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Original poster

Renting and having a baby?

28 replies

Aj1400 · 14/01/2021 13:21

Can people share stories of renting and having children? How did you tell your landlord etc?

The people we know all seem to have brought houses before having kids - and while this would have been ideal, this wasn't an option for us. We're now ready to buy something, but unlikely to get it all sorted before baby comes in the summer.

Our well meaning friends all said how good it was that we were buying before having children because it's a nightmare renting with children (not that they know as all own) as landlords can kick you out as babies breach contract and it's 'so difficult' to get a mortgage with a baby it'll be impossible..(some don't even know we're pregnant because not wanting to share yet)

Are they right?

Half of my brain rationalises that people must rent with children, but also - we don't seem to know anyone that does, so it's really difficult to not feel like we're isolated and that this is such an unusual situation..

Help please.

OP posts:
murbblurb · 14/01/2021 13:41

facts for England (as opposed to the horseshit from your friends)

  • landlords cannot kick you out. Only bailiffs can evict tenants, and only following a long legal process with the correct procedure. This 'kick out a moment's notice' is propaganda peddled by Shelter, the housing charity that provides no housing.
  • babies do not breach contracts. Unless you are moving to a building where the freehold prohibits kids (maybe these exist in London), and even then the landlord would have to follow the above lengthy procedure. As you appear to be already pregnant, don't rent somewhere in such a building.
  • landlords do need to avoid creating an involuntary HMO (look it up). A baby is by definition related to at least one of the existing tenants and so does not count towards the occupancy limit. In a non HMO property there are no occupancy limits.

I've had two sets of tenants have a baby while renting. My reaction was 'congratulations'. Makes no difference.

affordability for a mortgage with only one income may be an issue. As it could be for a rental, of course.

SleepingStandingUp · 14/01/2021 13:44

You're friends are crazy. What do they think millions of working poor families do? Do they rely think everyone bus before having children? What a gilded bubble they live in.

How big is your rental property? If it's a 1 bed and it says something in the terms and conditions about to rent to max two adults no children then they might have an issue but even then it would have to go to court.
In reality, no one cares. We told our landlord incidentally, and we now have 3 (in a 3 bed house). At no point did he say anything except that's nice, ooh they'll be hard work etc.

pumpkinmamma · 14/01/2021 13:45

don’t know about being in rented as we lived with my parents whilst saving, but we got a mortgage when my son was 2 months old and i was on maternity leave- it wasn’t difficult and all i had to do was assure the lender that i was returning to work.

ChelseaCat · 14/01/2021 13:45

I’m renting with a 12 month old. We moved in a month ago and there was no issue with the landlord. We were honest up front

KeepSmiling89 · 14/01/2021 13:53

My DH and I have always rented and probably always will as we will probably never have the money to own our own house (short of a lottery win). My in-laws always rented (they had 2 kids) as well as my grandparents who had 3 children. Never was an issue.

When DH and I viewed the house, our landlord pointed out that we're close to a school as well (5 minute walk) so we're pretty sure she won't kick us out for starting a family.

Not everyone can afford to buy, and, while it would be nice to have that security, it's not the be all and end all in life. Also don't have to fork out for repairs like the boiler we needed replaced last year!

LizFlowers · 14/01/2021 13:53

I am currently letting a flat in Norfolk to a young couple who had a baby last month. It doesn't bother me at all. The flat is part of an estate and I was going to sell but as it didn't sell quickly, the estate agents suggested I let it so I did. It's mortgaged so I really just want to cover that and maintenance.

The agents didn't tell me the woman was pregnant when she moved in :-) but I don't care. It's a nice flat, two bedrooms and two bathrooms, parking and some outside space. I just hope they are happy there, it will probably be until they've saved enough for a deposit (difficult nowadays).

Years ago loads of people rented and had children, it took a while before they could purchase their own properties. Nobody thought anything of it.

The important thing is that a property is suitable for a child or children.

SleepingStandingUp · 14/01/2021 13:59

Years ago loads of people rented and had children they still do, what a bizarre statement. On fact it's increasing

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-47723672

rainbowscalling · 14/01/2021 14:00

I wouldn't have even thought to tell my landlord to be honest. Didn't realise this was a thing.

We viewed and starting applying for rental properties when I was 7/8months pregnant and were in a rush. The only issue we had was estate agents telling me that we would struggle to find a landlord willing to accept us with my income being uncertain as I was the main earner. Huge assumption on their part and I assured I was still working and would be returning to work which convinced one and the other made very rude comments on my ability to parent and work so I put in a complaint and did not use that firm.

LizFlowers · 14/01/2021 14:22

[quote SleepingStandingUp]Years ago loads of people rented and had children they still do, what a bizarre statement. On fact it's increasing

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-47723672[/quote]
Not bizarre really, people of my generation generally bought before having children, our parents usually rented for a while first. I can well believe it is quite common now too because of the difficulties in getting on the property ladder but didn't realise it was half! I'm obviously out of date with current lifestyles because youngish couples that I know all have their own homes.

I'm glad not to be a young person just starting out, it must be so worrying not to have security, especially if you are contemplating having children.

Original poster
Aj1400 · 14/01/2021 14:24

Thank you all.

To just say - our friends are lovely, and mean well, just sometimes are in a bit of a bubble.
Feeling much more reassured.

OP posts:
Itsnotlikethiswithotherpeople · 14/01/2021 14:27

We rent and have primary aged children and under. We have been really fortunate and landlords have been totally fine with it. One thing we did to make life less stressful was to rent properties that were not super slick. So we rent a nice house with a garden. It’s lovely, safe, clean etc but it hasn’t been newly decorated or anything. Landlord has been totally fine with baby gates and similar because the property isn’t aimed at that kind of slick brand new kitchen commuter kind of market.

Personally I had fertility issues and thought I would regret far more never having children than having them before owning a house. So the idea of waiting until we could buy seemed ludicrous to us. We could be in our late 40s before that happens.

bloodywhitecat · 14/01/2021 14:31

We live in rented and foster children and babies, when we approached our landlady she congratulated us, wished us well and told us how marvellous she thought fostering was. There are some awful landlords out there but there are a great many more good ones.

olderthanyouthink · 14/01/2021 14:35

I had to put on a form who would be living there and it asked about children, I was pregnant at the time so just put unborn baby and for DOB I put the due date 🤷‍♀️ they don't care and the flat isn't suited to sharer and it's in a very family oriented area.

They don't know there will be another baby hopefully this year, maybe they'll find out at some point

user1471538283 · 14/01/2021 14:52

I do understand your concerns and years ago landlords could get rid of you easily. It is not so easy now. If you could a landlord who is running it as a business there is less chance they will sell up. As long as you pay the rent on time and look after the place I doubt it will be a problem. Certainly in these strange times a landlord would welcome someone like you who wants stability and would rent for a good period of time

movingonup20 · 14/01/2021 14:54

I rented when mine were small then again during a relocation, no issues at all. We have just moved from a rental (during divorce house selling) and the person let after us was a single mum and toddler, despite others wanting it, the letting agent felt she needed the house more and was likely to stay for longer, they even said it was fine to decorate the nursery!

SleepingStandingUp · 14/01/2021 15:01

@Aj1400

Thank you all.

To just say - our friends are lovely, and mean well, just sometimes are in a bit of a bubble.
Feeling much more reassured.

I don't think your friends are the only ones
Africa2go · 14/01/2021 15:17

HI OP, we rented with small children, not really an issue at all. The only thing I would say (and you're miles off this but its surprising how quickly it comes around) you have to be careful applying for school places - but that's not until they're 3.

We did have an issue with a mortgage - 2 or 3 lenders would only consider my maternity pay as my "income" when assessing how much we could borrow - even though I had a letter from my employer confirming I was going back on the same pay / terms etc. We found another lender very easily, but it did narrow down some of the options.

TwoBlueFish · 14/01/2021 15:27

My husband rents to a family, no issues at all. As long as you pass the affordability test then there shouldn’t be an issue.

purpleme12 · 14/01/2021 15:27

I don't know where you're getting any of this information from
We've rented and then had a baby. Didn't tell the landlord, there was no reason to.
It wasn't a problem because there's no reason for it to be

WalkingOnStarshine · 14/01/2021 19:56

The reason our landlord chose us for our house was because we were expecting a baby and they wanted it to go to a family. Pre-baby we were throwing parties every weekend so I'd say we're more attractive tenants now we're parents!

MumOfPsuedoAdult · 14/01/2021 20:00

WTF?? I've only ever rented (I'm now 50). Single parent since my DS was 4 (he's now 19 and still at home). Parental status never been an issue.

Mydogisagentleman · 14/01/2021 21:49

We are landlords, two of out properties have families in, one 3 children, the other 4.
As long as the rent is paid and there’s enough room, they can have as many as they want

doadeer · 14/01/2021 21:52

It's not an issue. I didn't tell our landlord it's a buildings company...

kirinm · 14/01/2021 23:01

They're right in that once you have a baby, childcare costs will be taken into account for affordability calculations. Buying before summer would be possible too.

KatherineOfGaunt · 14/01/2021 23:03

We had a baby while renting and it didn't even cross my mind to tell the lettings agent... Blush