Renting out an over 55’s flat

Landlord Discussion
1

I own a lovely, easy to maintain, one bed flat in Cambridge. It is leasehold and for the Over 55’s. It is currently on the market to sell. However, I am considering offering it for rent for short or long term. It is a ten minute walk from Cambridge South railway station.

Can anyone advise on how and where to advertise it please? Does OpenRent offer this service as a niche market? Any guidance would be really welcome. Thank you.

2

@Cheryl21

Sorry if obvious but

Check if your lease allows sub letting and if youll need permission from freeholder; ditto unless you have a btl mortgage your mortgage may not allow it and youll need landlord insurance.

Unaware OR offers any special facilities for listing over 55s places not a search option- just make it clear in the advert. Rightmove do have ‘retirement home’ as an option in their search so you could maybe ask OR if they will tick that box for you if you use them to place the ad on rightmove

Good luck

3

Hi David,

Thanks for your prompt and helpful response.

Yes, the lease does allow subletting and I have no mortgage on the flat, so it should be straightforward. The main criteria is that only a single person aged 55 years or over can either buy or rent it. I’m hoping I can advertise it here with OpenRent (I am a previous landlord for a different property) but unsure of terms and periods regarding this flat and the change of Tenancy Act.

4

My brother in law did this with no problem. It was for his father’s former retirement flat. The block is managed by the Home group and there was some administration to do with them first, but otherwise fine. You are allowed to advertise for over 55’s. One thing that is worth noting is that you may get an elderly person or couple with vulnerabilities who you will essentially then have for the rest of their lives, so I would suggest only doing this if you have no plans to sell the property in the foreseeable future.

1 Like
5

@Cheryl21

once they are in there is a risk they stop paying. 3 months rent arrears before you give them 4 weeks notice. Or 4 months notice if you want to sell. Then if they dont leave an average further 8 months from application for possession through the courts to eviction by bailiffs (may be taking longer now s21 abolished).

So you need to be able to afford at least a years unpaid rent and much grief/worrying. You can mitigate by being as careful as possible on pre tenancy checks, and get RGI and legal expenses insurance. But it’s still not something to do for a short term as difficult to evict if you then want to sell

Details of the various s8 eviction grounds here

Dont think there is anything specific re the terms of the Openrent contract but it depends on the property specifics whether some things are needed

  • do you want tenant to be paying the service charges (can be specified in OR contract i think)
  • are there any particular facilities that need maintenance/testing (emergency call buttons?), is this done by you or by freeholder?
  • If the flat is provided as a serviced apppartment (eg with cleaning) then a different contract not an APT may be better and make eviction easier
  • does access need to be made available by tenant for cleaners etc
    -OR contract has almost nothing about disposal of tenants property after end of tenancy (could be an issue including if they died)
    -if communal boiler have you got the GSR to provide
    -any safety/health issues to consider for a tenant (shower seats etc)

Good luck

6

Hi David,

Thanks so much for your input. I’ll consider this for sure, although I would hope to filter any applicants and together agree their suitability and terms etc. before contacts are signed.

Regards,

7

David,

Again, many thanks for your time and input. You’ve made many extremely useful points…some scary indeed, but facing facts and possibilities. I’m sure other readers will benefit from your pointers on this too.

I must admit I’m looking for a quiet life and will likely keep it on the market to sell for the time being - Although anything could happen! Many thanks.

1 Like
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I wasn’t really talking about rogue tenants. I’m saying that for the most part, this is the clientele for retirement flats and theyre unlikely to want to move on once they have their tenancy.