Couple looking to move in together

gatinho

Hi everyone,

It's my first post - please be kind. I've done some searching in relation to my query but I haven't been able to find anything useful. Hopefully someone here can provide some assistance.

My partner and I want to move in with each other. We currently both rent rooms in houses in Dublin and our intent was to find a place a new place for ourselves. To keep costs down (since renting a whole place is expensive), our idea was to take a lease on a two bed apartment and then rent out the second room.

However as you might already guess, that's not so easy. The landlords/agents we've spoken with are not ok with us subletting the second room. Please forgive my naivety, but I wasn't expecting as much hassle on this point.

If I look on daft at shared accommodation, there are hundreds of rooms available in Dublin. Many of them are not owner occupied. My understanding (perhaps incorrect) was that in most cases, these are houses in which one or more of the tenants hold a lease for the property and rent out the additional rooms to other people. In other words, that's what we thought we could do.

So what are we missing here? I know that a lease agreement can (and might well often) prohibit the tenants from subletting. However with so many shared accommodations on daft I'm inclined to think that many people must be violating this rule, or have obtained permission. Or perhaps there are landlords who rent out their properties without any lease at all and that's the explanation (I wasn't aware of such an approach being used).

It's not in our interest to go behind a landlord's back so we're being up front about out intent but are getting shot down when we do.

My partner and I aren't obliged to rent a two bed place, it's just that most of the studios/1 bed places we've looked at seem dire. Furthermore, very few house shares on daft state that couples are accepted. While there are places available, there are other constraints that limit our options (jobs/study/transport).

So I guess to summarise my questions would be:
1. Should we drop the idea of getting a two bed place and renting out the second room or are we just having bad luck?
2. Are most house shares on daft illegal sublets?
3. Is it always such a pain for a couple to find a place when they want to share with others?
4. Is the only viable solution to rent a whole place for ourselves and accept the significant price penalty which that incurs i.e. try to get a "nice" studio for which we'd pay nearly as much as a two bed place?

Any constructive insights on the above are much appreciated.

G

MouseTail

I would imagine most houseshares originated from a group of friends moving in together, one moving out and the others seeking a replacement (most LLs would be ok with this), sometimes this can go on for years, sometimes with none of the original tenants left.

Yes, I think it is usually a pain for couples to find accommodation sharing with others. Most people dont want to share with a couple, it simply affects the dynamic of a house share too much.

Your options really are to rent a place by yourself, or find another couple/single person to go househunting with.

gatinho

Hi MouseTail,

Thanks for your reply. When we made the decision to move in together we didn't expect that it would be such a chore. I understand full well that many people don't want to live with a couple (I've been on the other side of that situation myself) but even still I have lived with couples.

None of the friends we have are in quite the same boat unfortunately - either they already live together or the locations that suit us wouldn't suit them, or both even.

Daft used to have a roommate teamup facility and it seems like it's still there, just a little out of view. We might be able to find someone to join us through there. If not I guess we need to bite the financial bullet.

G

Keithmc40

Hi gatinho, have a look at "the ideal flat mate Dublin" Facebook page , lot of people on it looking for couples to share

MarkAnthony

The house shares and rooms to rent will usually be in larger houses and less desirable areas. It's a Landlords market and there are plenty of couples out there who will rent a two bed for just them and the occasional guest, hence less wear and tear. Also with the other person not being on the lease LLs will feel less secure in that the other person can just bugger off and the LL is left with people that might not be able to make the rent.

A big house on the other hand is more problematic to rent. If one party does a disappearing act the other housemates are more likely to be able to make up the shortfall if that was the deal.

Maybe get the other housemate and approach as a threesome/foursome.

drumswan

gatinho wrote: »

So what are we missing here?

There are more people looking to rent one and two bed apartments than there are one and two bed apartments available. Landlords dont have to deal with messy subcontracting, so they dont.

hfallada

A LL is a human and like all humans wants to get things done as simple as possible. Why would he take a couple that wants to sub let a room and create work for himself, when he can let the entire apartments to 2 people each wanting an individual room

Mrs OBumble

OP, I believe there are many cases where LL's do rent individual rooms in houses, rather than the house as a whole. Particularly so if they are living there themselves (or at least telling Revenue that is what they are doing - some lie).

It's not a scheme I'd entertain myself as a tenant - you have no idea or control over who your housemates might be. But I've seen a few cases where it's done this way.

Eldarion

It's a LL's market unfortunately OP, and what you propose really is a very unattractive prospect.

Just on your note about going behind the LL's back, be aware that you would be in full breach of your lease agreement, and if it's within your first 6 months would allow the landlord to seek immediate forfeiture.

On some of your other points. Yes absolutely sharing with a couple can be a complete nightmare. Not in all cases of course, but the general sentiment and experience is to avoid it like the plague.

gatinho

Thanks for all the replies - you've confirmed what I was coming to realise for myself.

It seems like our best way forward is to team up with other people - thanks to Keithmc40 for the suggestion of that Facebook group - we'll definitely check it out.

I can understand the positions of landlords as pointed out by others (plenty of demand/less hassle/risk of tenants not paying because they can't fill the room). I don't see why it would need to be very messy for them though - from my perspective the lease would be between us and the landlord - we'd have responsibility for the full rent and condition of the property and we're fine with accepting that responsibility. We can afford the rent for the types of places we're looking at, it's just that we don't mind sharing with others, particularly if it saves money. We wouldn't even consider the idea if we were going to struggle to make up the rent, since a person sharing the house could go at any time.

The remaining downside I can clearly understand is that they might not want the second room to turn into a revolving door with people coming and going quite frequently - I can see that as being a big turn-off, particularly if they want to vet any new housemates. That would indeed be undue hassle.

With all that said, it's actually in our better interest to find someone to share with in advance - they're on the lease too (discourages them from running off leaving us in the lurch/they share in liabilities) and also it saves us having to cover the full rent until we're able to find someone to share with.

Thanks again everyone (and please forgive my verbosity),

G

the_syco

Can you afford it by yourself? Perhaps the LL is concerned that you can only afford it with a sublet, and should the sublet disappear, you would be short on rent.

MarkAnthony

the_syco wrote: »

Can you afford it by yourself? Perhaps the LL is concerned that you can only afford it with a sublet, and should the sublet disappear, you would be short on rent.

As indicated above though I (and I'm sure other LLs) would prefer a couple in a two bed rather than 4 people. That will factor in IMHO.

gatinho

the_syco wrote: »

Can you afford it by yourself? Perhaps the LL is concerned that you can only afford it with a sublet, and should the sublet disappear, you would be short on rent.

Yes we can, though we'd prefer to share since it would save us a lot of money (kind of like wanting to have our cake and eat it too)

MarkAnthony wrote: »

As indicated above though I (and I'm sure other LLs) would prefer a couple in a two bed rather than 4 people. That will factor in IMHO.

I see. We'll keep that in mind. Probably best to team up with one other person instead of another couple in that case.

gatinho

gatinho wrote: »

Or perhaps there are landlords who rent out their properties without any lease at all and that's the explanation (I wasn't aware of such an approach being used).

G

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

OP, I believe there are many cases where LL's do rent individual rooms in houses, rather than the house as a whole. Particularly so if they are living there themselves (or at least telling Revenue that is what they are doing - some lie).

It's not a scheme I'd entertain myself as a tenant - you have no idea or control over who your housemates might be. But I've seen a few cases where it's done this way.

This scenario is quite common from my experience. All three places where I have rented to date have been individual room let and no leases involved. The first was owner occupied so that's a bit different but my last place and current place both operate by the person moving out advertising the room and finding the next tenant, get their deposit back from the person moving in and pass on the LL's details so they can contact them to arrange paying the rent (actually this step wasn't even done in my previous place as rent was paid in cash). In over 6 years renting I've never had or signed a lease.

I know of many people living in similar setups so I'd imagine a lot of room being let individually are instances where the LL rents individual rooms as apposed to people renting a place and then subletting.