Let a house to local council

[Berlingogirl]

I've not a lot more to add to the comments above. My experiences have been similar to those already told. Just don't do it.

[Luke]

You also need good legal advice on the contract with the council, if you are (imo) foolish enough to proceed.

The Council stated that they would sign a 1/3 year deal contract .
My concern was spending £2000 to buy all the insurance and fire alarms/doors etc , emptying my property of everything and then the council not proceeding with the deal .

[ram]

My concern was spending £2000 to buy all the insurance and fire alarms/doors etc

It's called "Running a business".

If you had 3 private tenants yourself, in 3 years, each left after one year, and took 2 months to replace them each year, you loose 3 x 2 months = 6 months with no rent, and at £ 500 monthly rent, you would lose £3000 rent. ( that is the worst condition, which only happens occasionally, but it COULD happen.)

But you should always allow only 11 months rental income in any calculations.

However, you will not be contracting with the council, as all the advice on here is "Don't do it", so you wont be letting to the council.
As I have just saved you £ 2000, then a cheque in the post of 10% of your saving would be appreciated.

[Luke]

ram,

My main concern was spending £2000 on all the alarms and insurance , emptying the property of all its belongings and for some reason the deal not going through or the council changing their minds .
I will speak to the council on Monday and ask them whether they would be willing to sign a TA before I make all the changes to the property, but, they probably will not agree

[jpkeates]

I will speak to the council on Monday and ask them whether they would be willing to sign a TA before I make all the changes to the property, but, they probably will not agree

You're going to ignore that every single person responding has said don't do it?

Madness.

[ram]

If luke is going to ignore ALL the advice on here, then he is in the wrong business, and should sell up and do something else.

Sorry Luke, Welcome to the REAL world.

I say what I think.( Too often ) I advise, + we all advise based on previous experiences.

So you want the council to change THEIR procedures, just for you.!
How can they give you a T.A. BEFORE the home conforms to the required standards.
No sane person would issue one.

However, as you are hell bent on wanting what you want, and stuff the policy procedures, stuff the regulations, then ring the council, and waste your time.

I've just spent £ 6000 on waterproofing a basement., Money i cant afford right now due to recent other venture that took my capital, but it has to be done, for the long term.
I can't and wont raise the rent, as it's called "Business expenses" .

You are running a business, but most landlords can't think ahead.

I can't waste any more time on this.

Good bye.

[Luke]

I have already booked an appointment with the council representative to visit me at the property on Monday ,so I may as well speak to them then . I do not expect the council to change their policy just for me.............thats why I stated that they wouldnt do it .
BTW, I am not hell bent on anything and I suggest that you calm down a bit, you sound furious about something

[ram]

Luke,
I only expanded on an earlier comment which said.

"You're going to ignore that every single person responding has said don't do it?
Madness."

Like I said, I doth protest too much.
But we have seen all too often the trouble landlords get themselves into, and we don't want you to take the wrong route.
Often it's exasperation in seeing a landlord wanting to take the wrong route, so some of us tend to shout a little if they don't listen.
My apologies if I offended, but we all wish the best for you, hence all our comments for you to achieve the best possible rental terms.

[MdeB]

The Council stated that they would sign a 1/3 year deal contract .

That is not the issue.

If it is a "standard" contract from the council, then their lawyers will have determined that it is good for them, but no-one will have cared about if it will stuff the landlord.

There are many, many things that I would want the council to agree on if I were to enter such an agreement, a few are:

• Their handling of tenants that annoy the neighbours.
• The condition of the property before it is returned to me.
• Penalty clauses for late payment of rent.
• Their liability if property is not returned vacant
• Liability for bills under all circumstances.

I would expect a minimum of 8 pages of terms that bind the council to perform appropriately.

[Luke]

1 Any complaints from the neighbours would go to the council themselves and they would deal with it themselves .
They wouldnt contact me and they would deal with it themselves , surely the council wouldnt take legal action against (as the owner) because of a disturbance caused by tenants they installed into the property .
2 The property would be returned in the same condition as it was given, barring reasonable wear and tear .
3 . The council will gaurantee to pay the rent directly to me .
4 . I couldnt imagine them leaving tenants in the property after the TA expires
5 Service charge my bill, all others theres

[leaseholder64]

Some of the neighbours will probably trace you and complain to you directly. Landlords who don't care for the neighbours are one of the big reasons why owner occupiers don't like landlords.

Service charge suggests this is a flat. There may be covenants against doing this. There may be covenants against doing anything that might invalidate or increase the insurance costs that would be triggered (you need special landlord insurance because these are high risk tenants).

The likelihood of an impact on the neighbours is much higher, and therefore the incentive to trace you and complain directly, or through the freeholder is higher.

Although the smoke alarms may be more to do with high risk families, or just overzealousness, if they are planning a flat in multiple occupation, this is also quite likely to breach the lease.

There are certainly tales of people being left with dodgy tenants after rent to rent arrangement, although there may have been a commercial intermediary involved in those cases.

[jpkeates]

1 Any complaints from the neighbours would go to the council themselves and they would deal with it themselves .

Any neighbour complaints will reduce the value of the property because you will have to declare the issues to any prospective buyer.

The property would be returned in the same condition as it was given, barring reasonable wear and tear

And if they didn't, what would you do?

I couldnt imagine them leaving tenants in the property after the TA expires

Why not. What if you serve notice on the council?

Service charge my bill, all others theres

Is this a flat? What does your lease say the property can be used for? Won't the neighbours object?

[Luke]

No anyone who complains will first contact the council and then the bcouncil will not contact me , well if they do, I will tell them to contact themselves .
I will get the special insurance , its the condition of the letting agreement .
The council is the freeholder of the lease , will they take themselves to court and get a judgement against themselves ?
I dont think that the council will leave tenants in the building after the TA has expired

[theartfullodger]

Some people believe in unicorns: Or that the earth is flat: Sigh!

I did rent to council years ago, as it happen nice lady & her son, DV case, no issues. But these days I would not believe what you Sir have been told. Please don't do it!

[MdeB]

1 Any complaints from the neighbours would go to the council themselves and they would deal with it themselves .
They wouldnt contact me and they would deal with it themselves , surely the council wouldnt take legal action against (as the owner) because of a disturbance caused by tenants they installed into the property .
2 The property would be returned in the same condition as it was given, barring reasonable wear and tear .
3 . The council will gaurantee to pay the rent directly to me .
4 . I couldnt imagine them leaving tenants in the property after the TA expires
5 Service charge my bill, all others theres

You may well believe that, but if you do not have in writing that they agree to this and penalties for not complying, then you will find it difficult to take legal action if they do otherwise.

Re point 4: the council has to go to court to remove their tenants, just like you and me, so it is a likely scenario.

The contract is largely a form of insurance (assurance??): You need to consider what could go wrong and what should happen if it does go wrong, and hope that you never have to fall back on the wording of the contract.

This would likely be considered a business contract, not a consumer contract, so there would likely be no consumer protection legislation to fall back on if the council do not behave as you expect them to but have not contracted them to.

And my earlier post identified just a few of the areas you should be considering; there are many more.
The council will want to minimise their costs, so if something happens that adversely affects you and it is not covered by the contract, then they will deny any liability.