Has anyone any experience renting out their property through Wandsworth Council? They seem to offer lots… guaranteed rent , no voids, management, repairs ( minus wear and tear) etc. I’ve read some horror stories on here about renting to the councils but wondered if anyone has dealt with WW before. Thanks
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Avoid councils or take legal advice from David Smith
This is Pandora’s box
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do NOT do it They will LIE to you… If it seems too good to be true…
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I agree with Colin. We let our flat to help the homeless situation hoping to help someone. It was fine for several years then a new person took over the overseeing of the tenants but alas never oversaw! I asked about all the promises that they sign you up for and she had never heard about any. I had earmarked 17 points that weren’t being done. We took it off the council at the first opportunity. I believe it depends on how they operate the scheme and the person in the job of seeing it works well for both tenant and landlord. People who work for the council can be VERY unreliable. Have a good chat with that person and “interview”them then decide.
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Yes, the requirements were that you had to move all the furniture out from the property , you needed to provide a fringe that was still under warranty/guarantee . Needed to install a fire alarm connected to the mains electric, which costs about 600 quid . Needed to install a fire door in the kitchen , also child locks on the windows and a few other things
no harm in doing these things to make a place safe. Just avoid the local councils .They want to pass their problems on to the landlord and you are likely to regret it . They will distort the true situation
No idea about Wandsworth but Hounslow offer the same assurances and technical meet them but the quality of tenants has been an issue.
I rented an ex-council flat back to the council because there wasn’t much option for private rental and while I’ve had no void periods in that time but there has been substantial damage done in that time by careless and, it seems, aggressive tenants.
About 3 years ago I got a call saying the place was vacated and I needed to do some work done otherwise rent would stop. I visited and at first sight, it was distressing.
- a bathroom leak had been ignored that had caused mould in the ceiling beneath.
- All the tiles in the bathroom had cracks
- Multiple doors were missing
- Mold in the bathroom.
- Drilling in the walls for various TV brackets. Like 5 different sets.
- vinal flooring in kitchen destroyed
The only positive? The council only wanted minimum work done which was basically address the mould, repaint the rooms and replace the flooring. They consider this normal wear and tear.
The rest of the repairs I negotiated for them to do, all they did is replace the doors, They tried to get me to pay 1/2 for the kitchen door as it needed an “upgraded” fire door but nothing came from it.
If you do this remember its a bureaucracy staffed by overworked and, in my experience, demotivated people who l work to the letter of the contract that is weighted in their favour to do the bare minimum.
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like I say avoid them
Don’t do it as someone else commented it’s a pandora’s box