Problem with tenant

missymugwump

As the property is managed your LA only has authority to authorise repairs without your consent to a certain level
So he must seek your approval and agreement to these bills first

If the inventory says that the property was not clean
And the tenant signed it
They have agreed to the condition
They cannot then back charge you

Did they view the property empty ?
Were they given false promises of proff cleaning before they signed AST ?

poppysarah

Either the LA is best pals with the tenant or they're taking you for a ride as much as the tenant.
You need to know the first date the tenant reported the shower problem to the LA and the first date that they in turn reported it to you. The longer the gap the less it's your problem.
If you have genuinely dealt with the shower issue (bearing in mind it was replaced with a better shower?) ASAP then you're not at fault - and don't feel threatened.

I would be lookign for a new tenant and a new LA though. I@d probably sek a new LA first and get them to replace the tenant in a legitimate end of tenancy kind of way.

roscolabri

Sorry for the lack of updates.

It seems that the boiler is having problems heating various appliances at the same time (heating, hot water, shower etc). I had a BG engineer look at it last friday, which was the earliest he could come out and he then said he needed to order parts. They arrived wednesday just gone and he attempted to fix the boiler. This morning I found out that the tenant is still having problems with lack of hot anything, so I think I need to get a better, brand new combi boiler (the current one is 18 yrs old and in the engineers notes he has mentioned a possible replacement).

Phoned British Gas up again today to enquire about new boilers, and they stated that they need to look at the property first, and the earliest they can do that is April the 1st, and then you need to add on a couple of days to get the actual boiler fitted. My dilemma now is that I can see the tenant witholding his rent yet again due to nothing being sorted (although I am trying!) which will mean he would owe me for March and April.

This, I guess, would be the time to issue a Section 8 (assuming that he does withold)?

Can't wait to get rid of this landlord title, it's one headache after another.

Ulfar

roscolabri wrote: »

Sorry for the lack of updates.
Can't wait to get rid of this landlord title, it's one headache after another.

SOrry but being a landlord is hard, obviously you were not prepared.

You are on a very sticky wicket if your tenant doesn't have hot water or heating. If the boiler is in that poor a state how did it pass the gas safety certificate, I am assuming you have one.

roscolabri

I wasn't prepared, I had little choice in letting because of finances.

I lived in the house for a year prior to letting it out and everything worked fine. I had no problems at all. When I put the place up to let, I made sure I had all the certificates I needed, and I also had my boiler serviced at the same time. For it all to pack up since the tenants been in the property is a little weird, and I guess it's just one of lifes many surprises.

clutton_2

issue a Section 21, get this tenant out ASAP and sack your letting agent as soon as poss

roses

How far away do you live from the house? Can you go an look at all the problems yourself rather than relying on the tenant and the letting agent?

ricll

if British Gas is taking too long to sort out the hot water just call one of the million corgi engineers available at the moment and they will do. A month to sort out a shower (it takes half-a-day to buy and install an electric one) is too much, estate agencies are usually crap at property maintenance anyway. i wouldn't pay rent either if I didn't have hot water for that long, whatever the contract say.

VfM4meplse

Agree the LA should be saving you all this stress. The tenant is playing you for the £600 cleaning and you were under no obligation re: the alarm. I think this was the opening gambit by the tenant. No-one's suggesting you should aspire to Rachman but this tenant is taking the p!! Once the initial 6 months is up aim to get rid.

It's always best to have boiler insurance btw.