Renting out a house but not the garage

[JudgeRindersMinder]

Is this a common thing to do? I’m in the position of having to rent out my parent’s house for income. Nothing needing any great attention in the house or garden, other than emptying and a good tidy, but there’s something in the garage which cannot be stored elsewhere.

Would it be ok to lock the garage up and not give the keys to a tenant? There’s a big shed and off street parking

I wouldn’t mind, I’m used to not having a garage and if someone really wanted a garage, they just wouldn’t rent the house.

People do this routinely when then move away temporarily, I also know someone who locked the box room full of their stuff. If the tenant is fine there's no problem

I wouldn't rent it. Not only because it would frustrate me at paying storage fees for my folding camper whilst looking the garage attached to the house, it would irk me that the landlord would want regular access to the property for whatever was stored in the garage.

@SeaOtterFluff we wouldn’t need access to it, it’s a classic car that will be sold at some point, but not anytime soon

As long as you make it clear (both when tenants view and documented in the contract) that the garage is not included, then go for it.

Ah, that's not so bad. The urge to have a peek at it would be very strong though! Would the insurers be ok with it stored in a garage on a property that was rented out?

If it’s s car you really need to take it out for a long drive regularly otherwise you will ruin the engine.

I assumed it was a car and also wondered about the insurance - I think that would be a risk factor that would increase the premium if they were willing to cover it. Have you checked with the insurance?

Absolutely, we've rented houses with locked cupboards and this is no different. Good point about access and insurance though. You need to ensure the tenant gets their "quiet enjoyment" of the property.

@SeaOtterFluff, thank you, that’s a good point about the insurance, I’ll need to check that out. It isn’t running just now, so it won’t be going anywhere!

Possible but be careful.

Due to hobbies we only ever rent places with decent outdoor storage. We have rented two places where the landlord thought the garage wasn’t included, the letting agent told us it was, the contracts didn’t specifically exclude it etc and in both cases we ended up having to try and squeeze stuff into garages around landlords stuff as they couldn’t afford to cover our fees to move on or store their stuff elsewhere.

Clear communication is vital, particularly in the advert so you don’t get people applying specifically because they need a house with a garage. Tennents may still need access to the garage if boilers etc are situated there.

Definitely no need for anyone to go in there, it’s literally a rectangular garage, built at probably the furthest point from the house, in a fairly large garden. It’s very well maintained, and it’s highly unlikely that it would become storm damaged, or that any part of it could damage something else in the event of a storm

Would now not be a good time to sell/scrap the car? You could then potentially get more income with the rent.

I was having a look at it today and it’s in much better condition than I’d thought, there’s no way I’m scrapping a 40+ Year old VW Beetle!
I may get it back on the road then look at selling it, I’m ridiculously emotionally over invested in it

We looked at a house to rent. The owners told us we couldn't use the garage when we arrived. We rented elsewhere.

If we had known it wasn't included we would have saved a lot of travelling time as we wouldn't have bothered to view. If you rent without the garage do ensure that it is made clear in advance.