What do a family look for in a rental flat?

[drspouse]

We own a flat that used to be my flat (so we are semi-accidental landlords - we probably could have sold this flat). I bought it as a flat for me to share with a lodger and potentially (though I hadn't met DH at the time) as a family flat. As it turned out, we moved away when we got married and we now live in the NW with our two young DC.

The flat is in a fairly family friendly area of East London (some older housing, some council/ex-council properties) and is a converted 2 floor maisonette with a garden. 3 beds though one is small, open plan living/dining/kitchen with a lot of space.

In my book it's ideal for a family and if we still lived there we'd probably still be in the flat.

But when we rent we really struggle to get families to even look at it. We end up with a revolving door of frankly clueless tenants who, for example, never change light bulbs and then insist we call out an electrician because the lights aren't working.

I would far rather rent to a family who'd be there long term, but I have no idea what's putting them off. The estate agents say it may well not be price, or not just price. We have told the EAs that we'd be happy to be more flexible on price for a family/couple/just two adults (we have also had problems with three tenants each moving in a partner and that's less likely to happen even with two sharers).

If it's something we can't fix (area, access to the garden which I admit is via metal steps, though only half a flight as it's raised ground, layout, property type if too large for a couple?) then I will admit defeat.

But if it's presentation or security or something we CAN fix then it might be worth trying that next time. We've just had a new set of tenants in and yet again chasing around after deposits and forwarding addresses for the last lot and pointing out they MUST use standing order to pay the rent and references.

Can you afford to sacrifice the tiny third bedroom to make it a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom flat? That would squarely target the professional sharer market.

Our (South) London house was firmly in a professional sharer hotsot and the rental houses nearby very conspicuously had lots of extra bathrooms added over the first few years of the millennium.

Or will you need the box room later?

So I think we'd be guaranteeing a rental for 2-5 years - and that might be too short for a family - maybe I am not being fair on them).

I think that's pretty good going for a private rental, isn't it? Particularly the higher end of that.

Hmm. If you're not sure about whether a particular repair is needed, ask your agent if they can get a tradesman round for a free quote. They often have very good relationships with tradespeople, who are then more willing to offer an opinion about what's needed.

Obviously you still have the risk of a tradesperson trying to line their own pockets, but it should rule out some daft "repairs".

I really empathise. I went from sharers to a family, and the latter is a lot easier to work with and much more proactive in the way they care for the house.

No, clearly not a problem with primary schools. But parents who can afford inner East London rents, by and large aren't going to accept shit secondaries.

IME parents wanting to escape London either make a move when their DC are toddlers or when they are 7/8/9.

The essential thing, once you have established that the flat is safe etc is...how much is it?? !

IfNotNow you are right, if we can't afford to get it down to family prices, we can't do it!

Manumission that would be possible but it would be laid out with:

Raised ground - all in one kitchen/diner/living room.
1st floor - bathroom at the back, bathroom immediately next door in the middle. Two bedrooms next door to one another at the front.

Which would be decidedly odd!

(So given the ages you mention - it would be ideal for a family with a PFB 3 year old looking at schools, but thinking about moving out of London in 4 years time... now to find that market...)

It sounds like a great family flat- good primary schools, garden, 3 beds, parking and you would chose to live there with your own family most tellingly! Is your DH a doctor by any chance?! If so does he have contacts in local hospitals to put up ads there. There are often transient HCP with families looking to rent rather than buy.

The problem will be price though. Obviously the EA can get more from 3 sharers than from 1 family on average, so they price it at the highest rent they can achieve.

You would be nuts to offer a tenancy longer than six months to a new tenant. Check landlordzone for the horror stories of those that did.

Once you are sure they get paying the rent, doing a bit of housework, telling you when things are broken and all the other normal human being stuff then you can offer longer. Check your rent guarantee, legal and other insurances for the maximum length you can do.

We always offer 12 months even to new sharers as otherwise the EA charges us extra for renewal.
But I am pretty sure the mortgage company won't let us do more than 12 at least initially.

Yep user that's EAs to a tee! Sadly not a doctor though he's quite portable and works for a huge employer, if we moved back to London he'd probably be commuting into central London so it wouldn't be the obvious location for his London colleagues.

We're currently looking for a 2/3-bed flat in East London to rent. We're not looking at any letting agents, as we don't want to pay £500+ in fees, so only looking through OpenRent.

You might find EAs prefer not to let to a long-term family, as they won't get the tenancy fees.

I have never heard of OpenRent but it looks good!

Does the advery shout family friendly/families welcome? I didn't even look at flats when I was looking to rent tbh as I imagined they wouldn't be suitable, but yours sounds ideal.
I'd also ask the EA to be proactive in showing it to families looking to rent.

Initial 12 month contracts will put a good number of renters off unless there's a six month break clause - they want to know living there works for them, that the agent is responsive and that the LL cares and sorts out issues.

Next time there's a break between tenants you need to go down there and have a good, long critical look at the place and check out the competition too. If it's been rented out for a while it might need an overall refresh.

Sweets everything in London is flats, so everyone will be looking for flats.

I think the EA is not being at all proactive or encouraging in looking for families/couples.

wow it is pretty standard to have a 6 month break clause but I do worry it would put off longer term renters who would be concerned we'd give them notice.

I did not know that. Just showed myself for the country girl I am!

I think the kitchen might be an issue - not room for a fridge freezer and dishwasher. I didn't consider renting anything where there wasn't a DW or at least space for one.

It's actually quite a big kitchen (lots of cupboard space) and as I say we could fit in a freezer but probably not a dishwasher.

We did ask the EA which to prioritise and they said freezer.

Sweets everything in London is flats, so everyone will be looking for flats.

Don't exaggerate! (London is about 50/50 flats v houses)

Sweets it's not true. I lived for 30 something years in London, in nearly every zone, most of them in houses quite affordably. It's getting expensive now though, do renters' budgets might constrain them. Maybe that's what dr means.

^SO renters' budgets...

OK... there are a few houses in the area where my flat is... but it was heavily bombed so there are not that many older houses left, and at least 3/4 of them have been converted into flats (or maisonettes, like mine).

Searching for houses to rent on Zoopla in my postcode area brings up 23 properties.

2 are rooms in shared houses/flats.
About 10 are genuinely houses or townhouses but of those 4 are warehouse conversion townhouses so it's hard to tell if they are actually houses, or maisonettes (no plan/outdoor photos).
The rest are definitely flats as the description says flats.
In contrast there are 356 flats for rent.

It probably varies a lot by area, TBH.

I get worried about the impression non-Londoners pick up about 'everything in London'. London isn't New York.

New York isn't New York either...

Anyway, this is inner London, so few houses.