Landlords living abroad?

[Emmielu]

I've posted and ad on gumtree looking for a 2 bed place for me and DD that must accept DSS and be ok with me having no guarantor.

I recieved an email from a man who owns a house in the town i want to live in. Its good rent to pay, good deposit, house is lovely with garden, the landlord has made it very clear to me that money isnt his biggest concern he'd just like someone to live in it and treat it as their own. He lives abroad due to work commitments though. He emailed me an application form to fill in and although it says the normal things i.e. name etc there was also a "picture of tenant or occupant". Is that normal? I've emailed him back asking what would happen if there was any repair issues and how would i contact him etc. Not heard back yet but does anyone have a landlord that lives abroad?

I'm a landlady who lives abroad
I've never asked for a photo.. That is weird

Tenants ( I have several) have my email address and due to the time difference an English based mobile number of my friend for emergencies. (to be used strictly for major emergencies which touch wood have never happened)

It's not been a problem at all

I did worry a little when he asked for a picture but part of me just assumes thats because maybe he cant get over here to do a viewing.

That sounds very odd.

I would expect a landlord living abroad to use a management company to handle day-to-day stuff, although Labootin I'm assuming you don't? I do and I'm only a few hundred miles from my rental property but I don't want the hassle of sorting out the boiler being serviced or the shower needing fixing.

I seem to think landlords resident abroad should be having part of the income withheld in this country for tax purposes. It shouldn't have any impact on you if he isn't for some reason, but overall there are a few warning bells ringing for me. Would this be the first time he's rented the property out?

I've never met any of my tenants ( but I do use a letting agency who does the vetting and they don't ask for photos)

If everything else seems legit then fine it's probably a quirk

Hope it all works out for you

He did start to go through a agency but he said his wife wasnt keen on the idea and so he also decided against it too because he was worried that the tenant would have problems with the agency. I think this is the first time hes rented it out.

Urgh, on the other side of the fence, I've rented from people who were first time landlords renting out their own home, and that was also quite difficult (I didn't keep the garden to the standard they wanted so they sent the agents round unannounced to do an inspection - very dodgy).

I don't understand the argument about the tenant having problems with the agency. The agency is there (in theory) to ensure the tenant and the landlord don't have problems with each other. Which will be highly frustrating to resolve on both sides if one of you is in a different country.

Tribpot I used to use fully managed but tbh it was costing Irrc £150 PCM for a muppet from the agency to make one phone call to a plumber to fix a leaking loo ( which he royally fucked up and I ended up having to deal with)

Wrt to tax .. I don't pay it (not in my current uae residence or england..don't hate me) and have a tax exemption cert from hmrc anyway that's not for the tenant to worry about the tax people would be after the landlord for anything rightly due.

Labootin thats what the landlord meant by the tenant having problems with the agency. My friend has a house rented via a agency and just to have her toilet fixed it took 3 months.

Agreed on the tax front Labootin - I just wondered if maybe the landlord had wobbled on using an agency when he found out they would withhold some of his income as an overseas landlord.

There certainly are crappy agencies around but how much hassle is it going to be for you to contact the LL, Emmielu, and for him to be able to arrange for repairs from abroad? I think personally I'd try and agency first but give the tenant an email address to contact me if they were unhappy. Plus what's he gonna do if something goes wrong whilst he's on holiday, or crazy busy at work or whatever?

Emmielu does the property look in good repair ? Has the ll replied yet?( Forgot to say tenants do have my mobile number as well as the other numbers)

Tbh it does sound a bit of a red flag

my leaking loo was fixed the next day (its my property and I am very aware of the damage that can be done so would want things fixed immediately)

Repairs i have found just need someone on the phone pronto to arrange, a tenant that can be in or leave a key with a friendly neighbour( I made a point of talking to all neighbours) and me to then pay via online banking. It's really not difficult if the landlord wants to sort it out..question being do you think he would ?

tribpot - i thought he might have someone over here for repairs to cover but im yet to find the answer to that one as hes not replied back to my last email yet.

Labootin - he doesnt seem like the sort to make repairs difficult but i just dont want to part with any form of money or sign any contracts without knowing if all of this is normal for landlords abroad.

I had an absentee landlord once, it was fine, but his father lived nearby and when there was a problem the father would come in and try to repair or get a professional in, so there was a good established process in place.

The picture thing is odd though, and I'm not sure I'd be comfortable with it. Also, make very sure he'll be putting your deposit in an approved scheme, if he's an elderly first time landlord he may not be aware he needs to.

Yy to TDP .. OP

www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndCommunity/Privaterenting/Tenancies/DG_189120

Sorry crap at links but just in case you don't know about this

Oh FFS I really am crap at links ..google it

Just got a email back. He said all utilities are included in cost and can i fill in the form and get it back to him asap. Im worried. He hasnt answered my questions of who do i call for repairs and is it furnished.

All utilities included in the cost sounds a bit like he hasn't notified the utility company they've moved out. I know this is routinely done for students now (at least it is in my town) but I wouldn't ordinarily expect this for 'normal people' (if you know what I mean).

I don't like the picture thing, that's odd. And not answering your straightforward questions (whether or not it's furnished has a significant bearing on whether the rent is even reasonable or the place right for your needs!) makes this sound a bit dodgy to me. Personally I wouldn't risk it. However, I appreciate as you're looking for someone willing to take on DSS with no guarantor (I mean no offence by this, just it's not standard for landlords) you might have a different view. I don't know the ins and outs of housing benefit, is it alright to use it on an all-inclusive rental rate?

tribpot - I'm going to say no to the house. I asked him in a seperate email about the repairs and who do i call. His reply mentioned nothing of it. Nor the furnishings. All he said was that he wasnt very bothered about the money but would like regular photos of the inside of the house updated whilst im living there and that he wants me to look after it. I feel like im basically going to be a live in cleaner in someone elses home. He said he wants me to treat it as my own....if thats the case it wont be tidy long with a 5yo whos desperate to have friends over! Id rather play it safe.

I think your instincts are right, Emmielu. I can understand how from his perspective he could see this as partially doing a good deed and having someone look after his home for him, but in reality this is a business transaction and you have the absolute right and expectation that this will be your home for the duration. He needs a housesitter, by the sounds of it. Which is very different from a tenant.

Agreed tribot

No - asking for a photo is not normal.

However, assuming he is above board, the landlord sounds very naive. If he doesn't have a letting agency, who is going to fix a burst pipe at short notice?

He may be happy for you not to have a guarantor, but has he thought about getting a deposit from you? What will happen if you don't pay the rent?

All utilities included in cost? He is either doing something dodgy or not quite all there.

merrymouse - he wanted a deposit plus first months rent as norm but kept saying he wasnt so bothered about the money just that he wanted his house kept tidy and loved. I'm betting everything in the house was furnished and all his so obviously as soon as hes back he can get rid of me and all id need to take is what i brought with me. Its not really home.

Housing Benefit will not be awarded to you anyway unless the house has previously been inspected under the fair rents scheme or whatever it's now called, where a housing officer makes an appointment with the building owner to inspect the property for health and safety regs and whether the landlord is charging a fair rent in line with current market values for that area and type of property.

I have avoided the guarantor requirement for my identical circumstances by providing the deposit and month's first rent upfront. Well, what I mean is the council provided it, via the Rent Assistance Scheme. If they can get people into private rented properties this way rather than have them on the council housing list or homeless register (where they have to provide emergency temporary housing such as bedsits or hostels) they seem to happy to provide these monies for eligible people.

Unless you can sort a tenancy contract, if something sounds too good to be true ... well you know what they say.

He may not be that bothered about the money, but he appears to want to charge you rent.

Sounds like the thing he really isn't bothered about is being a landlord - ie looking after the tenant, carrying out repairs, servicing the boiler, etc, etc. I'd leave it and go elsewhere unless it's a really great deal financially and you're prepared to sort out repairs (and probably pay for them) yourself.

I think Challen is possibly out of date about how Housing Benefit work these days - they don't routinely inspect properties. They will pay the amount they think it should cost locally. They will not make any checks in terms of health and safety, etc. You need to do that yourself, or go through a decent agency who should do all that.