Decent return on letting a property to the council

wheeler dealer

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I recently bought a 3 bed semi with a sitting tenant which the local council pays the rent .I paid 140k cash and with stamp duty ,solicitors and some decorating will end up at E146k .The tenant and council are interested in continuing the lease but under the market rent it seems .similar houses are renting for E900 plus /month.Genuine tenant who takes good care of house and I just don't have interest or time for decorating ,putting on market looking for new tenant .The council are offering E720 ,could I try and get a better price off them to tell you the truth I would be happy at E750/month but am I being a fool for settling for such small rent but the tenant seems A1
 
Is it in a rent pressure zone? If it is you can only increase it by the inflation rate.
 
720 per month is gross annual return 6%
On your 146k

Which is not bad.

You can switch things around in few years
 
I recently bought a 3 bed semi with a sitting tenant which the local council pays the rent .I paid 140k cash and with stamp duty ,solicitors and some decorating will end up at E146k .The tenant and council are interested in continuing the lease but under the market rent it seems .similar houses are renting for E900 plus /month.Genuine tenant who takes good care of house and I just don't have interest or time for decorating ,putting on market looking for new tenant .The council are offering E720 ,could I try and get a better price off them to tell you the truth I would be happy at E750/month but am I being a fool for settling for such small rent but the tenant seems A1
I was looking this scheme but seems impossible to get property insurance when entering a long term lease arrangement with the council. Can you tell me who quotes on this?
 
I recently bought a 3 bed semi with a sitting tenant which the local council pays the rent .I paid 140k cash and with stamp duty ,solicitors and some decorating will end up at E146k .The tenant and council are interested in continuing the lease but under the market rent it seems .similar houses are renting for E900 plus /month.Genuine tenant who takes good care of house and I just don't have interest or time for decorating ,putting on market looking for new tenant .The council are offering E720 ,could I try and get a better price off them to tell you the truth I would be happy at E750/month but am I being a fool for settling for such small rent but the tenant seems A1
How active a landlord do you want to be. A rent it and forget about it approach has a lot to recommend it.

Also the council is usually open to a bit of negotiating, especially for a sitting tenant. They have rent limits and special case limits.
 
Just because you've a good tenant in one house, doesn't mean it will be the same with another house. I wonder what's the data with DCC and unpaid rent? Be interesting to know, same with other councils too.
 
What kind of scheme is it with the council? There are ones that the council look after all repairs and refurbishments. If that is the one you are talking about for a 20% discount in rent, I'd bite their hand off. You will have nothing to do with the property but collect the rent every month.

If you used a letting agent, you would be paying 8% plus VAT.
 
I was just reading this on boards about council leases.


It looks like things arent so rosey when the council picks a bad tenant. I know someone personally this happened to too who was on an LTL to the council.
 
I recently bought a 3 bed semi with a sitting tenant which the local council pays the rent .I paid 140k cash and with stamp duty ,solicitors and some decorating will end up at E146k .The tenant and council are interested in continuing the lease but under the market rent it seems .similar houses are renting for E900 plus /month.Genuine tenant who takes good care of house and I just don't have interest or time for decorating ,putting on market looking for new tenant .The council are offering E720 ,could I try and get a better price off them to tell you the truth I would be happy at E750/month but am I being a fool for settling for such small rent but the tenant seems A1

the council dont take on long term leases where houses are occupied , house must be vacant first , i have one leased for ten years for nearly three and a half years now

is this the HAP scheme you are talking about ?
 
I was just reading this on boards about council leases.


It looks like things arent so rosey when the council picks a bad tenant. I know someone personally this happened to too who was on an LTL to the council.
it doesnt work well at all with apartments as the management company can indeed follow the apartment owner if the council stick a troublemaker in the property and the council stick troublemakers in more often than not

strictly for houses IMO
 
You'll be locked into the low rent if in the rent pressure zone. Or it becomes one. And the tenant leaves.
 
I have rung Galway, Limerick and Kildare County councils all of whom have outlined that they are not interested in taking on any properties on their lease scheme at present. Funny that, I thought there was a housing shortage...
 
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I have rung Galway, Limerick and Kildare County councils all of whom have outlined that they are not interested in taking on any properties on their lease scheme at present. Funny that, I thought there was a housing shortage...

From what ive been hearing they have now rented so many, and have so many problem tenants that they cant increase the numbers in a lot of places now. They have effectively made a lot of almost apartment blocks into council ghettos.
 
I have rung Galway, Limerick and Kildare County councils all of whom have outlined that they are not interested in taking on any properties on their lease scheme at present. Funny that, I thought there was a housing shortage...
I can confirm this is true , they have suspended the long term lease schemes, you can still apply under the " repair and lease scheme "

This means taking out a 40k loan from the local authority ( 0% ) and refurbishing the property so its really aimed at fixer uppers , try getting a tradesman to work now?
 
Ask the council for their "socially satisfied" list. This is a list they have of areas where they have leased too many properties and cannot lease anymore.
 
I have given up on this scheme to be honest. South Dublin CC are looking for 4 bed houses at the moment only and Fingal have a satisfied list alright but if you ask about properties in an area not on their list its like rolling the dice.
 
I was just talking to someone the other day who is just now 3 years into his LTL 10 year lease with Fingal coco on a 1 bed apartment in Swords.
He was getting 80% of the market value which meant he was getting €1056 per month for the last 3 years. Fingal do a rent review every 3 years. He emailed them and asked them to do the review and now his 80% works out at €1280pm.

So looks like its a good time to get your rent review done.
 
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