For any of the UK dopers here I was wondering what you thought of the current way that councils are trying to clamp down on people who rent out the studio flats at the back of their gardens to people. I see some councils already do a type of licensing thing where you pay a council tax to them so that everybody wins but for some councils they don’t seem interested in legalizing it but rather to throw numerous people out on their arses. It seem quite ridiculous when you see how long people have to wait on lists for a council home and if citizens are willing to spend their own money to create suitable housing for people and get payed rent then wouldn’t the government be wise to completely legalize this type of thing and regulate it, so that everybody gets what they want.
You might want to define some of your terms for those of us across the tadpole pond. “Council”? “Back of their gardens”? “studio flats”?
Council= Counties I think, you guys have a plethora of different tiers of government.
Back of the gardens= Where they are located. Backyard.
Studio flats= A one floor building basically a bungalow.
In the US you are more likely to find either a converted basement flat, or a second story on a garage, or an unconnected garage turned into a flat. We wouldn’t actually build a separate building to use as an apartment. We would convert something.
There is a very popular TV show on HGTV about some guy who goes around helping people make basement flats to rent out.
I’ve heard of Mother-in-law apartments being built in the back yard. I’m vague on whether they have their own kitchen, but would assume they’d have a bathroom. No clue how often it’s legal to rent them.
Around here the phrase studio apartment means there’s no separate bedroom, just one room with attached kitchen and bathroom. They’re usually part of a larger apartment building.
A studio flat isn’t a bungalow in the UK either- it’s a one room flat (ok, seperate bathroom, but living room/bedroom and often kitchen is all one).
I’ve not heard of this, and I’m both English, poor, and have been desperately hunting for a rental house for the last few weeks (found something now, nobody panic)- can you provide a link to what you’re talking about?
Uhhh… that link doesn’t say what you said.
That refers to the problem of people (often illegal immigrants) being rented out sheds and crammed into overcrowded houses, not people renting out bedsits. That’s a very different issue, and one I had heard of.
If people had a granny flat or bedsit at the bottom of the garden, I would have no issue with it being rented out, but I do have a problem with people being rented accommodation which is unlivable.
Well that’s the point because many councils aren’t making the distinction between a legitimate bedsit and a garden shed with a mattress in it.