Frustrated at the family homes becoming house shares!

[MadamPia]

This is more of a rant but if anyone has found solutions I’d love to hear it.

We have to move out of our private rented place because the landlord wants it back. Now we need to find somewhere and eve thing is double the price (my whole salary would go towards rent!). I’m expecting in 6 months. I have approached the council (but I’m normally number 700 or something when it comes to bidding).

Whilst I’m looking for properties I’ve noticed that there are plenty of 2 and 3 bed homes - many are new builds - I tend to pass by them - but they are all converted into shared flats!

I know - people can do what they like - and I don’t want to hear from people who want me to “move further out” (we are considering it but I need to have my support network - and there are about 3 other cities I would consider).

Are there any organisations or movements tackling this? Or platforms that prioritise family homes?

The council forced the whole street to get HMO licenses - cost over £500 for me for a flat with two bedrooms/ one bathroom so not an appropriate HMO at all. Just a money raising exercise for the council!
Anyway, you need permission for a house to be divided up etc, so your local planning office is responsible for that. Write your local MP?

@TheyJustDontFit thank you, I thought OP meant she did not want a new build.

OP, get your former LL to write a 'to whom it may concern' reference saying you were a good tenant and paid on time (it should say 'please contact me direct for individual reference requests'). Go and see as many agents as you can in person, ask them to please contact you before they list new clients, explain about the pregnancy. Hopefully some will be sympathetic and make you one of the early calls they make. The demand for rentals means they don't always have to list them these days.

Open Rent often has cheaper properties. FB marketplace too. Be very careful you are not being scammed with either of these two.

This house is in Hull. I've got 5 btl there all 3 bedroom large terraced houses the bedrooms are approximately 14 x 12, 12 X 10.5 and 10 x 9 but with a back yard in 3 and only a proper garden in 2. I charge £650 for each of them I could get a bit more but the rent more than covers the mortgages and expenses and I like the families who live in them. I've got 5 more in the Tamworth area and charge £850 for them. The cheapest 3 bedroom on RM in Tamworth area are £925-950. In Hull you can buy a 3 bedroom terraced house for about £100k or a little more. I bought them years ago for between £50-60k so low mortgages. I will put prices up if I need to but at the moment in a 5 year fixed rate with 3 years to go on 3 of these houses. A few others on trackers but not much mortgage left on two of them so my mortgages are not too much. I look at the whole portfolio as a whole rather than if one house or another is more or less profitable. They are maintained to a high standard and once tenants are in I do inspect after 6 months then if everything is ok and rent arrives each month on time I just leave them to let me know if anything needs fixing with obvious annual gas safety checks. I've had the first 3 about 18 years and they have gone up a lot in value so providing they cover the mortgages and make a little profit to supplement my pension then that's ok. Each year I look to upgrade something in 2 or 3 of them so this year I added decking to 2 houses and installed a new bathroom in 1.

Landlords are societal “parasites” thats why. An easy google of that term will open your mind to why landlords and property developers are one of the biggest reasons for our housing crisis and poor quality “homes”.

Regarding your problem around rent, unfortunately rents have gone up (guess by whom??). If you’re unwilling or can’t move further out, then the council is your only option. It really sucks, so feel for you! Btw Social housing is deemed safer than private rentals according to research, so I would stay on that waiting list (link below).

And agree with you: We need to get rid of landlords and prioritise houses for families. More flats need to be built for single people as that is a growing population, including an increasingly childless population. Landlords will tell you they are the angels sent to earth to solve these problems (see the comments above? Lol) but they are greedy d…..

Good luck

Link to private rental conditions being poorer than social housing: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-7328/

We recently moved because all the houses around us that went up for sale were bought by developers to be converted to HMOs. It is horrible living surrounded by people who are only there temporarily so don't give a shit about the area or their neighbours.

We needed more space because we have a 30+ yo adult child living with us who can't afford to live on their own. Rooms around us are going for £1000 pm - how can people on only a bit above minimum wage afford to pay almost their entire income just on rent?

Can't answer for anywhere else but where we lived the housing shortage is directly caused by the huge increase in students. Can't find the figures for all years but when my kids all lived together in a rented house in 2013 they paid £650 for a 3 bed and there were 5,845 students at the local Uni. Latest figures for 2021/22 now 38,442 students. No wonder there is nowhere for families to either rent or buy.

I agree. I have many single friends who are living in rooms and I must say they are struggling too due to landlords rotating tenants (many of my single friends renting a room have had to move around at least twice in a year over the past year) and whilst there are many lovely shared houses, some are clearly just opportunities for landlords to make as much income as possible.

Either way the housing system is a mess right now and I know there are amazing LL out there and there are challenges for them too - we are witnessing the private rental market crumble and it’s affecting families and single people alike (unless you have tonnes of money and can move around).

Thank you! I have actually started looking at open rent and Facebook marketplace. I must say I have found Facebook marketplace is very difficult to navigate (in terms of who is fraudulent and genuine). I will give this a try and hopefully I can get somewhere.

I think it is insane. I agree that we need to have dedicated student accommodation but I have noticed that because it is so lucrative for developers we have them popping up everywhere!

Yes, 3 years ago £1000pcm would have got me a 1 bed or small 2 bed - to pay that much for a small room, sharing with strangers is bonkers. More and more people are staying at home.

So for everyone commenting “single people need a space to live too” - the fact that we have a generation of people that cannot move out of home - or are moving back home (which is something I’m considering) - shows that we really have a problem.

Your child is lucky to have you x

Haha thanks and I 100% agree. Privately renting is a nightmare these days! There is no stability and I know people whose health and safety have been put at risk.

Those that bagged themselves a council house/flat are better off (also based on what I’ve seen - will check out the article - thanks for sharing!)

Hi. I don’t mean “I ignore them” - I mean “I physically pass by them on the way to work etc” - most of them are being built and waayyyy above my budget when I check for the pricing. Although I am starting to take note of developers that promise “affordable rent” and I’m hoping if I call them up, maybe I can negotiate something.

At this rate I will take anything that has the the number of rooms needed etc.

@whyisitallsohard please how can landlords be got rid of? Even before landlords became widespread amongst average-earnings people, not every person had the desire or resources or level of maturity/responsibility to own property however reasonably priced they may be. Please how do we get rid of landlords? We may get rid of average-earning individual landlords but we can't get rid of institutional or upper class landlord. The government has been trying to get rid of average-earning landlords for soooo long and appear to be having some success. But what happens is that the house dumped by the average landlord is instantly scooped up by institutional landlords. So in order words, if the ruling class can be got rid of, you'll have your wish come true.

Build council houses.
The council should be (and could be if we so willed it) the landlord of first resort not last.