Should I give up & sell my rental property?

[accidentalgrownup]

Just that really...

I've owned a house since before I met DP and when we had our first DC we struggled to sell it.

Currently I rent it out & we rent a larger property as it only has one bedroom.

I've on my fourth tenant in 3 years and they have just handed their notice in not sure where I'm going wrong, 2 of the 4 have got council properties and 1 has got a live in job.

Is it just bad luck or is this kind of turn over normal? It's a bungalow in a northern seaside town. Do I get try to sell again? Put the rent up/down? I don't think we'd get a mortgage for the kind of house we live in now.

You're not in prime property area so the chances of your tenants getting council housing is realistic. If you had a property in the south east you would be in a very different position.
I'm a long term tenant and the things that keep me here are that the landlord ditched the letting agents so I don't pay fees to renew or have to suffer 6 monthly inspections, and he keeps the rent steady and 'reasonable' (for the area)
Then again I couldn't get council housing and I couldn't find anything as big that I could afford in the area so that keeps me here too. If I was in the north where rentals were affordable and available I would be more picky.

It's because it's a one bed, it's that simple, honestly.
A 2 bed is likely to attract longer term tenants as more likely to be small family.
I found people with dc more likely to want to put down roots due to schools.

Lightly furnish and add to airbnb? Apparently it can be very lucrative. A contract with a cleaning company could be arranged if you didn't want to do it.

I've not considered airbnb actually, I'll see if there's anything similar on there to get an idea of price.

Might be an option if I can't get a permanent tenant although I'll have to look at cleaning costs, extra insurance etc & see if it's worth it.

Fwiw, the building where my flat is located doesn't allow Air bnb / short term rentals. So, you also should check any restrictions to see if it is an option.

Thanks earlybird, it's a freehold bungalow so it'll just be getting the appropriate insurance I think.

I'm still hoping for a long term tenant first, spoken to EA and it'll hit Rightmove tomorrow.