Renting to Charity – Church
4:14 PM, 14th September 2017, 9 years ago
9
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I have just been approached by church who want to rent my 4 bed house for 1-2 years for their Pastor.
Could I do normal AST with them? Is there any pitfall in that.. as the letting agent said we cant do any credit check etc as they are registered charity and they were not sure, and asked us to take call if we want to rent them or not.
Any advice will be appreciated.
Thanks
Gopal
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HMO Liverpool advice please
Member Since January 2011 - Comments: 12208 - Articles: 1403
4:15 PM, 14th September 2017, About 9 years ago
Have you considered renting directly to the Pastor and taking a guarantee from the Church?
Member Since September 2017 - Comments: 2
4:20 PM, 14th September 2017, About 9 years ago
Reply to the comment left by Mark Alexander at 14/09/2017 – 16:15
No I hadn’t thought of that. Thanks I will explore this option !
Member Since October 2016 - Comments: 189
8:14 AM, 15th September 2017, About 9 years ago
Dear Gopal
If the Church want to rent the property themselves, rather than permitting you to let directly to the pastor, you cannot use an AST, so your agent is correct. The tenancy will just be a tenancy without protection of the Housing Act (for both parties), often known as a company tenancy or common law tenancy.
There is no reason why you cannot get references on a church or charity. Presumably they prepare some form of annual financial statement, no mater how small they are. If they don’t or won’t provide it then be very wary.
You must remember that from your point of view this is a commercial transaction. You are letting the property on agreed terms, including payment of rent, so you must make sure you are properly protected. I deal a lot with charities and churches and I am afraid there is a naivety in too many cases about things not applying to them. Wrong – compliance applies to everyone in the business.
You could get a guarantor if you are uncertain about the church’s ability to meet its commitments; this could be the Pastor or some other committee member such as the treasurer.
If a two year let suits you and the terms are right then I suggest you push your agent a bit more to sort things out for your, rather than claiming it’s too difficult.
Regards
Graham
Member Since April 2017 - Comments: 23
8:23 AM, 15th September 2017, About 9 years ago
Reply to the comment left by Graham Bowcock at 15/09/2017 – 08:14
Spot on graham, speaking as an agent myself, some agents will worry about anything other than an ast! Maybe you should consider an agent with the wisdom of having handled non housing act tenancies.
Member Since January 2011 - Comments: 12208 - Articles: 1403
8:37 AM, 15th September 2017, About 9 years ago
The reason I suggested AST to Pastor is that it is simpler for both tenancy, referencing and compliance with mortgage T&C’s.
For a commercial lease see our Rent to Rent template linked below.
https://www.property118.com/legal-advice-for-landlords/guaranteed-rent-to-rent-lease-contract-template-download/41817/
Member Since September 2017 - Comments: 2
9:05 AM, 15th September 2017, About 9 years ago
Thanks a lot Graham, it was really valuable.. I will speak to the church today and see what they say.
Member Since July 2013 - Comments: 754
8:56 AM, 16th September 2017, About 9 years ago
Hi Gopal
In your position, I would look to agree a lease (not an AST) directly with the church (or better still, the Diocese), on the basis that a) most likely the church/Diocese rather than the pastor has greater financial resources, hence greater security for getting the rent paid, b) probably you will be able to agree a longer term arrangement, maybe 3 or 5 years, c) give you greater clarity over responsibility for repairs and maintenance – the church will in my experience be more likely to carry out the obligations than the individual.
Hope that helps.
Member Since January 2011 - Comments: 12208 - Articles: 1403
10:09 AM, 16th September 2017, About 9 years ago
Reply to the comment left by Freda Blogs at 16/09/2017 – 08:56
Hi Freda
That would be fine if Gopal has no mortgage.
Member Since June 2016 - Comments: 10
8:42 PM, 17th September 2017, About 9 years ago
Don’t let to the Church! The Church of England is the largest and most corrupt (apart from the catholic church) institution of our day. Don’t give them a helping hand in any way.