Query about changing mind about renting house out

missile

This sounds really opportunistic uncle taking advantage of your mum. I would see a solicitor pronto and ask him to write to this ........ It would be worth a few quid to get him off your mothers back.

dopester

Carrera74 wrote: »

My Uncle who rents properties out for a living has advised her to rent the house out to someone she has never met and for a low monthly rent as the house needs renovating. The tenant is 'willing' to live in the house and do it up and the rent he pays will cover the work. So in theory if he puts new floor down one month he doesn't have to pay rent.

This has disaster all over it.

This Uncle of yours doesn't sound like a person who has your Mum's best interests at heart, whatsoever.

sequence

If your mum still goes round for brews, then it will be really hard for her when the house is let out as she wouldn't be able to do that.

clutton_2

i think uncle may well have mum's best interests at heart, but is just being a bit heavy handed .. OP tells us the house has been empty for years and uncle (who lets property) may well be thinking that an occupied property deteriorates less quickly than an occupied one. Since it needs renovating it will only attract a low rent...

talk to uncle... dont alienate him .... you may need his advice futher down the line if he is a long standing landlord

DVardysShadow

clutton wrote: »

...
talk to uncle... dont alienate him .... you may need his advice futher down the line if he is a long standing landlord

Uncle 'let it out' without a proper agreement in place and without the agreement of the owner.

While I would agree with not alienating him, I think on the question of renting out he can be safely ignored.

Henry_P_Chester

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

This is the key bit.

Assuming the house is owned 100% by your mother, then your uncle has not met the conditions they had agreed to. He would therefore be liable for any of his actions, not your mother. It gets more complicated if he legally owns half the house.

But to be clear, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you allow a tenant to move in without an AST in place, as it could become very, very difficult to get them out.

And you CANNOT legally rent the house without the basic safety checks having been done by a competent professional. (electrical safety certificate, gas safety check, etc)

This "deal" sounds like it has the potential to go very badly pear shaped....

What if the "tenant" ruins the house? What if the work is shoddy or sub-standard? What scope of works has been agreed? To what specifications? Who is providing the materials? Are they safe, legal and compliant? Will any works involving electrical or gas be done by a registered and qualified professional?

I think you've done the right thing to stop this, and you should stand your ground, at the very least until you've had everything set up properly through a solicitor.

First time I have ever agreed with anything hamish said.

Couldn't have put it better myself.

RobertoMoir

clutton wrote: »

i think uncle may well have mum's best interests at heart, but is just being a bit heavy handed .. OP tells us the house has been empty for years and uncle (who lets property) may well be thinking that an occupied property deteriorates less quickly than an occupied one. Since it needs renovating it will only attract a low rent...

This is an interesting point. It sounds like the OP's mother is still struggling to cope and move on from her father's death, and going around the empty house for a cup of tea all the time is not going to help. If the house was let out or sold or otherwise in use then she couldn't do that, and it might turn out to be beneficial. If it was done in the right way.

It isn't my place to tell the OP what to do, but Carrera74, your mother sounds like she does need help. And maybe doing something with the house (in her own time, not forcing her into it!) might help.

talk to uncle... dont alienate him .... you may need his advice futher down the line if he is a long standing landlord

Now this bit I'm not so sure about. It sounds like he was about to let someone move in based on a verbal agreement. That doesn't sound like the sort of person a new LL would learn anything good from.

If the uncle was thinking along the lines that clutton suggests then their intentions might have been good, but if so it sounds like the uncle didn't communicate this bit very well.

mlz1413

[QUOTE=Carrera74;36543443.and he tells me that the guy who he has told can move in tomorrow (!) has paid him rent and a bond and they have a verbal agreement.

Is my Mum allowed to say no? Or does she have to go through with this now?[/QUOTE]


No your mum does not have any obligation to meet your uncles verbal promises!

If your uncle rents properties as a business then he will be well aware that AST's are a legal requirement to protect LL and T.

If your uncles has taken rent and a bond off the T then he needs to pay them back.

Renting in this way may give your mother a repaired and decorated house for next to nothing but it sounds like it could also give her a tenant that refuses to move out of his newly done up home and keeps finding jobs to do so he nevers pays rent.

I'll tell your uncle to go back to the stone that he was under when your grandfather was alive. Sorry maybe that's a bit harsh but I think your suspicions are well grounded and I'd go with your gut instinct and get your uncle out of your mothers life.

tbs624

Based on what you have said Carrera74, the uncle seems to have taken it upon himself to act as your mothers agent.

Unless she has given him specific permission to do so, he needs to be told *in writing* that your mother will not be letting the property out and that, if he has misled a third party he must sort that out for himself. Uncle cannot claim to be brokering a tenancy on a property which he does not own, without the consent of the property owner, ie your mother.

Draft a letter for your mum if necessary. If uncle has managed to obtain keys for the property ( from when potential T was shown around) , then change the lock barrels.