What would happen if I can’t find anywhere to rent?

[Cabbagewhites]

This is a hypothetical situation. I live and work in a rural community, I work for the local council.
At the moment I am fortunate to be renting a nice flat and all is well. I’m also saving to buy: as soon as a suitable house comes on the market, I’ll be looking to get a 90% mortgage and get on the ladder. I have a salary of £38k and I live alone.

I have noticed that there are very very few properties available for rent, which has been the case for six months now. At the moment all of those that are, are HMOs where individual rooms are let out. 1 or 2 bed flats and cottages are very very rare (everyone has decided to Air B&B them 😠). I regularly search what’s available and affordable within 25 miles of my workplace and the answer is: little to nothing.

If my landlord were to terminate my rolling tenancy, I would have a month to find somewhere else to live. If I were unable to find a house to buy or rent that was affordable within a commute to work, I would be in a real pickle! It would be tantamount to being made homeless! There are family members I could move in with, but they are all 100+ miles away and I definitely couldn't commute.
Moving into an HMO would be possible, but would mean selling my furniture and many belongings, I am over 35 and really don’t see cohabiting with strangers as a healthy way for me to live at my stage in life, my mental wellbeing would plummet I am sure.

I assume on my salary and with savings there’s no chance I’d get social housing? In which case I would probably have to choose between my career and having a roof over my head! It seems bizarre?

Obviously this is hypothetical, but could easily happen if my landlord also decided to go the Air B&B route and kick me out 😬

Anyone ever been in this situation or know if there’d be any options open to me other than to start job hunting?

Thanks

@Peeceandquite

Why are you even worrying about it? Probably will never happen.

There are thousands of people in similar situations and you are in a much better position than most as you are able to buy.

If we were to be given notice we would very likely end up homeless. I really don't give it much head space though, because what's the point?

I hear you @Peeceandquite, I realise that I am more fortunate than many. I’m sorry you are in a precarious position.

I’m worrying (a little bit) because I had naively always assumed I would be able to find somewhere to live, as long as I have a steady income, and the realisation that this isn’t necessarily the case has shaken me a bit. I think perhaps people in expensive places such as London might be used to this idea, but I live in quite a rural town where prices and availability of property to rent have never been in question until now.

Think PPs are right that I should get another fixed term tenancy at this place.

Thanks all!

You can technically stay after that. Your LL may issue an eviction notice, but current eviction notice is 6 months.

Sorry, now 4 months.
www.gov.uk/evicting-tenants/section-21-and-section-8-notices

How long do you expect it to be before you buy a home?

If it is likely to take a long time, you may be better signing a tenancy contract.

If a short time and you are unlucky enough to be given notice before completion you could negotiate with landlord/ find a short term room to rent as a lodger/ sofa surf/ stay in an Airbnb yourself/ refuse to leave (if you are certain your house purchase will go through and you won't need a landlord reference that is!).

If you weren't in a position to buy I guess only options would be HMO, social housing (if available) or relocate. I know people who have put their furniture in storage as they had to move into a much smaller property when their landlord evicted them, and they hope to find something larger in the near future.

Some people live in very crummy accommodation these days, it's a sad state of affairs, esp people working in jobs that are needed locally who can't afford adequate housing.

I agree it is a big problem in areas where there is limited rental stock and house prices are above local salaries. Yes it will make recruitment to public sector and low paid jobs difficult. Who would choose to move somewhere they can't get secure housing?

London housing is hugely expensive, but there are generally a lot of rental homes available. When we rented in London we didn't really worry about being given notice as you could easily find somewhere new to rent. Obviously would still be a big worry for those who can't afford a new tenancy deposit, low budget, or tenants who aren't popular with landlords eg with pets, on benefits, who may struggle to find somewhere new.

If you really want to stay in the area I'd focus on buying somewhere, and if it's likely to take a while consider whether to sign a tenancy contract in the meantime.

Do you definitely want to stay though? Moving to a more affordable area has it's benefits.

Put your stuff in storage - they often have cheap introductory deals, so the cost should be reasonable if you don't need it too long.

Find the closest reasonable rental within commuting distance of work. This will mean a longer commute, and you will probably have to commit to a fixed term tenancy, which may be longer than you want. The alternative is an airbnb or similar - some offer discounts for longer lets, but it'll still be more expensive than a regular let.

I also wouldn't move to an HMO - I'd prefer a longer commute / higher cost for the privacy of a single let. Others will feel differently.

I'd try a keep the job, provided you enjoy it. Commuting is a pain, but it's temporary in your situation. Job hunting is also a pain, and carries risks, e.g. might take longer than you expect. If you don't really like the job, however, it could be an opportunity for a new start.

If you can't find a normal rental, OP, you could try to be a short tern lodger - much better than HMO. Look at Spareroom site, there are nice options there sharing with one owner often, or if more people/couple, some offer an ensuite. Easy to leave when you find a rental.

@Fashionesta

I worry about this constantly. Rent in an area with very few properties and high prices. I have a DD and no way can I afford a two bed in this area. If my LL suddenly decided they wanted to move back in I am not sure what I would do. I could move in with a family member so wouldn't be homeless but it seems crazy that at my age with a full-time job I can not provide a steady roof over our heads. I do worry about it a lot.

This is one of my biggest worries. Our rent is 50-70% of the cost of similar sized houses here as we rented 10 years ago and the house is a bit of a state really. We put up with it, because it's all we can afford. We were previously in a house across the road but landlords wanted it back and this one took us 6 months to find as rentals rarely come up here. We've got 3 DCs and a fairly low income as I'm a nurse and DH has his own business but suffers with bipolar and can have months of barely earning. I can cover the rent with my job, but only just. If we had to leave here, the only place we could afford to live would be half an hour in the other direction from my job (which is half an hour away) so I'd have an hour commute. Which I would do, because I love my job and of course I could easily find one nearby if needed. But it is something I worry about on a regular basis. I did ask about renewing the contract and landlord just said they don't do that, just let to go to a rolling one. He also said he doesn't evict people as long as they're paying rent as he has many properties and although he is selling them off now, he o ly sells when they're vacated. But circumstances change.

Renting is so precarious, but little chance of us ever buying so that's where we're at.

Your LL would have to take you to court to get a possession order. That can take months at the best of times but there is still a huge post covid delay in the courts. Then he would have to get the bailffs to enforce the order which can take more weeks/months. And if his paperwork is not 100% in order the eviction can be thrown out and its back to square one.

Thanks for the empathy and info share everyone. So sorry this is such a worry to you @Fashionesta and @RagzReturnsRebooted xx

I hope never to get to the point where I’m essentially squatting and have to be evicted by the court, but good to know the extent of the LLs power. Thanks.

I understand why you wouldn't want to live in an HMO.

Would being a lodger be better? At least you would have fewer housemates, and would know who was living there.

For a few months Before I bought I was a lodger with a pilot. It was cheap as chips and with his job he was never really there. It suited me perfectly.

Look at spareroom.com

If I was you I'd contact the Airbnb places and offer them a large lump sum (cash) in exchange for them converting their sort term let to a medium or long term contract for you.

Yeah the notice is just when the landlord wants you out. You only absolutely have to go when a court tells you to, which is months in the future at the moment. A fixed term lease just means you're liable for the entire rent for that entire lease time. Don't do that.

I hope you find somewhere to buy soon. For other people in similar situations it's shit, yes.

I would agree with other posters - take proper tenancy because realistically it take a few months between finding house and moving . also as someone said if there are things which are precious to you , hire a storage facility.

In our case we sold house , rented and put lots into storage. ( I wish I had not put so much into storage. )

Moving is always stressful - - do you get on with your LL and can work out some mutually agreeable arrangement

I'm in the same position - all fine at the moment and my landlords seem happy with me being there, but I've just been switched to a rolling tenancy and I'd be stuffed if I had to move, there is just nothing available locally (Cornwall) and I'd be up against 60+ applicants, many of whom could front a year's rent. I too am looking to buy. I have chosen to not worry about it for now, and hope that I find somewhere to buy sooner rather than later. If needs be, I can rent a friend's spare room, but I WFH so it's not a long term solution.

Even if the Council did get buiding its highly unlikely you would qualify as you are a single person on a decent salary.

A shortage of affordable housing is one of the main failings of the Tory government (and most LAs need to take responsibility as well). Affordable housing could be built , and rents would more than cover the financial costs. However we have a government that sees ever rising prices and rents as a good thing for their voters and so is doing very little to address the problem

My mother had to move out of a desirable coastal area where she lived before because, post-divorce, a 50% share of their marital home didn't give her enough money to buy anywhere. She was told she needed to go to the council to state that she was homeless. She ended up moving to family in a completely different area of the country, 200+ miles away.

@anniegun

A shortage of affordable housing is one of the main failings of the Tory government (and most LAs need to take responsibility as well). Affordable housing could be built , and rents would more than cover the financial costs. However we have a government that sees ever rising prices and rents as a good thing for their voters and so is doing very little to address the problem

The last Labour government was the same. Property price increases, and schemes introduced to help FTB's, except the obvious one of pricking the housing bubble to make property more affordable. Whichever party's in power seem determined to keep house prices high for fear of house owning voter reaction if they fall, and a flow of taxpayers cash to developers in buying support schemes.

Each party promises lots of house building at election time, then under delivers. Local mayors are the same. Mind you, they under deliver on every other promise as well.

We're in a similar predicament OP, if our landlord decided to sell up, we'd have nowhere to go as there are literally no rentals coming up in the area. Because if this, the odd one that does come up is insanely expensive, recently there was a 3 bed terrace going for 1,200 a month. It was snapped up within a day.

If we could no longer stay in our current house, we'd have to move out of the area away from family and friends and get new jobs etc, as there seem to be no rentals even in commutable distance! The only other option would be to put everything we own into storage and temporarily stay with my parents, but I don't know how that would work as I'm worried the rental market won't improve and my partner works from home

It's extremely worrying, and makes me feel depressed and like we have no real stability. We would love to buy but are nowhere near having enough deposit and probably wouldn't get a mortgage anyway as my partner is self employed and I have shit credit.

I knew someone who had this and moved into a campervan. Took up membership of the 24 hour gym and showered/ used the loos there. Parked around the corner at night. Laundry done on a service wash. Stuff went in a storage unit. She was relatively jolly about it. Then she moved into an airbnb at a cheap rate from November till March. Then managed to buy a place.

If it’s a rural setting I would email farms and put cards in shops requesting a space for a caravan in exchange for rent