I’d like to know if anyone is in a similar position to what I find myself in during these testing times.
We were due to sign a new contract with new tenants last week, our old tenants are moving out tomorrow. The new tenants pulled out due to being concerned with the governments guidelines and the lock down our country is in.
Not knowing how long this will last, I am unsure how to proceed.
Wait until the government declares the lock down over which I believe could be anything up to 6 months ( worse case scenario )
Re-advertise in open rent for 3 new tenants ?
Would anyone be looking to move into a new accommodation during this time ?
I am concerned in having an empty property for so long that I just don’t know how we would afford to keep it afloat. I am also freelance and the industry I work in closed down 17 days ago.
Have you tried offering the new potential tenants a massive discounts throughout the whole of the tenancy or you could even offer them half price rent for the first month for instance as I think you should first exhaust what you already have on the table if they seem suitable of course.
Failing that you could still get the potential tenants committed in advance by signing the agreement for an advance date X amount of time in the future.
If the prospective tenants are no longer an option then you should revert to Collins advice as simply if you do not advertise you will definitely not get a new tenant however if you do advertise you simply stand a chance however if you are readvertising you may wish to offer the same discount I proposed above for the new prospective tenant and heavily vet them like Colin says.
You never disclosed whether you have a mortgage on the property or not as if you do and it is an appropriate mortgage for a buy to lets then you should speak to your mortgage company to try and get some holiday payments relief
Although thousands of tenants are still enquiring about properties every week, the government advice is now that house moves do not go ahead where possible. If tenants are able to avoid moving house during this period, then they are advised to do so by the government. However, clearly there are still many tenants who are not able to avoid moving. If you need to advertise for tenants, and you are able to do so while maintaining social distancing measures, then you can create an advert on OpenRent as usual.
Hi Andy & Colin, and thanks for your thoughts. We offered them effectively a freeze on the rental for a month, basically saying that we could hold it rent free for up to 4 weeks if they agreed to deposit and first months rent (through open rent as per their procedures) On the 2nd month they could deduct this from the rental. I don’t think we could survive doing longer than that !!
We live in Wales, the flat is in East London. I am worried about not being able to meet new prospective tenants which is something I absolutely have to do. Our old tenants are taking a video of the flat for us to use when we do advertise again, also I will have to go to the flat at some point and I am not sure how that would go down me driving from Wales.
We have just sorted Holiday relief, but there are still bills to pay and a massive loss of additional income, as we are both self employed this is a bit of a double sting on the earnings front.
We live in Wales, property is in East London. So getting there may be a major atm.
I am happy with sorting a virtual tour and we always get a lot of interest straight away with the flat as its in a great location and is beautifully kept.
you are not permitted to carry out viewing at the property yet if you called it a Site then you could travel to Site, your place of work to carry out essential works, i.e. preparing it for the next tenant whom you can see in person also legally.