Tenant broken boiler, refusing me access to check it
Discussion
If/when he evicts them it's going to be down to the council to rehouse them, so if he's been 'honest' and told them he's started eviction proceedings, they'll realise that it's only a matter of time until they've got the pleasure of accommodating them anyway (as should have been pointed out to the council) 
OP: Is rent:
a) now in payment to you/the agent, or
b) held suspended in lieu of payment or
c) still irresponsibly being left to drift any way the wind blows?
OP: Is rent:
a) now in payment to you/the agent, or
b) held suspended in lieu of payment or
c) still irresponsibly being left to drift any way the wind blows?
Groat said:
If/when he evicts them it's going to be down to the council to rehouse them, so if he's been 'honest' and told them he's started eviction proceedings, they'll realise that it's only a matter of time until they've got the pleasure of accommodating them anyway (as should have been pointed out to the council)
OP: Is rent:
a) now in payment to you/the agent, or
b) held suspended in lieu of payment or
c) still irresponsibly being left to drift any way the wind blows?
Our experience with the local council/housing authority is that tenants are advised to stay put until they've actually been evicted. This way the cost in the meantime is passed onto the landlord rather than the council.OP: Is rent:
a) now in payment to you/the agent, or
b) held suspended in lieu of payment or
c) still irresponsibly being left to drift any way the wind blows?
We've applied to Universal Credit to have payment made to us, we're still waiting for a response on that request.
loskie said:
I'm not a landlord but I find it appalling that not payment of rent is almost a "protected right". Why it should be seen differently from shoplifting, leaving a hotel without paying or just common theft I don't know.
Correct.I am not a landlord - although I was once. But thankfully had decent tenants.
Unfortunately a lot of people game the system and I suspect Covid has helped them to do this.
TheBinarySheep said:
Our experience with the local council/housing authority is that tenants are advised to stay put until they've actually been evicted. This way the cost in the meantime is passed onto the landlord rather than the council.
We've applied to Universal Credit to have payment made to us, we're still waiting for a response on that request.
This LL, at the request of his tenant, has just served a six month Section 21 Notice on a tenant, with a tenancy lasting over nineteen (19) years. The tenant has advised me, that the local council's housing authority, are requesting copies of all tenancy agreements covering the tenant's period of tenancy, details of any Deposit monies, and advising the tenant to sit tight until the bailiffs call. We've applied to Universal Credit to have payment made to us, we're still waiting for a response on that request.
The rental property, through the tenant's previous partner's domestic abuse, requires major refurbishment, new internal doors, carpeting, new kitchen, bathroom etc. etc., possibly costing between £10k-£15k, and can not be carried out with a sitting tenant and two children in attendance.
My local council have recently viewed the property, yet with no internal doors, no carpets, kitchen units falling apart, bathroom covered in black mould, have decided to grant the property a HMO licence.
I know come the end of the above Notice period, the tenant will still be in residence, being that it is the tenant who wants to leave, and the tenant is still making regular rental payments, why should I incur the cost of going to court and having to instruct bailiffs.
Wings said:
I know come the end of the above Notice period, the tenant will still be in residence, being that it is the tenant who wants to leave, and the tenant is still making regular rental payments, why should I incur the cost of going to court and having to instruct bailiffs.
Another LL here, but interesting to read this thread as it's a very real risk for all of us. One question here: If the tenant simply complies with the legal requests and physically vacates the property, do the council then treat them as having made themselves intentionally homeless and thereby refuse support? I can't see how the council could insist that the tenant break the law and wait until Bailiffs come to enforce it. Very worrying!
MrChips said:
Another LL here, but interesting to read this thread as it's a very real risk for all of us. One question here: If the tenant simply complies with the legal requests and physically vacates the property, do the council then treat them as having made themselves intentionally homeless and thereby refuse support?
I can't see how the council could insist that the tenant break the law and wait until Bailiffs come to enforce it. Very worrying!
In most of the TV programs covering this sort of thing, it would appear that is exactly what happens.I can't see how the council could insist that the tenant break the law and wait until Bailiffs come to enforce it. Very worrying!
The council advise the tenant to stay put until the bailiffs evict them.
And if said tenant leaves voluntarily, the council usually refuse to entertain them because they are responsible for making themselves homeless.
Ultimately, the councils are using landlords as funding.
In some cases, even following eviction the councils seemingly try and avoid fulfilling their responsibility to find the now homeless tenant a home.
I guess this is made worse by the fact that so many councils have sold off their housing stock - right to buy etc.
loskie said:
I'm not a landlord but I find it appalling that not payment of rent is almost a "protected right". Why it should be seen differently from shoplifting, leaving a hotel without paying or just common theft I don't know.
It's disgusting and I don't often use that word.
Under the old HB regime stolen rent was written off and that's that. It's disgusting and I don't often use that word.
The UC system for non payment is to sanction the tenant from income benefit at up to £40.99p per month until the stolen rent is repaid to the landlord. The only way the tenant can avoid this is to leave. That's rare.
Direct payment to landlord/agent SHOULD have been put in place after the FIRST rent default. In this case it was just left to go its own way for quite a few months.
UC management will be raging when all this comes out. People think "oh they don't care, it's not their money" but it's not like that at all. Some of these claims are quite complicated to work out, and it just makes UC staff feel like fools when they make the effort to get the claim admin set up and the tenant then just steals the rent.
Fastpedeller said:
TheBinarySheep said:
On top of all of this, we know the local council have been trying to put plans together to sort the area out, including pulling some of the houses down. Which leaves us thinking, do we sell now at a loss, or hold it out and sell at a later date when property prices might increase.
Council Regeneration is rarely worth the effort, the council do not generally drive gentrification. They will spaff a ton of cash "improving" the area, but not. nikaiyo2 said:
Council Regeneration is rarely worth the effort, the council do not generally drive gentrification. They will spaff a ton of cash "improving" the area, but not.
Around here its not unknown for the council to pull these types of houses down. They've done it in a neighbouring village, there's plans to do it in another village down the road. They're also investigate plans to do the same in these houses too.I have no idea how it works in terms of how much the council offers to buy properties from people, but it would just be our luck that we sell, and a couple of years later the council come along and buy them at a rate higher than what we sold for.
TheBinarySheep said:
nikaiyo2 said:
Council Regeneration is rarely worth the effort, the council do not generally drive gentrification. They will spaff a ton of cash "improving" the area, but not.
Around here its not unknown for the council to pull these types of houses down. They've done it in a neighbouring village, there's plans to do it in another village down the road. They're also investigate plans to do the same in these houses too.I have no idea how it works in terms of how much the council offers to buy properties from people, but it would just be our luck that we sell, and a couple of years later the council come along and buy them at a rate higher than what we sold for.
TheBinarySheep said:
We've applied to Universal Credit to have payment made to us, we're still waiting for a response on that request.
And that was how long ago?Oh well, one day you may get a response, or maybe not. Who knows?
Don't suppose it occurred to anyone to follow up the original UC47 application with a call every couple of days to ascertain what was happening?
I mean, why would you?
InitialDave said:
Is being a landlord for commercial premises (industrial units and similar) less of a risk than housing?
I looked into getting some rental houses but in the end went for a large commercial building (warehouse with some office space). 10 year lease, full repairing, @ 10%. I take some risk since the business has suffered during covid but I have none of the other issues mentioned in this thread. Plus capital appreciation on warehousing is quite something at the moment.If I can find another to buy I will do so. I am almost tempted by a couple of houses on a nearby new development but then I read threads like this and it puts me right off.
ReformedPistonhead said:
InitialDave said:
Is being a landlord for commercial premises (industrial units and similar) less of a risk than housing?
I looked into getting some rental houses but in the end went for a large commercial building (warehouse with some office space). 10 year lease, full repairing, @ 10%. I take some risk since the business has suffered during covid but I have none of the other issues mentioned in this thread. Plus capital appreciation on warehousing is quite something at the moment.If I can find another to buy I will do so. I am almost tempted by a couple of houses on a nearby new development but then I read threads like this and it puts me right off.
Groat said:
And that was how long ago?
Oh well, one day you may get a response, or maybe not. Who knows?
Don't suppose it occurred to anyone to follow up the original UC47 application with a call every couple of days to ascertain what was happening?
I mean, why would you?
It was only submitted 6 working days ago, and I know they take a couple of weeks, so if I've not heard anything by then, I will chase it up. I've been in this situation before with a previous tenant, and I chased it up multiple times a week, it didn't matter how many times I rang and how much time I wasted, it still took the same amount of time to process. You just get the same response very time, "it takes X amount of days to process, ring us back on X date if you've not heard anything".Oh well, one day you may get a response, or maybe not. Who knows?
Don't suppose it occurred to anyone to follow up the original UC47 application with a call every couple of days to ascertain what was happening?
I mean, why would you?
surveyor said:
ReformedPistonhead said:
InitialDave said:
Is being a landlord for commercial premises (industrial units and similar) less of a risk than housing?
I looked into getting some rental houses but in the end went for a large commercial building (warehouse with some office space). 10 year lease, full repairing, @ 10%. I take some risk since the business has suffered during covid but I have none of the other issues mentioned in this thread. Plus capital appreciation on warehousing is quite something at the moment.If I can find another to buy I will do so. I am almost tempted by a couple of houses on a nearby new development but then I read threads like this and it puts me right off.
Also the lease itself, not sure how much it costs to put in place a residential short term tenancy agreement, but the legal costs for my commercial building were significant. Plus it was VAT-rated so I had to pay then get that back (bought through Ltd co which is VAT registered).
More complex logistics, less day-to-day pain, risks lower likelihood but higher impact.
TheBinarySheep said:
Groat said:
And that was how long ago?
Oh well, one day you may get a response, or maybe not. Who knows?
Don't suppose it occurred to anyone to follow up the original UC47 application with a call every couple of days to ascertain what was happening?
I mean, why would you?
It was only submitted 6 working days ago, and I know they take a couple of weeks, so if I've not heard anything by then, I will chase it up. I've been in this situation before with a previous tenant, and I chased it up multiple times a week, it didn't matter how many times I rang and how much time I wasted, it still took the same amount of time to process. You just get the same response very time, "it takes X amount of days to process, ring us back on X date if you've not heard anything".Oh well, one day you may get a response, or maybe not. Who knows?
Don't suppose it occurred to anyone to follow up the original UC47 application with a call every couple of days to ascertain what was happening?
I mean, why would you?
Which means that you've had no rent paid since what? August 2020 ?
The tenancy has always been a benefit tenancy. Which means that to date there are NINE or TEN months rent missing.
According to you there has been at least one previous attempt at getting rent safeguarded. (Feb 2021?)
Is the UC office aware that you've received no rent for 9/10 months and that if it's been paid at all, the tenant has been given it?
You do know that to UC by any standards that's a very serious matter, don't you?
Assuming you've made UC aware that the tenant's stolen 9/10 months rent, have you had any contact with UC management?
Do you have a local MP?
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