Renting long term with an agency or private landlord? Pros and cons?

[matnurse1983]

Hello EDF,

My partner and I are looking to move towards the end of the year and I am considering the pros and cons of renting long term from a private landlord or an agency.

We are considering moving to East Dulwich or Nunhead. Our current landlord is a housing association and we can stay here for a maximum of 5 years (3 years in). We are on a very busy and dirty main road next to a fire station so keen to move :( :(

Do any forum families currently rent long term? I'm talking at least 4 years in the same property.

Also, do any of you rent from a private landlord? What has your experience been like?

Would also like to hear from families whose property is managed by an agency long term. Are you happy with them?

I am most worried about settling in to a place only to have the landlord say that they are moving back and we need to be out in 2 months. I've known this happen to a couple of close friends

Thanks for reading

D

[bawdy-nan]

We've been at the same property for 9 1/2 years. One of my children was born here. Our rent is low ish for the area but has just gone up by 15%. It's a private landlord. We tend not to bother them nor they us. They're tardy about repairs other than major ones. This past winter is the first we haven't had to move out for a few days because the old boiler didn't pack up. Its miserable because we have no security of tenure so at any point we could be given 2months notice to leave. We'd like to have a longer tenancy but that isn't how it's done in the private sector.

I assume our rent will go up and up and I just hope we can stay for the sake of our kids. I can't imagine that we will ever be able to buy anywhere and if our landlord ever decided to sell up or ask us to leave we're screwed.

[StraferJack]

I have been both a private landlord and a private tenant, and am currently renting longterm (5 years this year) through an agency and on balance, I would go with private landlord every time

You should be able to judge from initial viewing how a landlord feels about the property and any prospective tenants, but yes bad landlords do exist, as do bad tenants. But for sheer "couldn't give a flying..." it's hard to beat a standard agency ( I hear very good things about specialist agencies to be fair - DaisyLets in particular)

But your average agency has a large book and your problem with washing machine is waaay down their list, they will sub contract to an expensive jobsworth and charge back to the landlord at a premium. And every renewal you will have to pay be another fee for the privilege of your shiny new rent increase

A private landlord should be able to give you a feel for how long-term they intend to let the property - even though 1-2 year contracts are almost standard, they often informally advise not to worry as there is no intention of changing the arrangement

[midivydale]

Private landlord, if you can find a good one and like straferjack i think you can fgure them out when you meet them for viewings. Prior to buying we were renting in North London for 3+ years and our landlady was amazing.

She just wanted her property to be well looked after (which we did) and in return nothing was too much bother for her.

She kept the rent very reasonable and it was a great experience all around.

We still talk about her flat and how easy life was back then:) We could just pick up the phone and call Mrs C if we had any problems. I miss those days.

Good luck with your search! On another note, if you are looking for reasonable rent dont forget Brockley:)

[monniemae]

fwiw I've had two long term rents in the area, one a shared house by Peckham Rye (6 years) and one a flat in nunhead (3) and while both were through local agencies, all our contact was directly through the landlords. there's a difference between a "managed" property ie the agency is who you deal with if anything breaks, and a property that the agency lets on behalf of the landlord. In both properties we were lucky enough to have great landlords who we could talk to directly about problems - and also rent increases - making it easier for everyone. Minor repairs we'd often just sort and they'd reimburse us - there was give and take on both sides.

Beyond that it's just luck though; we eventually had to move out of property one because the landlord sold it, and our friends moved into another home where the owners had emigrated but then changed their minds and were back four months later.

[astrid83]

Private landlord! I've been renting in London for 10 years, and for the last six years I've rented through three different private landlords. I find the experience so much better than going trough an agency. But it depends on the landlord of course. I find that renting privately is slightly cheaper (no silly fees or admin costs) and that when a problem occurs, such as a broken boiler or washing machine, I can get hold of my landlord the same day and get the problem dealt with. When renting through an agency there has been endless phone calls, and always having to wait weeks to get a simple problem even looked at!

[Strawbs]

Private here. Have been in the same property for 4 years. Wouldnt go back to an agency now. Hope that helps. x

[GinaG3]

Private renting here too! I never went with an agency, they wanted a ridiculous amount of money when we were property hunting nearing 5 years ago. We've been our property just over 4 years now, our landlord is not the best, things don't get finished after works are done and we have rather a lot of minor issues but we live with that. We are a young couple with a child and were desperate for a place of our own after sharing with parents. The longer we've lived here the more we've got to know our rights and who is on our side, how to complain, how to get things sorted so its working out well now. I'd always go for a private landlord over an agency due to ease of contact and no hidden fees etc.

[canela]

you can ask private landlords what their situation is, how long they have been renting the property and why etc. they often want their house well looked after so will be keen for you to do small repairs etc. most will also probably not put rent up often if it means you will stay. you can also ask for a 2 year contract with a one year get-out clause for both sides. or to be put on a rolling contract after 1 year. most landlords like to have the same people for a long time!

[matnurse1983]

Wow! Thank you so much for the great response everyone. Sorry for the late reply - it's been one of those days.

I hope that I will have that "feeling" when we meet the right landlord and find the right property. It is so reassuring to hear that you have had positive experiences with private landlords long term.

We were lucky to get our current property and tbh it has spoiled us with the amount of space we have. It's going to hurt when we have to move. I am keeping my eyes peeled and watching the property section (though I believe only ED and very close properties are allowed in there). I am open to suggestions in terms of area. Neither of us drive so a good commute to work is very important.

I found that even renting through a housing association threw up a lot of hidden charges. When you are sat in that office and just want the keys - they slap an extra ?1000 :O

I rented privately at university and we had a beautiful house share (between 5)in Lincoln. Our landlord had 4 other properties and we were really well looked after. It also helped that he lived locally so that is something that I will keep in mind for our current search.

Thanks again everyone :D

[tinyem]

This is an interesting post! I am waiting to complete on my flat which I then plan to rent out. I was planning on going the agency route as I was under the impression that people liked to look via an agency. I will be managing the property myself so it is really just the introduction the agency would be providing. Should I forget this idea and instead post on this forum or somewhere else instead? If you are looking privately where would you look?

[matnurse1983]

Good point Tinyem, where else do I look? I'm going to search the web today. There must be some dedicated sites.

[Strawbs]

gumtree is another place where private listings are very popular. My last three have been private one of gumtree and two of east dulwich forum. x

[matnurse1983]

Thanks Strawbs. Just sitting down to my search now.

[catgirl]

Definitely ED forum or Gumtree - UPAD is also a good one, much cheaper than an agency.

Also bear in mind that if an agency are finding tenants but won't be managing the property, they have no incentive to find good tenants - know a couple of people who did this and ended up with total nightmare tenants who they say they would never have agreed to had they met them first. Finding tenants yourself means at least you get to meet them and get a feel for them as well as they you.

[Chief Jeff]

We've been renting privately in the same house for five years now - the property is managed by Keyhold who've been OK, but maybe not the fastest for minor repairs. Nice people, though - http://www.keyhold.co.uk/

[matnurse1983]

Thank you Chief Jeff, the properties on Keyhold look amazing!

To highlight an earlier point - I've just had someone over from the housing association to fix our extractor fan. I waited a month for this appointment and all he did was take a photo of it and order the replacement. I guess I have another month of waiting until we have a working fan.

I have now bookmarked Keyhold, the EDF property section and Daisy Lets. Roll on September :)

[Marylm]

I used several letting agency, i was not satisfy with any of them; they just want to receive their high fees. then i have been lucky, because i found a wonderful landlady, and i rented my room with her. now I moved out from the flat because my boyfriend move to Uk and we are going to leave outside London. Anyway, she is a wonderful person and i would like to help her in finding new tenants, please have a look at her profile http://www.mindtheflat.co.uk/en/search/detail/442 if you know anyone who is looking in that area, please contact her.