DS plans to leave his central London flat totally empty for a year

[Tedsabear]

Hi all, so my DS’s dad passed away a couple of years ago, between his pension, life insurance and home DS and as able to sell his home and buy a flat in central London. He spent over 1 million on this (his dad wasn’t super wealthy or anything he just owned a property in a nice area of London and it was paid off mortgage wise). His girlfriend is Portuguese and also owns property in Lisbon.
They are mid 20s.

They have decided to spend the next year as digital nomads as they are able to work remotely. I told DS he should rent out his flat and his girlfriend should do the same. One from a security perspective and two as extra income. He has said no he doesn’t like the idea of someone staying in his space, he’s said I can go and check on it once a month or “whatever” if I like. He said his girlfriend will be doing the same anyway.

AIBU to think he’s being ridiculous?

I think he is being sensible. He may want to pay a managing agency or a trusted friend to visit once a month and check everything is ok and report any issues.

Agree with this.

I was going to suggest a property management company who specialise in vacant properties too. Checks and also some cleaning so he doesn’t get home to a load of mould or dust either!

I left my HA flat empty for a year while I was working in the USA. I did not want to lose the tenancy so did not tell them I would be away. A relative lived nearby and he went in 2/3 times weekly to open my mail and email me if there was anything to deal with. He also arranged to be present for any inspections the HA wanted to do for gas/electricity etc. Flats in blocks are pretty anonymous and anyone seeing him probably assumed him to be the occupier.

A house sitter would be ideal if they can afford one. There are sites where you can get one and they have all been well checked out. Failing that do they have a friend or relative who would not mind checking in for 1/2 timesa week to make the place took occupied? Installing those programmable lights which can turn on and off randomly would also work.

Why would he needs contents insurance if empty ?

I was picturing a furnished flat that he's just going to lock up and leave for a year. Does he live there at the moment before he travels? Most home insurance does not allow for the place to be left unoccupied for more than 30 days. I think we had a policy once that allowed for a 90 day absence but that was unusual, certainly not 365 days with no-one ensuring no leaks, fires, squatters and so on. Specialised insurance is required or someone stays regularly.

Options include air bnb, 'house' sitters, Mon to Friday lodgers etc but all need managing. The best deal if he wanted the flat to be secure and earn some money would be to let a friend stay there for a low rent for some of the year.

He's mad but not your problem!

Would he mind you using it as a bolt hole when you check on it? It could be a nice chance to get in and do a bit of London (if that's your thing)

Sorry to hear that, it must be really upsetting for you. I would leave him to it, then. There's not much you can do.

He’s not being ridiculous. Being a landlord is a crazy thing these days. Due to rogue landlords, all landlords are now severely disadvantaged. If a tenant doesn’t want to leave, you can’t make them, without spending tens of thousands in court. And it’s all so pointless as rogue landlords are still treating tenants like shit and getting away with it. If it’s his own home, having people in when you have no idea who they are or how they’ll treat it can worse than leaving it empty.

I know a couple who went to Australia for 2 years and rented their family home out to another family. It was so badly destroyed. Not as explicitly obvious as you might imagine - but lots of little stains on every carpet, chipped plug sockets (??), nasty unauthorised paint jobs, just generally zero care for the house and loads of little dings everywhere. Original family were so upset when they returned to the UK that they sold the house. Based on legal advice, a relative of mine recently left his property empty for 6 months. No regrets - neighbours kept an eye and family visited it from time to time.

It’s a shame as he could earn a lot of money from renting it out but just yesterday I was talking to a colleague who rented out their London flat while they took on a one year secondment. The tenant caused £20k worth of damage and most of it wasn’t even particularly wreckless but stuff like expensive flooring and broken tiles which meant the whole splashback needed replacing, plus the place just felt a bit used and beaten up afterwards.

Are you the Mexican house thief?

We rented out our flat in London when we were working abroad. It was a massive headache. First renters were fine, 2nd renters partitioned it up stuck in nasty furniture and sublet it. It was a big clear up job once we eventually got them out. We decided to leave it empty after that.

You could offer to Airbnb the property for him and keep the proceeds! At least they have to leave a hefty deposit and pay for cleaning and it’s only a few nights per person.

With respect you need to back off. If the relationship is strained please stop with the advise.

Insurance content and household will state you can’t leave it for 30 days empty, so maybe stay there yourself for 1 week per month to enjoy it.

This. Very difficult to rent out a place for just a year these days, and fraught with risks, as well as tax implications. If he doesn't need the money (lucky guy) I wouldn't either.

It's a lot of hassle and he'd risk the place being trashed. He does need to consider how to insure possessions he is leaving there. Offering to check it regularly might help to rebuild your relationship.

Ita not her house. Ridiculous amd illegal suggestion.

I wouldn't want to become a landlord for the sake of a year if I was mortgage free and considered the property my home.

Honestly I wouldn’t rent my main home if I were counting on moving back in after a year, especially as the Renters Rights Bill will likely be in place my then (no fixed terms, tenancies will go on until the courts end them or tenant gives notice). He can give notice he’s moving back in, but the courts are already backlogged, I wouldn’t fancy the risk.

Presumably he's an adult?

What's it got to do with Mummy ?

Bloody hell, don't you recognise a tongue in cheek comment??!!

Problem is that renting out is becoming much more difficult - it can easily take 6-12 months to evict a non paying tenant currently

Can't say I blame him.

By coincidence, I was checking my insurance today. It's not that leaving a property unoccupied that invalidates the insurance, it's not telling the insurer. Actually, my insurance policy says you have to notify them if it's unoccupied for more than 30 days so if he has a similar policy then he might not even need to notify them at all.

However, as the relationship is already strained, I would stay out of this altogether. As others have said, there's no guarantee he won't get nightmare tenants. He's entitled to make

My home contents policy says my home must not be left empty for more than three weeks and we have to notify them if it will be. I would assume the cost of the policy would go up as nobody would be at home to check for burglars, water leaks, appliances catching fire etc. During the winter there could be issues if the heating is permanently off etc.