Buying studio with Tenant whose rent is paid by the CAF

[quatrechats]

We've been looking for a studio to rent out to ensure a small income in euros.  4 have come up for sale in one building, owned by the same landlord.  3 are currently rented, one of which has a tenant who's been there 4 years and has his rent paid by the CAF.  Can anyone offer advice as to whether this would be a wise purchase?  I've been looking into buying property to rent out for a long time so am well aware of the general pitfalls of being a landlord but have no knowledge of rents paid by the CAF.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[NormanH]

I have had tenants whose rent is paid by the CAF.

On the one hand provided they have everything in order you are reasonably sure of being paid the amount they are entitled to, which isn't usually the full amount.

On the other hand if their circumstances change the CAF will pay a different amount. For example I had someone whose son reached 21 years old so she suddenly became entitled to just over 100€ a month instead of 300€.

Another one started to work so the CAF stopped paying the rent, but it was not that easy to make him realise that he  was now expected to pay up himself....

Another tip (if they will let you) is to ensure that they do their paperwork on time (tax declaration for example) or even do it for them as I do with one of mine.

One of my tenants never did this, so every year there were delays in paying the rent for January and February until it all got sorted out.

It is the tenant's right to have the rent paid to them unless they fail

to pass it on to the landlord in which case you can apply to have it

paid direct. 

However I have always found that the ones who intend

it to come to the landlord are quite happy to do this from the beginning,

so if a tenant is unwilling it could be a sign that you will have

problems.

In short as with most letting you can get an income, but you have to be prepared to work for it, and be confident enough to take the hassle and discussions in French..

A link about the allocations

http://vosdroits.service-public.fr/particuliers/N20360.xhtml

PS..Not sure if I made it clear that the amount paid by the CAF is dependent on the tenant's situation so you have no control over that.

Rents seem magically to be above the usual basic levels allowed; I have never seen a rent for less that the APL allows.

Typical allowances would be about 305€ for an unemployed couple, and just over 200 for an unemployed single person.

Children add to that of course, but as I said they grow up or leave home.

[quatrechats]

That's very helpful. Thank you.