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.

When ever I've rented I've always looked for completely unfurnished -
Not sure if people in London think like this.

But I already have all my own stuff and all my own appliances. The only thing I would expect is a cooker.

Things like curtains/light shades should be included though! It's a pain when houses don't have them as you have to buy them to the measurements of the house so can't always take them with you.

I look for a warm house! Aside from my current rental, all my houses have had crap boilers / heating and it's cost me a fortune to try and heat it up!

Definitely advertise that you are happy for them to do subtle decorating and put up shelves etc as a lot don't let you at all.

Is the house neutral throughout? I've been put off with colour schemes before as my stuff wouldn't go with it.

We actually took my current house on without a bath as we loved it so much (and we've got 3 children including a baby)

The main thing is, has it been looked after / loved as if it were you own home? Or does it look like an uncared for rental?

Advertise it as you are looking for long term. Everyone understands that things can change, but it's nice to know that the landlord wants you stay there as long as possible.

Another thing is, is all glass safety proof? As a parent, I would never take on a house where the glass hadn't been replaced.

is all glass safety proof?

Do you mean window glass?
There isn't any internal glass, but I've never even thought about this in window glass in our own home to be honest.

I wouldn't rent somewhere without a proper freezer tbh. That would be enough to put me off. If there's lots of cupboard space why can't you have a dishwasher too?

Yes the laws are that if the windows/doors hadn't been renovated then it doesn't have to be safely glass so any doors / Windows that are old wouldn't be shatter proof. If any work had been done on them it would have to be safely glass which you can tell as it would have a kite mark on the glass.

I think if they're a certain height from the ground it's fine. Just if there's any chance of someone accidentally falling into them.

5minutes it would mean pulling out some of the fitted cupboards - basically taking 3/4 of the fitted kitchen. It may of course be time for a new fitted kitchen anyway.

unicorn I get you - the windows are all regular window height, there are French doors which I'm pretty sure are recent enough to have the safety glass, but I can't remember when the rest of the windows were last renovated.

No dishwasher for me is a deal breaker....

Those saying they wouldn't take a place without a dishwasher, are you a family living in a flat? Or are you renting a house?

It's just that all the inner London EAs that deal with flats tell us that freezer is crucial (the flat does have one it's just the piddly little icebox style, but as I say we could jiggle things around and put in a chest freezer). But they all say that dishwasher is not a deal breaker for their clients (and I know they DO let to families, just not our flat).

I may be completely out of date of course, because when I was living in the area it was 10+ years ago, but I don't remember everyone else having a dishwasher either.

Where we live now is mainly owner occupied, but the houses are small Northern style Victorian with back yards rather than gardens, and most people's kitchens are extensions into the back yard. I'd say about half the families I know have a dishwasher. Though we do love ours of course!

I'd want a dishwasher, we've got a table top one on top of a front opening freezer, with the microwave on top of that, could that work?

That would be a bit of a pile of appliances catsofa but it could work. Do you live in a flat? Any more flat-cramming-in tips??

Those saying they wouldn't take a place without a dishwasher, are you a family living in a flat? Or are you renting a house?

I just moved form a zone 1 rented flat that I was in for 5 years. I didn't even look at flats that didn't have DW or at least space to put one in (not adverse to buying my own). The fact that a flat might not have a freezer never even crossed my mind ! I would never rent a flat without a freezer, that would be stupid. I didn't even consider that flats might not have freezers.

Chest freezer sounds ugly.

You say the kitchen is big - why not loose a cupboard to put a dishwasher in? Especially if there is space for a shelving unit or something. Your tenants can get something that suits them if they need extra storage.

Or can you have a tall standing FF and an under counter DW? TBH I hate under counter F and F as you are always bending down trying to get to osmehting at the back of the fridge.

Do you have any photos or floor plans from when it was last on RM? It is hard to picture this big kitchen with no room for DW.

You say the kitchen is big but not having room for a FF and a DW to me says 'small and cramped and awkward'.

Photos, floor plans and pricing would allow people to give more specific ideas about how to improve it for families.

I may be completely out of date of course, because when I was living in the area it was 10+ years ago, but I don't remember everyone else having a dishwasher either.

I don't know anyone who doesn't have a DW :-) Honestly I don't! Wait, no, that is a lie. My friend just moved into a flat and she decided to get a separate WM and TD rather than put in a DW, but then there is only her and she doesn't do a lot of cooking.

Adding some things that put your flat at a bit of a premium, while holding the rent at current levels might attract the longer term more stable tenants you're looking for.

Dont know if its been mentioned but because of the way the economy is going do you accept HB tenents OP? a lot of families are in receipt of that

I fear we are not even close to the HB range of affordability Just

Yello I am obviously very out of date (and of course I mainly knew young single bright things when I lived there and didn't pay too much attention to the contents of my friends' kitchens if they had kids).

But a DW where the current fridge is, and a separate tall fridge freezer, could work well.

Building all of a DW, washer/dryer, fridge and freezer in would mean taking out several cupboards, since once you've taken one out you kind of need to take out the neighbouring ones, as they are rarely the right size, and look silly with a gap.

No floor plan at the moment (as I say we've got new-ish tenants so it's off the EA site) but we'll come back with a floor plan when we're ready to let again.

Look at the first half of your postcode and "3 bedrooms" on Rightmove and Gumtree for flats to rent. How do the offerings compare to your place?
Also how much is it compared to similar - if the vast majority of 3 bed places are going for £1500/month and yours is £1600, even if bigger or nicer, lots of people won't find it.

The flat I manage got repainted but the kitchen looks a bit bodged as do parts of the conversion, which looked really obvious when a similar flat next door but done properly was also on the market.

Are the photos good?
And does the EA have a variety of properties on their books that families might like? Or are they a smaller local agent that may be cheaper but generally attract sharers and more transient tenants?

Tall fridge freezer + dishwasher would be what I would expect in a flat aimed at families. We have lived in two bed flats for the last 8 years and they have all had dishwashers.

Tbh I think it's probably that the EA is putting the rent too high for lots of families (i'm guessing from the description this is somewhere like Homerton/Haggerston?), and the families that can afford 2-2.5kpm have higher expectations (I couldn't afford that rent but there's no way I would rent somewhere without a freezer and dishwasher - live in zone 2).

Side note: not sure its really on to advertise this as a family flat if you're looking to move back in 2 years (please don't try and sell the place on schools if this is the case) - that's barely time to get settled into nursery/school before maybe having to move again.