Riot-related advice needed urgently

willshome

This is on behalf of a couple in their 70s (parents of friends), who were burnt out of their three-bedroom flat in the riots on Saturday night. They were renting privately on an assured tenancy (they have lived there all their married life). It is possible that the council may be able to rehouse them (permanently or temporarily) but obviously there is no guarantee that their rent will stay low. My question is what compensation they should be seeking from the landlord. It seems likely that their home will be demolished. The landlord will obviously be compensated through the Metropolitan Police. Either that compensation should reflect their sitting tenant (and would therefore be lower) with the reduction going to this couple, or the landlord will get the full compensation without deduction for the sitting tenant – in which case the landlord should pass on that amount. Either way, the fires should not be a windfall for the landlord, and this old couple should not be impoversihed (their fixed rent was much lower than the market rate).

My question is, how should this be handled to make sure they are not cheated by either the authorities or the private landlord?

BitterAndTwisted

They should contacted their Local Authority's Housing Dept for advice NOW. Having left it so late after the fact could mean that they will be at the end of a pretty long list by now.

GlynD

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

They should contacted their Local Authority's Housing Dept for advice NOW. Having left it so late after the fact could mean that they will be at the end of a pretty long list by now.

Given that it isn't the Landlord's fault I would suggest they immediately contact the Citizen's Advice Bureau. They wouldn't be entitled to any compensation from the Landlord but I'd be amazed if they weren't entitled to some from the Home Office. If they have a solicitor then that should be their first port of call, if not - CAB. An appointment with the local MP might yield some help too.

Are there any organisations they are affiliated to? HM Forces, Police, Fire Service, Civil Service? All of these have their own help agencies.

SouthCoast

Some advice from CAB:

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/whats_new_aug11_affected_by_the_riots.htm

G_M

willshome wrote: »

This is on behalf of a couple in their 70s (parents of friends), who were burnt out of their three-bedroom flat in the riots on Saturday night. They were renting privately on an assured tenancy (they have lived there all their married life). It is possible that the council may be able to rehouse them (permanently or temporarily) but obviously there is no guarantee that their rent will stay low. My question is what compensation they should be seeking from the landlord.
1st, the riots and fire can hardly be blamed on the landlord.
It seems likely that their home will be demolished. The landlord will obviously be compensated through the Metropolitan Police. Really? Are you sure?
Either that compensation should reflect their sitting tenant (and would therefore be lower) with the reduction going to this couple, or the landlord will get the full compensation without deduction for the sitting tenant – in which case the landlord should pass on that amount.
Where do you get the idea of 'windfall'? The landlord's house has burnt down.
Either way, the fires should not be a windfall for the landlord, and this old couple should not be impoversihed (their fixed rent was much lower than the market rate).

My question is, how should this be handled to make sure they are not cheated by either the authorities or the private landlord?

The tone of your post is that that somehow the 'evil' landlord and/or council are to blame, and/or are out to enrich themselves, and/or are not to be trusted as they are out to swindle the tenants.

Let's get this straight. RESPONSIBILITY AND BLAME LIES WITH THE RIOTERS. NOT THE LANDLORD, or anyone else.

OK.

how should this be handled

(I'll ignore the rest of the question),
First contact the LL urgently, by phone and then in writing, and establish what insurance he has.
Landlord's insurance may include providing alternative accomodation for the tenant in a case like this. In which case a claim should be made asap and your friends re-housed, at the original rent, in similar appropriate property.

If there is NO such insurance, then the tenancy is effectively 'frustrated'. That is a legal term meaning that, for reasons of no fault on either side, the tenancy is physically impossible to fulfill, so it ends.

The tenant has no further obligation to pay rent. The LL has no further obligation to provide a property.

The tenant, then, will be homeless, hence the council involvement.

As for the compensation you refer to. This would appear to be a scheme (of which I have no knowledge) which is new, so only the providers of that scheme will know how, and to whom, it would apply.

Contact the compensation scheme administrators.

edit: having read the CAB link kindly provided by southcoast above:

If you don't have insurance and have suffered damage to you home or business (including having property stolen), you may be able to claim compensation from your local police authority. For your claim to be considered, the disturbance must be classified as a riot.
You must make your claim within 14 days of when the incident happened, so it's really important that you act quickly.

Contact 'your local police authority' and discuss what they can do in these circumstances. They will know better than anyone here!

[Deleted User]

Maybe something on this page may help - http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/reclaim/2011/08/government-unveils-riot-compensation-scheme?utm_source=forum&utm_medium=sidebar&utm_campaign=box

liubeliu

Is this a flat over the burnt out Carpet Right store? If so Lord Harris went on paper earlier this week and said he would help tenants that have found themselves homeless.

http://www.diyweek.net/news/news.asp?id=14921&title=Carpetright+owner+to+help+victims+of+Tottenham+riots

kmmr

I think the main point of difference to a normal AST in this case is that it was a regulated tenant. So the value of the flat was reduced because of the rights of the tenant.

So if the tenancy is 'frustrated' then the LL gets back a suddenly very saleable flat without a regulated tenant, and the tenant falls back on the risks of council or private letting.

But, it's not really the LL's fault, the contract is frustrated, and therefore it ends. He gets his 'windfall' gain of an increase in value (if you can call having your house burnt down and years of insurance wrangling a 'windfall'), but I suppose this was a fairly remote risk that was always there for your friends parents. It's just very unlucky they have been impacted by the actions of these stupid rioters.

DizzyDasher

As I understand it the fact that this was an Assured Tenancy makes this significantly more complicated than some of the responses are suggesting, and all your questions sound very reasonable and sensible to me. This is not about whether it's the landlord's "fault" - it's about each party's rights and obligations under the contract now that the property in question essentially no longer exists.

If I were you I would register with the UK Motley Fool website (it's free) and ask this question on their "Property Investing - Practical" board (there is also a Legal Issues board there which they might point you to - but start on the Practical Property board and see what they say) - there are lots of very sensible folks there with lots of experience in property investment, including funny contract forms etc. Even though most are landlords they are very sympathetic and helpful on tenant problems too. They may advise you that you need to see a solicitor re: the specific terms of your contract, but I would definitely ask the question there and see what they say.

Good luck - and sorry for your friends' parents being in such an awful situation.

princeofpounds

Go to landlordzone forums. They have better legal experts over there.

jamie11

Please try to find out if it was a regulated tenancy or assured tenancy, it's going to make a difference to the answers.