Landlord responsibilities?

[Mr.Chips]

Hi Guys,
We are about to lose our current neighbours, as they are moving to be closer to their children. They have told us that they have sold it to someone with a number of properties, who will be renting it out. Now I know that you can get good/bad tenants and, obviously we are hoping for a good one. However, if we get one who is particularly antisocial, what responsibility does the landlord have towards the neighbours? Thank you for all constructive responses.

[Countdown]

No formal responsibilities specifically towards the neighbours. However as the house owner he has certain statutory responsibilities. For example if the tenants decide to turn the garden into a tip HE gets lumbered with the clean-up bill.


You’ve got the same recourse against the tenants that you had against your neighbour.

[PAULJ5555]

I own my own home and next door rented to some right idiots including witness protection. I did not know what was in their tenancy agreement but read mine and told the landlord & agent that there must be something in their tenancy agreement about causing issues for the neighbours. Problem is both fobbed me off blamed each other, they did speak with the tenant but nothing changed, it as only due to late rent the landlord got rid in the end.

Try get hold of the tenancy agreement, however getting the landlord to enforce it is another matter.


This is in my tenancy agreement as I am a landlord also.

3.13. Not to keep any animals, bird, or reptile on the Property without the written consent of the Landlord which if given shall be deemed to be way of licence revocable at will.
3.14. Not to commit or allow members of the Tenant’s household or visitors to cause a nuisance or annoyance to other persons in the neighbourhood or to any other tenant of the Landlord.
3.15. Not to commit or allow members of the Tenant’s household or visitors to commit at or near the Property any:-
3.15.1. Criminal offence;
3.15.2. Harassment or threat of harassment on the grounds of race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation or which may interfere with the peace and comfort of or cause offence to any other tenant, member of his/her household, visitor or employee of the Landlord or his agents or contractors;
3.15.3. Nuisance or intimidation or physical, verbal or written abuse against other tenant, visitor, or employee of the Landlord or his agents or contractors.
3.16. Not to permit or suffer any television, hi-fi, radio, musical instrument, or other sound producing equipment to be audible outside the Property between the hours of 10.30pm and 7.00am nor outside those hours to be a nuisance or annoyance to any neighbouring property.

[Black_S3]

Countdown said:

You’ve got the same recourse against the tenants that you had against your neighbour.

I disagree. If you end up with an antisocial or problematical neighbour who owns the house there is far less recourse than if the problem people are renting.

Unless the house is in a specific segment of the market the majority of landlords will not tolerate true antisocial behaviour as it always correlates with damage to their own property.

[2Btoo]

PAULJ5555 said:

Try get hold of the tenancy agreement, however getting the landlord to enforce it is another matter.

That's the nub of the problem. Mr Landlord employs Mrs Agent to look after the house. Mr and Mrs Tenant cause grief galore for Neighbour#1, Neighbour #2 and Neighbour#3.

Neighbours ask Mr and Mrs Tenant to behave better. They get a mouthful of abuse for their pains.

If they are lucky they can get the details of Mr Landlord and Mrs Agent but their choice is to do something about it or look the other way and ignore it. There is nothing in it for Mr L and Mrs A to help out, they know it will be grief and a bunch of hassle so they look the other way. Indeed, the government is making it harder to do anything to move the naughty tenants on in this situation so it will just get worse.

Mr and Mrs Tenant continue to make life nasty for Neighbours and nothing changes.

[Black_S3]

Op - out of interest what’s causing your concern that someone renting the house is more likely to be worse than someone who owns it?

[UpTheIron]

FWIW, if the neighbours living next to/close to my rentals were to complain to me I'd be looking to sort it out or get the tenants out ASAP.

[Countdown]

Black_S3 said:

Countdown said:

You’ve got the same recourse against the tenants that you had against your neighbour.

I disagree. If you end up with an antisocial or problematical neighbour who owns the house there is far less recourse than if the problem people are renting.

Unless the house is in a specific segment of the market the majority of landlords will not tolerate true antisocial behaviour as it always correlates with damage to their own property.

Depends on the nature of the antisocial behaviour and IF it has a detrimental impact on the LL. He’ll take action only if it adversely affects HIM, regardless of whether the neighbours have an issue. His legal obligations to neighbours are zilch.

[Black_S3]

Countdown - landlords are 100% responsible here in Scotland. I know there’s huge differences between Scotland and England but is it really as extreme as no responsiblity south of the border?

[Countdown]

Black_S3 said:

Countdown - landlords are 100% responsible here in Scotland. I know there’s huge differences between Scotland and England but is it really as extreme as no responsiblity south of the border?

It depends what you mean by “responsible for”. If the tenant was playing loud music, letting his dogs foul your garden, and similar kinds of anti social behaviour the LL isn’t obliged to make the Tenant behave. The LL can put clauses in the TA about behaviour and can enforce them if he chooses but there is no “Obligation” on the LL to do so.

So, from the neighbours point of view, he has exactly the same recourse against a tenant that he would have against an owner-occupier

[Mr.Chips]

Hi Guys,
Thanks for all of the replies so far. Our current neighbours are pretty good. We have had a few cross words over the 16 years we have been neighbours, but all quickly forgotten and we have a good relationship. However, we have another neighbour who is a complete pain in the posterior. Selfish, arrogant and quite antisocial. Doesn’t give a st about anyone else to the extent that he almost set fire to the houses a few weeks ago and then gave Mrs.Chips a bking when she had the audacity to speak to him about it. Still, as a serving member of the Met. he obviously thinks he can get away with it.
All I am concerned about is having a bit more information about what we can or cannot do if the eventual tenants turn out to be problematic.

[Algarve]

Black_S3 said:

Op - out of interest what’s causing your concern that someone renting the house is more likely to be worse than someone who owns it?

I guess common sense and experience of talking to people who've been involved in problems!


Lets say you have no idea who your next door neighbour is going to be but you have the choice of it being someone buying their own house, or someone renting it from a BTL owner, which would you want to gamble on?

[Black_S3]

Think it’s swings and roundabouts. Bad neighbor in rental will move on quicker than a bad homeowning neighbor who could piss you off for decades but on the other hand the higher turnover of neighbors in a rental house make the chances of being unlucky a little higher?

[QBee]

I found the best solution - my house is surrounded by fields and my nearest neighbour is over 200 metres away.

The RAF are my noisiest neighbours, flying their old Merlin-engined stuff right overhead at 200 feet on their way home to Coningsby.

[PAULJ5555]

Black_S3 said:

Op - out of interest what’s causing your concern that someone renting the house is more likely to be worse than someone who owns it?

There are a larger % of renters than owners who just dont give a st.

[Wings]

Mr.Chips said:

Hi Guys,
Thanks for all of the replies so far. Our current neighbours are pretty good. We have had a few cross words over the 16 years we have been neighbours, but all quickly forgotten and we have a good relationship. However, we have another neighbour who is a complete pain in the posterior. Selfish, arrogant and quite antisocial. Doesn’t give a st about anyone else to the extent that he almost set fire to the houses a few weeks ago and then gave Mrs.Chips a bking when she had the audacity to speak to him about it. Still, as a serving member of the Met. he obviously thinks he can get away with it.
All I am concerned about is having a bit more information about what we can or cannot do if the eventual tenants turn out to be problematic.

The landlord would be held accountable for any anti social behaviour by his/her tenant/s, the same loud noise etc. etc. HMG introduced in 2014 The Anti Social Behaviour Crime Act, the same receiving it's royal assent in March 2014.

This landlord has already been approached under the above Act, by his local council's environmental health department, and requested/threatened to deal with a tenant's anti social behaviour, loud music, drug taking, drug dealing etc. etc.

Both central and local government now place greater responsibility on landlords, agents to deal with tenant's anti social behaviour, and WHY now under the Housing Act 2004, part of licensing a landlord/agent and the rental property, the former have to provide local neighbours of their contact details, name, address, telephone no's etc. etc.

OP your contact would be via your local council's environmental health department, having prior contact details now, might be valuable to you in the future.