Friend buying house for me to rent

[starshaker]

I currently receive housing benefit and am having major issues with neighbours etc. I really need to move but I cant afford the deposit and rent in advance etc. The HA are doing nothing and it could be a very very long time before we might get offered somewhere else.

I have a friend who is looking for an investment property and she has offered to buy a house and we can rent if from her. Im not sure how this would work. Do any of you have any experience of this?

Anybody?

It would work as with any other tenancy. Be careful though, I always avoid mixing business and friends/family because ultimately someone gets stung. You and your friend need to lay down ground rules as well as have a proper tenancy agreement drawn up.

I would steer well clear. There are plenty of other places to rent. This idea is a recipient for disaster

I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole, it won't end well.

I know someone who did this. She was the one renting from the friend. It worked really well. Friend understood when hb claim took a few weeks to come through etc.

Depends how much you trust your friend.

I am currently in an arrangement like this but with a relative and I do regret it.

We did have some imput on the house we chose, a house in a nice area that needed some renovations. We moved in immediately as like you we really needed to move and we signed a formal tenancy agreement and we pay market value and she made a verbal promise to make the necessary renovations Asap.

A year down the line and none of the works have been done, we still have the same mouldy windows and the place is damp as a result. We ended up spending our own money on a few bits just to make life a bit better for us. She has made excuse after excuse about the works that need to be done.

When our heating went she faffed about getting it sorted and when she eventually did she made it seem like she was doing us a massive favour.

I do see her in a very different light now, I feel like she very much used the position we were in to make some easy money. She has renovated her other rentals beautifully and keeps up to date with the repairs at the tenant's request, so while we are paying market value she is treating us worse than her other tenants!

I would strongly advise against it if you can, it's hard because I don't really know what we would have done otherwise in our situation, we probably would have ended up in temp accomodation.

The situation is a bit different. My friend plans to move into the house in 4 or 5 years time so I know it will be well maintained. I trust her with my life and we would set up an official agreement. I have been given a budget and I can choose which house it is.

But why is she letting you choose a house that she will live in?

Your friend is letting you choose which house she is going to buy? That seems like a big decision to make with someone else's money.

because she trusts that I will choose somewhere nice. We know each other inside out. There is also the chance that in 4 or 5 years I would be in the position to buy the house. When I say I will choose i mean we will both be looking and will narrow it to houses we both love and I can make the final choice.