Can you terminate a tenancy agreement due to affordability of repairs?

lachesis

Hi

I recently let out my house using a fully managed service in January. This was because it is unfeasible to sell given negative equity at the moment.

Since January I've just had appalling luck it seems. First the fence blew down in strong winds, then there was a leak in the tiles due to extreme cold weather and frost. Next the boiler had a heat expander problem and the toilet developed a leak.

Up until now I've just been hit with a bill for £3000 for all repairs and it's eaten into all money I have. Today I got a call saying as they were working on the boiler they noticed there were polarity fluctuations in the electricity supply. SO this is another costly repair.

I've said to my lettings agent that I am now out of of money completely and I'd be willing to sever the six month tenancy agreement for the tenant to seek suitable rental accommodation elsewhere.....

Does this sound reasonable? Have I got any other options? I feel I've done everything I can but I can't ruin myself - It's just bad luck but built up....

Cheers for advice.

Emmzi

In what way is any of this the tennant's fault?

They don't deserve to be thrown out and the law will support that.

You can *ask* them to move. You can *pay* them to move. But until you hit a break clause and/or properly serve notice, you cannot *force* them to move.

Werdnal

As a landlord, you have a legal obligation to maintain and repair your letting property, and if you do not have sufficient funds then you should not be letting it. Bad luck or not, this is the tenant's home, you have signed a legally binding agreement to allow them to live there for the fixed term and you cannot just end it because you have run out of money!

Tenant has no obligation to move out until the end of the term, and indeed there are procedures the tenant can follow to with-hold their rent and pay for the repairs, if you cannot do it yourself.

You have been very foolish to get into this without understanding all the requirements and costs - letting is not an income, it is a business, and if your business runs out of money you go under!

Take a loan, pay for the repairs and hope your tenant does not report you to the Environmental Health Department for the poor state of the property and your inability to repair it!

There may be an outside chance that your tenants may be understanding in letting you pay all their costs in finding a new property - all their admin and vetting fees, all their moving expenses and a settlement for their inconvenience - but if you have no money, you probably won't be able to do that either. However, they have no obligation to accept any offer you make - you signed a legally binding tenancy, so you are stuck with it and your obligation to repair at your expense is your problem, not theirs!

Beg, steal or borrow the money and do the work required!

Just out of interest, do you know what your legal obligations and the requirements of becoming a LL are? Read this, and find out what else you may have missed:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=41160642&postcount=12

bob_a_builder

polarity fluctuations in the electricity supply ?

lachesis

I didn't say it was the tenants fault. Did you read the post?

I was asking for help or suggestions not deflection of blame. The property is also not in a poor state. If I could be bothered I would dig out the EA pictures. It had been rewired, redecorated and everything so do not speak from a viewpoint of ignorance.

bob_a_builder wrote: »

polarity fluctuations in the electricity supply ?

Yeah, a contractor went out and fixed the boiler but wouldn't connect it back in for this reason. I'm not sure what it means exactly.

Werdnal

lachesis wrote: »

Yeah, a contractor went out and fixed the boiler but wouldn't connect it back in for this reason. I'm not sure what it means exactly.

So basically you have no working boiler in the property, and no money to have it repaired.

If there is no heating in the property, you have an obligation to provide an alternative source - get round there asap with a few portable heaters before the tenants report you to EHO.

CharlieBubble

Flux capacitor?

CharlieBubble

Werdnal wrote: »

So basically you have no working boiler in the property, and no money to have it repaired.

If there is no heating in the property, you have an obligation to provide an alternative source - get round there asap with a few portable heaters before the tenants report you to EHO.

Let's hope that the water isn't heated by this boiler too.....

As someone renting at the moment, I'd have to say I'd be pretty unimpressed if I reported a fault with something and the landlord said that he couldn't afford to fix it, so we'd have to leave.

lachesis

Werdnal wrote: »

So basically you have no working boiler in the property,

You need to stop jumping in feet first because you really have no idea what's going on in the background. But as you insist on doing so I will give you the exact circumstances then you might be able to offer some help after all.

I got a phone call about twenty minutes ago saying this had happened, and I agreed to send an electrician round to look at the issue and have it fixed - ok? So less of the EHO and reporting nonsense.

So the issue is getting looked at, I have fulfilled my obligations. What I'm saying is that I am now totally out of money. To be fair I don't think there is much else that could go wrong at this point aside from the house being decimated by a bomb. What I am asking is what are my options regarding this?

Let me re-iterate this - all repairs have been commissioned and done, and this last one to do with the electrics is being looked at today by a contractor. I am now at the point where I have no further monies aside for maintenance though.

poppysarah

Have the repairs been done?
Was there not a cap on how much money they could spend without your direct authorisation?

Sounds a bit expensive all of it.

AFK_Matrix

As the repairs are all done you now need to tell us what the Tenancy agreement is between you and the tenant is. Is it an AST or has it gone to periodic? If it is still an AST does it have a break clause? If it doesn't then your going to have to wait till the end of the AST. If its a periodic tenancy then you have to give the tenants a section 21 notice giving them 2 months notice of you wanting possession. IF the tenant moves out at the end of 2 months great but if he doesn't then you have to go to court and then get bailiffs round to evict him.