Any Landlords sold or selling up? Can't decide what to do...

[LLamaLandlord]

Been a LL for over ten years and I like to think I've been fair and responsible. I've had a couple of excellent tenants, but my current one is causing me stress. It's hard to describe without give identifying detail, but it's just lots on on-going low level stuff, lack of respect for the property and lying about things. She is also very rude and aggressive in all her emails, messages etc.

I'm just wondering if perhaps it's time to sell up? The potential legislation coming in next year will make everything much more difficult if I leave it and as DH pointed out, I could now get the same income by putting the cash in a savings account at the moment, without any of the uncertainty or hassle!
I'm aware it might take months before she leaves anyway, which would mean I might get the house back to sell for next spring if I'm lucky!

Any landlords grappling with similar decision-making and around to share their thoughts?

Yup, shit tenants are seriously bad for your health! I think all the 'evil bastard landlord' narrative in the media just gives some tenants a sense of unwarranted entitlement, rather than just the polite mutual respect I (and my children) had with our landlords.

Despite me asking for all requests/ repairs to be emailed (to an address my DH can also see and respond to) she is always texting and messaging me. Signs off messages with e.g. PLEASE COME TOMORROW BEFORE 10am TO FIX IT!! about things she has only just notified me about at 4.30pm. Aaargh!

I don’t know what to do, and I could cry.

rent it out as an accidental landlord - it was in negative equity after the last crash. Have rented it out, through agency, all done properly and respond to problems promptly.

variable rate mortgage as not enough to convert to a BTL. Won’t let me fix on a residential mortgage when let out: I’ve tried (and a mortgage broker has tried!) every which way.

I cannot afford to sell - I can’t afford the mortgage when it’s empty and not rented at the prices it is now.

I can’t afford to make it into a C energy rating property (Victorian terrace)

If I think about it too much I will cry.

I have put the rent up by £40 a month which is less than the agency recommended to try and do the right thing by the tenants, but the mortgage is now £160 a month more than the rent. And that’s before agency fees / insurance / tax.

I can’t afford to keep it and I can’t afford o sell it 🤷🏻‍♀️

I’m a landlord. Do everything by the book and try my best to be brilliant but I’ve had enough. Between interest rates, a tenant treating the place like crap but not quite badly enough to ask him to leave, and all the other stress involved, we’re going to sell as soon as his fixed tenancy is up next year.

@PotteringAlonggotkickedoutandhadtoreregister Unfortunately you have a business venture. They don’t all make money. The issues coming up were signalled. That’s why mine went on the market.

You could try interest only mortgage. I don’t quite see why you cannot sell much sooner. Why did you let it out? Why don’t you look after your own needs? You should put yourself above the tenants.

@SaturdayGiraffe I sold it to DS2 at under market value but still have to pay CGT at full market value. There is an online calculator where it asks the specific question 'Was this sold at full market value'? If you put no it asks for full market value. It obviously happens sometimes or there would not be a section on CGT form about it. I sold it to DS2 at £55k under Market value to help him on to the property ladder. He saved £10k deposit himself and I told him I'd give him £50k if he saved £10k but I gave him a bit more to cover solicitors fees and moving in expenses.

We're selling up. I've issued a s.21 to two of our tenants after an inspection in spring. One had a fire in a bedroom and hadn't informed us, the whole of the upstairs will need to be re-plastered, decorated and will need new carpets. It had been decorated and had new carpets 14 months ago when they moved in, and I don't think it's even been cleaned or hoovered since then. The garden is full of rubbish. The second one is subject to endless complaints by the neighbours and council for anti social behaviour and the tenants wouldn't let the agents in to do the inspection. Both are nice houses in good areas. Never again!

We are selling. We’ve done everything by the book, sorted any issues quickly (when tenant locked herself out, bathroom leaked etc) and according to the EA, we were charging 50% less than market rate (prices have gone through the roof in the town our flat is in). Our tenants have moved out and I’m too worried about the changes to tenancy laws, and the possibility future tenants would fall into issues with paying rent. MIL rents and just this week has had to tell her LL that she can’t afford her rent.

Seriously thought about selling. Mortgage has doubled. But figured long term income and capital growth still good so keeping it.

We have 6 BTLs, all flats with cladding/fire safety issues so not sellable or mortgagable. They’re all interest only and are on SVRs due to the issues so the monthly payments are constantly increasing.

The idea was to have sold them off years ago but then grenfell happened so that went out the window. We’re currently subsidising them for nearly £2k a month and I don’t earn much more than that so not sure how long this can be sustained for.

This is the first time in 15 years as a landlord that we’ve put rents up and we’ve kept the increases as low as possible. It’s a real struggle and source of stress at the moment.

My husband owned these properties when I married him. I’d never have chosen to be a landlord!!

Why don't you put the rent up (with warning time) and hope she leaves? And then you can get a better one in!
Could you consider short term holiday let rental? More tax efficient and there are companies that will do all the work for you. That's what I'd do.

I can’t put the rent up again until January, as I already increased it this year. But it’s not really about that the rent, more about the overall stress, and the fact that the yield is now less than I could get in a high street bank account!. Also, I don’t think there will be any real capital gains on property over the next few years and prices will probably fall before they start to go up again.
We are reaching retirement age, and our children are young adults, leaving home, so the timing to sell feels about right.

Yes the rental portfolio in our own ownership we have been liquidating as tenants left but now sadly in the process of giving notice. This is what the government wanted to happen and they see the houses going for purchase. Sad for people that can't buy but it just isn't viable. We have some in a LTD company and keeping them

@LLamaLandlord yes is sounds like the right time to sell it seems.
Does she keep it looking and smelling ok or is it best to market after she moves out?

No, sadly it is in poor condition. Dirty walls and doors with damage to plaster. There are also grease stains running down the kitchen walls and clutter everywhere. Breaks my heart as it was newly decorated and partly new carpet when she moved in. 😥

We rent out 2 lovely cottages next to our house and haven’t put up the rent in 13 years so the rent is now around 40% below market levels. One lot of tenants are amazing, lovely to live next to and always help us out. The other is a PITA and complains about everything (eg the cottage is cold, bees in the garden etc ) and is basically miserable.

The epc requirements are a huge worry for us as the cottages are early Victorian and the costs involved would make meeting them impossible given our low rental income. If the PITA ever leaves we will definitely Airbnb it.

@LLamaLandlord You have every reason to move her out and sell. My agent did period checks on condition. Tenants were expected to keep the houses in good condition. They did. Had anything been really bad, notice would have been served immediately. So you should get on with it.

I have to ask...
One of the above posters has had a victorian terraced house since the last crash, so let's say 13 years. During that period house prices, no matter where you are, have increased massively. How is it possible, even if making the mistake of interest only, that they now can't afford to sell ? Even factoring in the due capital gains tax surely the sale will net them a very healthy profit ? What am I missing here ?

@DrySherry that was me. It wasn’t an interest only mortgage, it’s repayment. North east of England. Paid £93k in 2009.
valued last year at £77k

so if I sell I can clear the mortgage. But only if I can sell with sitting tenants. And my gamble is that I put it on the market, they leave (they are long term and v reliable) and then I am paying a mortgage that has doubled by myself with no end in sight.

I’m a LL and have until spring 2024 to work out what to do. EPC rating is a D, with probably £20k of upgrades needed to get it into a C.

Have nice tenant (despite using a lettings agent, I usually meet the final two possible tenants to eyeball them) who paid upfront. When I haven’t done that, I’ve had a couple of troublesome ones.

Mortgage free Victorian semi that I’ve had for 8yrs and I’m managing it myself. I adhere to all the rules… place got a big makeover last summer, and I sorted a lot of niggles out that have not reoccured.

Im not surprised that the government are kicking the can down the road wrt EPCs as there will be a mahoosive sell up by all landlords. That’ll solve the problem of a lack of housing stock but put the rental market in a massive spin… as if it’s not in one at the moment anyway.

I have to decide whether to hang on and don my hard hat, or sell up.

Maybe can’t afford to sell is overly dramatic. I can, but it will cost me to do so. Long term, mortgage will be cleared and it will be a pension and I’m hoping it will all come good! Keep my tenants, all will be well in the world.
😊

I recently sold, with savings interest as it is I’m making close to as much as I did renting in interest.

When are the gov going to finalise and publish the new epc rules? Surely they need to give us around a year's notice? I need a ground pump or solar panels to get to a C. The sum of all the smaller parts didn't take it from a d to c in the last epc.

Ours are all EPC C rated. Even the victorian terrace. We've just sold one of ours to the tenants as we've just early retired and that was our plan when we bought. The other ones we are keeping for a few more years as rents will only increase (to a point) and we can cherry pick our tenants because of all the landlords that are selling. As soon as we're expected to get properties to EPC B we'll sell the rest
The landlord reform act is not helpful to anyone. Shelter and the government think they are doing the renters a favour but they aren't, especially Shelter who don't actually provide anyone with accommodation.
5% savings accounts are available in lieu of rent but capital appreciation is where most of the money is. House prices never stagnate for long. Historically they always rise.

I think Labour have some sort of register of Landlords planned. There are rogue landlords, but there are also rogue tenants. I think it has to go both ways for the sector to function optimally. Most landlords want tenants who pay on time and look after the property in a reasonable manner and inform them promptly of issues which they then fix in a reasonable time. Such landlords usually charge a reasonable rent too.
Rogue landlords who don’t refurbish, rent out substandard property e.g mould and keep putting up rents/invade tenants’ privacy should not be allowed to be landlords. Equally, tenants who are irresponsible should be the government’s problem not some granny’s problem who has one pension asset.
The whole sector needs even more regulation.
As regards the EPC changes, again, trying to make the private sector sort out UK general failure to upgrade housing stock is unreasonable in the short term. It will lead to the opposite, less housing for tenants. They need to build more as well and build 21st century housing that suits most families and modern day living. Again, housebuilders being allowed to sell off property en masse in China and Dubai etc at Expos - should not be allowed. It is a small island with not enough housing and foreign ownership en masse is a terrible idea.

@Possiblynotever @Feduplandlord There are currently exemptions for both the scenarios you mention (listed properties, and properties where you can not make upgrades due to a third party). You still have to do all the stuff you can do within the constraints you have (so for a listed property, you'd still have to insulate your loft as that would not require consent, but you'd get an exemption for double glazing).

The listed property exemption applies equally to properties in conservation areas/with Article 4 directions.