tenant not living in flat .

Old_Git

csnann wrote: »

Maybe he has moved in with his girlfriend and not given up the flat so that their benefits won't be affected.

actually that's what I was thinking
I am not sure what benefits he gets but I think it incapacity benefit .

AJ1982

Cannabis Factory? Sorry, I know im making it worse...

poppysarah

Does landlord being aware of it make him party to the benefit fraud?

You need to clarify the insurance else you could end up well out of pocket through wrongly trying to be nice.

goldengirl28

He's probuably at girlfriends.

when i met hubby i "virtually" lived at his place for a few months, didn't give up my flat (which i was paying for myself, no benefits) until much later when i knew it was serious

Ah young love...........barely rememebr it

Wee_Willy_Harris

poppysarah wrote: »

Does landlord being aware of it make him party to the benefit fraud?

You need to clarify the insurance else you could end up well out of pocket through wrongly trying to be nice.

He's just speculating based on a suspicion, so I'd say no. As far as the LL knows, the tenant has struggled paying his electric and isn't there when he calls. Could be that he is at friends/family to cook, do his washing etc and returns home most nights to sleep. Unlikely, granted, but not impossible.

N79

Old_Git wrote: »

I have a flat rented to the same tenant for 5 years .
I now suspect the tenant is not living in the flat .
Never had any problems, been a good tenant .
Everytime I go past the curtains and blinds are closed day and night .
The rent is paid by housing benefit .
I have checked with the electric company and no electricity has been purchased since November .(pre paid meter )
I have not been in the flat but I have left a not saying I need to discuss the tenancy and will call again on Thursday .Any advice on how I should handle this .

Since this thread is a little short of practical help here is what you should do.

Send a letter stating that you will be conducting an inspection of the condition of the property on N day (a day around 7 days in the future) provided that the day and time is convenient to the T. Make it clear that you will assume that it is convenient unless the T contacts you and that you will use your own keys to access the property if the T is not there. Make it sound like this is for the Ts benefit and ask the T to contact you if your proposal is not acceptable. (This gives you full coverage against a later claim of harrassment).

Then either they will contact you and you can find out whats going on or you go and let yourself into the property.

1.) If you find the locks have changed and the T still fails to contact you then issue notice
2) If the flat looks abandoned then issue notice.
3) If the T is clearly living there then just write a letter stating that the inspection happened and document any relevent points. It is then up to you to decide if you want to keep a non communicative T.
4) Otherwise play it by ear based on whatever the T says.

TBeckett100

you joke about cannabis factory,

blocks out day light,

hacks the leccy meter so free electric...

Wonder if the pipes have burst from lack of usage over the winter...

sharpee

I thought most tenancy agreements stated a property shouldn't be left unoccupied for more than 2 weeks without notice to the LL/LA?

N79

sharpee wrote: »

I thought most tenancy agreements stated a property shouldn't be left unoccupied for more than 2 weeks without notice to the LL/LA?

Even if it did (and such a term would be extremely harsh IMO), there is no practical way for a LL to enforce such a term, short of serving notice (there is no quantifiable loss to the LL). Even then, I doubt any court would entertain eviction for such a breach leaving the LL with the S21 route only.

Snooze

I don't see what all the fuss is about? Sounds like an ideal LL situation if you ask me - tenant not causing any hassle and paying the rent on time. What more could you want? The rest is none of your business. If you can't live without sticking your beak into other peoples private business then you shouldn't be a LL.