ciggarettes in the toilet

navarato

Hi

I have a property that i rent out and today sent a plumber there to carry out some repairs (i was not at the property while repairs were done). Now the plumber is actually quite a good family friend of ours and he said while he was at the property he noticed there were ciggerette butts floating aound in the toilet.

This is significant as when i went to the house a few weeks ago the toilet was absouloutely filthy-kinda dark gunky like at the base of the toilet basin and i was wondering what they were doing to it! I just told the tenants to clean it up and keep it clean as there were no signs of ciggerette butts then.

However, when the tenancy began i did tell them i would appreciate no smoking in the house and it also says this in the AST. As i didn't actually see the ciggarette butts myself can i still write them a letter stating to them to stop doing what they're doing as they're breaking the AST rules!

any advice would help
thanks

sooz

Was the plumber doing anything to fix the loo, or the drainage from any part of the bathroom?
If so, I'd be tempted to send them a letter saying that the problems (with the plumbing) were down to items they had been throwing down the toilet, & that if the drains/loo were to become blocked by their items again, they would be responsible for clearing it or paying for it to be cleared. Add a link or print out of a list of what should not be flushed down the loo such as http://www.water.org.uk/home/news/press-releases/toilet-used-as-guilt-free-rubbish-bin

I'd not mention the smoking directly, as they may feel that the plumber was spying on them! If they are smoking inside, & it is noticable when they move out, bring it up on the final inspection. They can then either recify any problems caused, or pay for it to be recified from their deposit. They may be smoking outside & just using the loo as a bin - I'd be more concerned about what else they think is ok to put down there.

Geenie

If the tenants are smoking in the house........as already mentioned, it will be noticeable inside quite quickly. The windows produce the brown stuff on a cloth when cleaned, as will the walls if pictures have been hanging and removed! The cleaner bits behind are very obvious! If the place was let as non smoking, then I think you have a right to take issue with them doing so. Chucking butts down the loo and causing potential blockage problems is not on! I would charge them the cost of the plumber for breaking the tenancy agreement.

Gorgeous_George

I find it less stressful to turn a blind eye to smoking but to charge enough rent to cover complete re-decoration on change of tenant. There is no point worrying about things that you cannot control effectively.

GG

DUTR

navarato wrote: »

Hi

I have a property that i rent out and today sent a plumber there to carry out some repairs (i was not at the property while repairs were done). Now the plumber is actually quite a good family friend of ours and he said while he was at the property he noticed there were ciggerette butts floating aound in the toilet.

thanks

I hate that too, it makes them all soggy and difficult to light

princeofpounds

Don't charge them for the plumber unless the cigarettes actually caused the blockage. You can't impose arbitrary charges for breaking tenancy agreement clauses.

But do feel free to write a letter pointing out the report of the infraction, highlighting the tenancy clause and that if there is smoke damage they will need to pay for it. The plumber was not spying; it's not as if he was digging in someone's underwear drawer! He only came across them in he course of his job.

navarato

thanks for the replies. The plumber was actually there to fix some probs with the radiators in one of the bedrooms but went to the bathroom to wash his hands and saw the ciggarette ends.

property.advert

Gorgeous_George wrote: »

I find it less stressful to turn a blind eye to smoking but to charge enough rent to cover complete re-decoration on change of tenant. There is no point worrying about things that you cannot control effectively.

GG

Yeah but if you include voids and repainting and intense cleaning, you'd have to raise the rent by too much and that is before you consider any furniture which you may include.

I agree though that it is hard to police and harder to retain deposits to offset charges without getting yourself a bad name.

I guess unfurnished with wooden floors then !

trigga

Like geenie said if they were smoking in the property. You would know instantly. Maybe if a friend of theres had a sneaky one in the toilet.? But i cant imagine this to be the cause of the blockage so we should just let this one pass

navarato

Ha! just got a rude text from one of the tenants saying he thinks my tradespeople i have sent to the house are crap-apparently he says he is a 'professional in this field'. I am a bit miffed as any problem they've reported to me i get fixed for them asap, allow them to pay the rent 5 days later then what it says on the ast, got them a sofa when they requested it (was none in the house). I have protected their deposit with dps.

Tenant says in future he wants us to agree on who these people are before they come to the house! But it says in my AST that any perosn i authorise for repairs on 24hrs notice can enter the property. Also, i am not in the habit of sending cowboys to do repairs and the tradespeople i have all have the appropriate licences.

Can anyone advise me if the tenants actually have a say on the builder who goes into the house? the prob is i have a 12mth ast with them-so if i served the section 21 now-they may not nesscesarily leave till the end of the contract ...help please

sorry for the rant but when you go out of your way to get things done for pple and they just through it back in your face it can be annoying :mad:

maninthestreet

trigga wrote: »

Like geenie said if they were smoking in the property. You would know instantly. Maybe if a friend of theres had a sneaky one in the toilet.? But i cant imagine this to be the cause of the blockage so we should just let this one pass

Could be worse - they could start using the ashtrays as toilets.....