Moving into rented to be chain free - tips and experiences

[EverydayCook]

We recently lost out on sealed bids for a house we loved, and there’s literally nothing else to buy. We’ve mentally checked out of our current home which is too small, and can’t be extended. Given the frenetic market conditions (multiple buyers bidding on each property) we’ve decided the best thing to do is continue with our sale, move into rented and be chain free, putting us in a stronger position to buy.

The slight problem is that there’s very little to rent, everything is wildly expensive compared to pre-covid, so we’d have to store most of our stuff and squeeze ourselves and the kids into a two bed property to avoid wasting huge sums on rent.

We’re hoping that we won’t need more than six months but have no idea how easy that is to negotiate, especially in this market.

If you’ve done it, what are your top tips, and did it work out?! I’m dreading it but think it’s the right thing to do for the long term.

Anyone??

Bumping.

We are doing that right now. You're right - it wasn't easy finding a property as they were snapped up quickly. But I checked rightmove multiple times a day (apparently there are other places to look for rentals too) and found a really good one. It's actually much bigger than our old house (which we are just about the complete on the sale on) and costs less than our mortgage did so we've done well on that count. Everything fits into our house so we didn't need storage. However, one challenge is that we signed a 6 month fixed contract, fully expecting to have completed on a property by then. We have had an offer accepted but it's too soon to say yet whether we'll make the deadline. So it's a bit stressful as we don't know yet if the landlord will extend the tenancy. In hindsight, I wish we'd gone for a year's contract with a 6 month break clause. If there isn't a break clause written in, ask for one. Finding the right contract is tricky as inevitably you will likely pay for overlap - and it could be as much as 6 months' rent. However, having seen chains all around us collapsing (including the one in which our original buyers were in) we really appreciate being chain-free and it makes it SO much easier to buy. Also, if possible, widen your search area for rentals as it's not forever and an extra bedroom or a garage etc might make a huge difference to what you can store in the property. Don't underestimate how awful moving is. When we moved into our rental place I said I never want to do that again - but of course we will have to (and hopefully sooner rather than later!). Be organised, pack way in advance (unlike us!) do a really good declutter before you pack, and label boxes that you know you won't need in the next 6 months or so. If there's any relatives who might be able to take some of these boxes off your hands for a bit, that could be helpful too. Oh and be REALLY thorough with the inventory!

We did it, personally I wouldn't do it again. We have a cat, it was difficult to find anywhere who would accept him, even though we were wanted unfurnished so not sure what damage they thought he would do? We found most people wanted a longer term tenant, and even when we found somewhere, we had to do 6 months, then the agency wouldn't let us go onto a rolling contract, but wanted another set of fees just to carry on living there. I don't know anyone else who has done it, so maybe our experience is unusual.

Yeh, pets do make it extra tricky. We have a baby and a toddler who you would think are more trouble than a cat!
No agents' fees these days though (for tenants anyway). Yeh, toughest part is getting a tenancy length that suits. Really difficult.

That's good news about the agency fees, we managed to complete our house purchase just before the 6 months tenancy ran out, but they wanted hundreds of pounds to renew!

Oh lucky! I'm really nervous ours is going to complete AFTER the 6 months... and if they won't let us extend our tenancy we may have to airbnb it for a bit (all our stuff and 2 little kids would make that a nightmare!). Keeping fingers crossed!

Sorry it sounds very difficult. We may need to do this ourselves soon. I have considered looking into a house sitting service where you can be flexible. But I suppose you are more limited in that you have to stay local for children’s school ? Still it might be worth exploring as it will give you flexibility and you don’t pay as you are looking after someone else’s house / pet

Thanks all for the responses! @surreygirl1987 - really glad you found something to rent and have had an offer accepted! Fingers crossed on timing, that’s what really worries me - it’ll all take ages and we’ll get stuck in a long contract or have to air bnb.

Our plan was to go for a year with a six month break clause - how easy would that have been to negotiate in your case? I’m concerned that the market will completely die as it comes towards Christmas and we won’t find anything/complete in time for a six months fixed…

So we found that there are lots of long term rentals. The first one we apiece for we didn't get. The second one, we did get (but changed our minds about it). It was a long term rental, where we would be on a year's contract initially and then rolling monthly. We didn't want a year minimum though so I rang up and asked if we could have a 6 month break clause written into it 'just in case' there were any issues with the property, and the agent immediately said that won't be a problem. Got an email confirming it later that day. So that was easy for us. I don't know how easy it usually is, but when we rented a few years ago the contracts did typically seem to have a 6 month break clauses written in. As I said, we change our minds on that one (the sale of our house was taking longer than we expected) and ended up with a 6 months fixed instead which in hindsight might be a mistake - time will tell!!

Oh I forgot to say that originally I put a plea on the local Facebook groups for anyone wanting to rent out their property. A lady replied and said she had a vacant house that she wasn't 'officially' allowed to rent out yet but that we could come to an 'unofficial' arrangement. She was happy to be super flexible too. She changed her mind eventually as realised the risks of renting a property out without being insured for the purpose etc (understandable - I wouldn't do it personally!) but that's another avenue you could explore as it might give you the flexibility over tenancy length that you want. I found airbnb too expensive - 3x the price of a 'normal' rental.

We are also in this position and have missed out on two sealed bids despite offering 50k over asking price. We have three kids and a dog and there is nothing coming up for rental either. Our house we are selling is quite quirky; lovely but no garden so not an easy sell so we are reluctant to let it fall through. Also we are hoping it makes us a more attractive buyer to not be in a chain

@Friendofdennis - intriguing! How would we find somewhere to house sit?? We do need to be near the kids’ school but we live in an affluent area where I can imagine people will be travelling for work again soon.

@wanderlove - it absolutely sucks doesn’t it! The people who won our sealed bid went so high even the agent was astonished. I wonder if it’ll get undervalued by their lender, or the bidders will panic that they’ve over paid. It’s a dangerous game right now…

@surreygirl1987 - thanks for the detailed info! This is so helpful. I’d thought of the local Facebook groups- it’s definitely the kind of community that might be up for an informal arrangement with friends-of-friends.

Whenever I've looked at house sitting websites, there's always a huge number of available sitters. I always think that if I join, my profile will be buried on page 50 of the listings and I have no experience / references, so am unlikely to get any offers. I've never tried so am speculating, but whilst house sitting is a great option if you can arrange it, it's a very big if.

We've done this a couple of times, once when the dc were small and once when we just had the dog left at home so a little different. Firstly it was worth it because we ended up with the house we wanted and it does put you in a good position of course, and secondly both times we decided that we needed a place that was big enough to make the downsides of renting enjoyable. Both times we lived in a village we wouldn't have actually bought in, but it was interesting to live for a period of time and we look back fondly on both the rentals as almost like extended holidays. We kept some things packed up which drives you mad, so it works best if you have a garage to keep the boxes in or a spare room you won't be needing at all.

We nearly rented again recently as it was looking for a while that our purchase would fall through and we were almost starting to look forward to 6 months somewhere different! It's not ideal but you can get through it if you need to.

@eightlivesdown with three kids I doubt we’ll be first choice if there are 49 singles/couples also available to house sit!

@thisplaceisapigsty thanks for the positive stories! We are trying to think of it as an adventure, and rent something we’d never buy, but feels more like a holiday let due to location.

I’m feeling pretty down about the whole thing. Property prices sky high, rental prices sky high, building costs sky high! We were going to buy a project but I’m not sure we can afford to do what we were willing to do if building prices have doubled.

Why didn’t we move in 2019 🤦🏼‍♀️

We did this with 2/3 kids. Took a lot of stress out of the move to enter next house-buying chain free. Had to move because of DH's job.

You need to be aware that if you rent privately, i.e. with a standard assured shorthold tenancy, after 6 mths initial tenancy period, strictly speaking, you don't need to sign a new contract, your existing contract will continue on a rolling basis. If the landlord wants you to leave, they would have to give you a notice (I think it's 4 months currently instead of the 2 months pre-covid). It's worth negotiating with the landlord to stay longer if you need to, because if you don't leave, they would have to get a possession order from court to move you out. You would have to give a month notice if you need to leave (unless your agreement says differently). I would not personally consider moving to a holiday let because of the costs and the need to move again.

Have a look here: england.shelter.org.uk/professional_resources/legal/renting/assured_and_assured_shorthold_tenancies/tenants_rights_to_remain_when_a_fixed_term_ast_expires

We were in a similar situation and chickened out buying a house which was a bit of a compromise rather than committ to a 12 months tenancy, which was the shortest ones we could find in our area. A few months down the line, a much better house came up, but we already moved and I regretted not waiting. Chains can be a massive pain in the bum, being chain free in my opinion makes the process a lot easier.

We did this recently and it worked brilliantly. Four sales had fallen through on our place and consequently we lost the places we were buying, so it seemed the less stressful route in the end.

We negotiated a 12 month rental with an 8 month break clause. The landlady turned out to be an absolute cow (tricky about returning deposit, repairing white goods) but it worked well overall despite the hassle factor.

@TinyCheese - thanks. I’d be happy to go onto a rolling one month contract after a six month fixed term, but not another six months. I don’t fully understand so I’ll take a look at the link.

We’re trying to avoid buying another compromise house, which this one was. Our vendor pulled out last minute leaving the whole chain packed and ready. We panicked and bought something I’d never have chosen with a clear head, and I’ve never felt settled (six years on!). I hope you are happy with yours now?

@Donotgogentle - thanks for the positive story! I’m not sure my nerves will take a chain and we have a chain-free buyer so I think this may end up being the lowest stress option. I’m still privately hoping my dream home appears next week and we don’t have to rent

I'm doing this now! The apartment is ok if small and I've missed out on two properties. It is ok but I really want my own home again.

We're doing this now. Sold our house 3.5 months ago as we relocated to where we are now which is 200 Mike's away. We have a cat so it was very difficult to find a rental that would accept pets. Thankfully we found our current rental through a private labdlord in openrent. The house rental place is quite grubby and dated and not been maintained by landlord so can't wait to have our own place again. Been actively looking to buy for 3.5 months now. We're in a 6 month rolling contract with a rolling monthly after. We've viewed 20 houses now, the ones we've offered on we keep losing out against cash buyers as we would need a small mortgage. :(

@user1471538283 and @Kittley I’m sorry it’s proving less than ideal! Hoping the perfect houses come up for you soon 🤞

We did this, moved into rented in June last year, still here 🤦 We have had an offer accepted now however, so hopefully not much longer!

We wanted a 6 month contract, couldn't get one - had to be 12 months. As it's worked out, that hasn't mattered at all.

Thankfully we did find a reasonable rental, in a great location, that fitted all our stuff. Considering how long we have been here (and all the lockdowns we have had!) I am very grateful for that.

I'm glad we did it, but it's not without its risks. We were given 6 month's notice in January which put us in a total panic. Luckily landlord changed his mind a few months later, really didn't want to start another 12 month contract! There was also the concern we would have found a house straight away, and then been stuck paying rent and mortgage for 12 months.

Hope everything works out for you.