Renting - 4 people in a 2 bed flat

[stormagain]

In Northeast England, I'm in search of a two-bedroom flat for myself and my three children. Despite currently residing in a two-bedroom space where we use bunk beds, rental inquiries consistently claim it's too small for us. Affording a three-bedroom is challenging.

I'm considering asking my in-laws to temporarily care for my youngest child, allowing only myself and two children to move in initially. Once settled, could they prevent me from adding my third child to our residence? Has anyone attempted this or can suggest an alternative solution?

Disregarding how my youngest child would handle the situation which I can manage, I am specifically inquiring about the contractual aspects of renting.

Changing locations is not an option due to commuting and additional childcare expenses.

Would a less drastic solution is that each bedroom had 2 single beds.

Youngest shares with you. 2 older ones share.

Surely that is better than youngest being separated.

Apologies I missed it's an external party that are saying you'll be overcrowded.

That sounds sensible or you have sofabed in the lounge, how old are dc and boys or girls

Is the rental market competitive? Unfortunately I think this is a case of landlords being able to be chosy. Less people is less wear and tear.

Its shit but its market forces.

Maybe they won't be insured for 4 people, whereabouts are you looking.

This seems daft as surely two couples could share a two bedroom flat with no problems?

We're NE England.

I don't mind having a 2 bed. We can stay in the same location and I can afford it. I can't afford a 3 bed. It's the agencies that are insisting on this.

I figured it might be something about insurnce and basically they can just choose. That is why I thought could be an option to pretend that the youngest is with ILs (I will make sure to check they're on board but I think they would be), and then when we have the contract and are in, DC3 can join us.

Can they stop DC3 moving in, once we are in. They are my DC and I just can't see that it could be stopped?

I don't think they'd bat an eyelid if this was in London. But I fill in applications and they respond saying 'property is too small for you'.

@DeedlessIndeed The OP doesn't have an issue wrt who sleeps where. The problem is that the LL are considering that over crowding.

@stormagain ridiculous isn't it. How old is your eldest?

They are probably using overcrowded as an euphemism for "we don't like single parents".
They would be fine with two adults and two children.

Unfortunately... they can be chosy if there's lots of applicants.

@stormagain

it depends on what the lease says. If it says occupancy:3 then yes they can.

are there so many agencies that they won't know you have 3 kids after applying for other places?

You do know you can legally be kicked out for not saying exactly how many will live in the house without any notice.

They're 9, share with and 8. I hope to get a 3 bed before eldest is 13.

Would the LL be able to void the contract if I 'decided' it was best for DC3 to move back in with us?

I've not had this response from LLs, the market is not as hot as in SE and I can offer a good up-front lump sum. It's getting to the stage of making an offer that is challenging me. I just need a work around. If I have 2 DC there would be no problem with the agencies I think. I could move in and then add the youngest DC into the contract?

ILs live local, and DC3 would be over 'visiting' pretty much every day anyway.

It's a tricky one. I'm sorry you are in a difficult situation. LL's are also increasingly restricting occupancy as it leads to more general wear and tear, and can increase condensation and mould issues. If they can find renters with fewer occupants per room, that's a win for them.

There are plenty of 2 bed flats in ne that don't specify how many tenants and are advertised as family flats, maybe a different agent, we can look if you want us to and yes if you break the contract you sign you could face being evicted.

Wrong. They absolutely cannot kick you out 'with no notice' completely illegal, wouldn't happen

Yes of course they could, you would be in breach of your tenancy and would be evicted.

I think if you're going to do something like this, (without know you kids/parents) it would be more believable to have your eldest 'move' to your parents than your youngest.

preteen being difficult for you & parents 'needing' a bit of help.

would this work for you?

I can see it causing a bit of a problem for you going forward, (inspections/ neighbours maybe)

but sometimes when you're stuck, risks need to be considered.

how much have you tried contacting them and explaining you live in a 2 bed now, quite happily?

Its possibly a statement to decline you in preference for a couple with no, or 1, kid. That would be significantly less wear and tear on a property.
Can you either find a private landlord, or a property that is struggling too be let for some reason? They might be more open to discussions.

Children (under 18s) are not listed on a tenancy agreement so I very much doubt there’s a legal mechanism to evict if another child appears.

There’s no legal requirement for a tenant to inform their landlord of their family planning goals or when they’re pregnant so a LL wouldn’t know how many DC there are.

OP use a different agency and just say you have two DC. Do what you have to do to house your DC. As long as you’re paying the rent and taking care of the property, who cares!

As for wear and tear, you could get adult professionals having boozy.dinner parties with lots of friends in and out wearing shoes on carpets and heels on wooden floors who can cause more than DC. Any crayon on the walls can be rectified before leaving.

Not much. I will try this again. I keep my place immaculate, need to in these circumstances! and can pay a year up-front - I prefer this for the security. So I will just have to try reiterating this when I call up to book a viewing.

I'm not 100% sure it's the LLs that are the difficulty here, that's why I came up with this potential solution. It's getting to that stage that is difficult. I need to persuade the agencies that I can live in a 2 bed.

I will be more assertive. Well, I'll try :)

that was a reply to WagWoofWalkMeeoow

I lived in a 2 bed 60sqm tiny flat with DH and dc and we moved out because it was so tiny and the family that moved in right after us were grandparents in one room and a adult daughter sharing a room with the her own 6 yo daughter in the second box room. It's very common in London. There are also many professional working couples renting together with other couples as the rents are so extortionate but I echo the previous poster and get the younger two officialised as the ones moving in. If they ever I mean they won't but if they ever find out about the eldest just say he stays sometimes but lives with dad/gp's.