which all sounds fine EXCEPT that the rental market in his town is mental. I check Rightmove every day...call or email agents...and they're not accepting viewings or the houses are already let every time. One went on this morning, I just called and was told they've already closed applications on it!

I have limited experience of the rental market - I helped my partner find his current home, and the one before that, and never had any of this, at that time (2 and 4 years ago respectively) it was a good 2 weeks between him spotting the property online, viewing and signing any paperwork. Now it seems to be happening in hours!

There are about 10 agents in his town; all also seem to be operating a fee system for applications (again, not a thing previously) where they want 150-200 for you to apply as a tenant, which they'll refund within 21 days if you're not successful. Again, is this a thing now?

If all of this is just how it is, how do we actually get a house we want? Clearly somehow others are getting in ahead of us - how do they do it?

At the moment I can't even get us a viewing on any other than 1 which we could go and see (but the agent has already warned me that applications are being made, so it might well be let before we've even seen it!)

I think it's quite clear what you have to do. Sign up with one or more agents. Go through the vetting process and pay the 'deposit'. Then they know you are serious and will inform you when a property comes up. In a fast paced market where things are gong quickly most properties won't even make it to rightmove. They only put a few on to keep their business visible to potential land lords.

OP have you put an ad in the local paper? That was how we got our house. The LL had just had his current tenants move out but hadn't advertised it yet and saved all his advertising costs by renting to us.

It's just luck. We had about three or four replies. You might just find someone who is thinking of renting but hasn't put it on the market yet.

Good luck. It's a nightmare trying to find a decent rental.

I think the housing market is insane at the moment. This certainly my experience with renting and I've been renting for 22 years now. But dh and I are trying to buy our first house now and this is exactly what it's like at the moment. Houses are having offers accepted the day they go on the market, well over guide price, with no viewings, so completely sight unseen. It's been really hard to get viewings as everything is STC within days and they just cancel the viewings or refuse to take anymore. I wouldn't be surprised if rentals are the same as I expect people who can't buy are trying to rent in the same areas to wait out the market being so crazy so they can eventually buy.

How many agents have you registered with?

How often are you down to be able to view, and how quickly can you get down?

Its obvious what you need to do.

Are you renting it as well or is it just your partner on the tenancy?

We haven't registered with any agents yet - my partner never needed to when renting a property previously, looking on Rightmove, viewing and then applying was enough.

Obviously now things have changed, and we're going to have to share all our personal information with about 10 different agents!

My partner can view at any time, he doesn't need me there. So far we've only secured one viewing, and that house is already under application. It's not a matter of us saying we can't view til a weekend, or next week, or whatever, the viewing slots simply aren't available.

Where I am, people often post along the lines of 'I'm looking to rent a 2 bedroom property in X location and my budget is Y' on Nextdoor. No idea how effective such posts are but maybe worth a try as it's free and requires little effort.

The tenancy will be in his name alone, as I've already got my own house, unless there are any issues about affordability etc as he is self employed - it may be that I would need to go onto the tenancy to get round that, but we'll see.

He needs to be the one contacting agents and chasing up flats then

The problem is that with the increase in tax and demands on landlords, additional rights given to tenants at the detriment of the landlord, the business is not profitable for a large numbers of landlords. With the current boom in the market, many have or are selling up.

I let a house. There use to be about 10 similar property in the town. In the last 6 months, there have been about a handful, none for the past three weeks.

That's what people want, landlords to be punished. It's a pity for those who still need/want to rent privately. Hope you find somewhere OP.

Now that you know what the market is like you will probably be able to find somewhere easily.

You need to explain to your partner that he both needs to register and then proactively chase. Thst there's no point looking on the Internet because by the time things hit the web they will have gone

As others are saying, you need to register with agents.

My property (as a landlord) never made it onto the websites as I was waiting for consent to let on the anniversary of the mortgage date, but the agents showed a couple people round who were registered with them making it clear ‘this will be coming up soon once approved by the lender’. Literally the day it was approved contracts were signed with my tenants. A lot of the best properties will never make it on to right move.

@Shoxfordian

It seems very odd that you’re paying towards his rent just for staying over a few times a month

OP has clearly said that the reason he is moving is that there's not enough space for a couple. I read this as if it wasn't for OP he would stay put

I've just moved into rented and it was exactly as you describe. I tried to register with a local EA and was told that the market was moving so quickly they didn't bother contacting people anymore they just put it on rightmove and it would go. The place I'm renting at the minute is tiny and has a damp problem but I went on in the morning, I was straight round, filled out the application form as soon as I left the viewing and ended up battling it out with 3 other prospective tenants. The stress of it!

Since it's only 10 days a month could you not just stay at his for now until the market has calmed down a bit?

@Newkitchen123 yes that's exactly it - his current place is fine for him, and for me to stay over very occasionally, but as we increase the time we spend together and especially as I need a space to WFH, it isn't big enough.

As for waiting, I think we'd both rather not wait any longer, we started planning this last year but delayed due Covid, so it feels like we've already been waiting a fair while.

I am a landlord and have 2 DC at uni, both renting properties.

Normally you register with an agency, give the all your details eg finances, work etc and tell them what you are looking for. They will often contact you before a property is listed online as it takes time to take photos etc. If the market is crazy, it is likely that a lot of places are being let before they make it online.

all also seem to be operating a fee system for applications (again, not a thing previously) where they want 150-200 for you to apply as a tenant

I have never heard of this. They can't charge a fee for viewings/applications. Or do you mean the holding deposit?

They can take a holding deposit but that is once you have made an offer while credit checks, references etc are being done. You pay the deposit and they stop marketing the property while the checks take place. You get the money back if you rent the property or if the landlord declines your offer. The landlord keeps the deposit if you change your mind or if you fail the checks because you have lied about something on your application eg your income or a CCJ.

I guess they must mean the holding deposit, although reference seems to be made to paying it either when you submit your details or when you view. I find the idea of the landlord pre-approving you before you've even seen the property a bit odd too. Again, my experience in assisting my partner 2-4 years ago was nothing like this. Things really have changed.

I think that the market has changed so much over the last few years, combination of factors that you simply cannot even think about any previous experience.

You need to forget everything that you thought about the process and start again simply doing whatbthe agents tell you. And do everything you can doctor demonstrate that you are a serious, viable renter

That's a fair point.

The agents haven't been overly helpful on the phone or via email, hopefully we will be able to get more info when we go in. As for demonstrating we're viable renters, my partner has been renting locally for 4 years, which I hope will at least count for something. I think we may have a financial issue though, as he pays himself a minimal salary from his business (basically enough to cover his current outgoings only - about 16k a year. While that was fine when renting a place for £5-600 a month, the places we are looking at now are more like £800, which is easily affordable with my contribution but I am not sure how a landlord will view it?

After just spending a frantic 6 weeks looking for a rental property we've just secured a contract this morning. First time we've moved in over 9 years and the market has gone bonkers. Some things I've noticed is agents seem to be active and new properties appear around 10/11am. By the time the rightmove email alerts come through at 5/6pm the viewings/applications are already full. Anything that was added yesterday has already gone. You need to know your must haves and must nots to very quickly make a decision to book viewing. On the Market and Boomin are good alternatives that show other houses which don't always appear on Rightmove.

'Thanks - I tend to go onto Rightmove few times throughout the day, as I've noticed some agents put things on early, other mid afternoon. So far I've always been too late.

Partner and I are pretty clear on essentials- I know the areas he wouldn't consider (being local he knows the rougher parts of town), also we need parking for at least 1 car,, some outside storage space, central heating and it has to be larger than the current place. There are other nice to haves, like a kitchen with space for a table, or a garage, or fitted wardrobes, but none of those are deal breakers.

I'm a landlord who never uses agents-always fb/gumtree..have you tried there?

Gumtree only seems to have small flats on there, not what we are looking for. I've looked on the local FB pages for the town, and there are a few posts in the last month from people looking for rental properties (and not getting any replies - or only from people saying they're in the same boat) but none seemingly being offered.

You'll really have to compromise somewhere. All the 2/3 bed houses will be going to the likes of doctors and teachers with secure jobs. Landlords won't want to take a risk on someone self-employed in this climate.

My niece is in a similar spot of trouble. She's been stuck in an AirBnB for months because she can't find anywhere. Even with a good landlord reference and an income more than double what is required.

Hmm, that's kind of a problem if a landlord would not consider an application because of my partner's employment status. He actually is employed by his own company, of which he's the sole director. He charges £5-600 a day but keeps most of that in the business and pays himself purely what he needs. My income is 50k a year. So we would have no issue in affording a property at the level we're looking at.

However my partner has also told me he's quite uncomfortable with having to disclose full details of our incomes etc for scrutiny by the agents and landlords before we are even able to view or apply for a property. That does feel quite intrusive and I can see why he would have reservations.