Renting with kids!

I don’t agree with it, but after seeing the state of some rentals that had kids when we were house viewing I can understand why some make that choice. We viewed one that the estate agent was embarrassed to show us some rooms, the bathroom was absolutely covered with crayon marks, like not a single speck of wall could be seen as far up as the kids could reach. And the carpets were destroyed. It would’ve taken a lot more than a carpet cleaner and a lick of fresh paint to get that house back to good condition. Obviously it’s down to shit parenting, but I probably would be hesitant to rent my house out to someone with kids again if I saw my house in that state

I was also going to say about the above. A family member rents houses. He has never said no children but the amount of work he’s had to do after the family leave is crazy. Property has been out of action for 2 months before. New kitchen new bathroom, new carpet and complete repaint because children ruined it. And the deposit doesn’t cover it. Like Lara said. It’s shit parenting but these people have to pay out their own money to fix all the issues normally! Shit for people that wouldn’t let their children do things like that x

Wow! My mom rented with us all our lives and we never ripped the apartment apart. I have 2 toddlers and my house isn’t like that. If they color on something, I clean up. Their bedrooms are spotless. That is really on the parents.

When my husband and I were looking for renters for our home, the real estate agent we were working with strongly suggested against families with children and dogs as both can mean more work when it comes time to find new tenants.

Cats and dogs do more damage then a child could

I see it from both sides of the argument. I get why landlords don’t want children living in their properties because of the mess that they can leave - it can take months to sort out costing them more money.
On the other hand - everyone deserves to have a home, but it’s just a very difficult process xx

We just moved in August and it was a nightmare to find a place to rent with a baby. We viewed 2 and 3 bed places and got rejected from 4 places because we have a child. We were lucky to find a place that the landlord just bought as an investment property and we said we would do all the decorating hence he agreed. We painted every single wall and ceiling and recarpeted all the bedrooms ourselves. I really wish it was easier to find a home as a renter, I hate being grouped in with people that don’t take care of their rented properties as we have always been very clean and looked after everything.

I didn’t know landlords can do that 😥 if given the chance to own properties to rent I would go the extra mile to rent to families that are struggling. I feel like allowing pets can cause just as much damage if not more.

Didn’t know of this! That’s sucks!!

To be honest despite being a mother and a teacher if I was a landlord I would probably be reluctant to rent to families unless I vetted them myself or had extra deposit 😬. Surely the government could come up with a system whereby landlords had more protection so they would be more willing to rent to families

If it’s a private landlord it’s not illegal…it’s their house

its actually against the equality act of 2010

You know I used to think how unfair it was that this happened to families and when we had our own property my partner purposefully looked for a single mum and charged less because he knows how hard it is for the single mums in our area. The damage that was left ... It completely put us off as that wasn't an investment property but our own house. I see both sides but those that don't parent their kids properly are really the ones that ruin it for those that do imo.

Sad some ruin it for all. As a multi-unit landlord, renter, mom, and dog mom x4, I go out of my way to rent to other moms and don’t charge a pet deposit.
Pets+kids are family. As the responsible party on the lease it is the parent’s financial responsibility to ensure that the property remains as it was rented. I take detailed photo and video of the space, record the whole walkthrough, and email it to them letting the tenants know while doing it that if any damage occurs I will keep their deposit and take them to small claims court which is up to $10k including $ for time it takes to fix the damage and rent lost. If it’s more than that they will also be covering the lawyer fees. I have yet to have more than $3000 in damages.
They have the video so they try to get it as close to what it was before they leave.
People don’t want to put themselves in financial risk and keep themselves from getting any rentals in the future.
It’s also important to vet tenants thoroughly before accepting.

Unfortunately most of us have a bad experience when we rent a house for people with kids or pets. Alot of people dont treat rentals like they would treat a house that they own 🫠