Single Parent Relocating Renting

[JillyC8]

Hi, I am a single mum and will be moving to a new area soon with my 13 and 12 year olds. I will be selling my house and renting for a while but will need to give up my job to move as the new town is too far away to commute. Does anyone know if I will be able to rent privately through an agent without a job? I plan to find work as soon as we're settled and will be in a position to pay rent for six months if I need to. Will I need a guarantor? I would love to hear from anyone with experience.

as a landlord; paying six months in advance takes away the main worry of 'will the tenant pay the rent?' . Do this and you shouldn't need a guarantor. Make sure the money is ring-fenced should the agent go bust; the agent will drip feed the money to the landlord. (My tenant pays like this and I have checked that the money is safe even though I use a big agent). Do NOT use a small fly-by-night agent.

also your kids are past the wall scribbling stage, you have run a house before so can be assumed that you will a) keep it in a reasonable state an b) notice if something needs fixing and report it.

if you don't smoke and don't have pets you are a very desirable tenant. Good luck!

Thank you for your reply; that's good news and great advice thank you. My only minus is our small dog... Aren't landlords generally willing to allow a pet if an extra amount is paid for cleaning etc? I suppose that depends on the property and the landlord ...

it does indeed.

With my first rental, I allowed cats and got a lot of damage; never again! The issues with dogs are smell, hair, damage, mess and neighbour nuisance. So your mission (should you choose to accept it ) is to convince the landlord that these things won't happen. The property also needs to be suitable of course. A flat doesn't work, and if the neighbouring houses have dogs, will there be a barking match?

for instance, you are planning to go back to work; how does that fit with the dog? ('he never barks or chews things' is unconvincing because he probably doesn't when you are there).

a bigger deposit helps, but realistic solutions for possible problems are the real way forward to convincing a landlord to accept a dog. It can be done.

Hi, my dog is a dream - has never chewed anything and is used to being alone for a few hours without a fuss. My neighbours tell me they never hear a thing barking-wise.. but I realise I'm bound to say that! It is a problem and until I had a dog I would have been in agreement with you from a landlord perspective. It looks like I had better start practising being persuasive! Thanks for your advice - it's very much appreciated :-).

sounds very promising - the fact that your neighbours say there's no disturbance is a big point in your favour!

as mentioned, put yourself in the landlord's shoes, think of his/her concerns, address them and there's no problem.

good luck in your house hunt!

ps don't forget the important checks; gas safe, deposit protection, state of property. My usual advice; don't rent a dump, it won't improve.