Tenant has had fire in our rented flat - do we have to rehome him?

caringa

Just had a phone call from our tenant who accidentally set fire to our flat by putting a heater on the bed to warm it up!! He has been rehoused in a hostel (the local council pay all his rent on our flat).

The question is - how soon do we have to make the flat habitable as we are due to go on holiday next week? Also, as he has previously caused a lot of trouble in the block of flats to which the police have been called several times, would we be able to tell him that he cannot return at all and how much notice would we have to give him? He has also been given a Noise Abatement Notice by the local council a couple of weeks ago.


We have given him numerous chances over the last year to improve his antisocial behaviour but now feel that it would be better if he left.

Werdnal

If the property is uninhabitable, LL has an obligation to provide alternative housing. Your insurance should cover the cost of this, and repairs, and they will seek to recover their costs from whoever is liable - in this case, your tenant - after the claim is complete.

The tenancy continues, and regardless of the fire, or noise issues, you cannot just tell him he cannot return - illegal eviction comes with hefty fines, criminal record and possible prison sentence.

Does your tenant want to come back? Who is funding his alternative accommodation at the moment? They may seek to recover the cost of this from you.

Obviously, the sooner you get on with repairs and allow him to move back in, the less the cost to you, lost rent, additional accommodation charges etc.

You can offer him a "surrender" if he does not want to return, but he has no obligation to accept it, as he has a valid tenancy and you need to comply with that until you reach a mutually accpetable "deal" to end it.

pmlindyloo

According to this:

http://www.tenancyagreementservice.co.uk/section-8-notice-to-quit.htm

You can take the tenant to court for possession after issuing a Section 8 part 14, basically a breach of his tenancy agreement.

This is likely to be a lengthy and may be a costly process.

How long does your tenant have remaining on his tenancy?

If your tenant was looking to be rehoused by the council then they would want a court order in place before they consider him to be homeless.

Options are:

1. Tenant agrees to surrender his tenancy (get it in writing)
2. You issue a Section 21 in accordance with his tenancy.
3. You issue a Section 8 on ground 14.

All of these options require careful handling. Any 'mess up' in issuing the Section 21/8 will result in the order being thrown out of court.

As regards rehousing tenant and sorting property I suspect the council will be on your back as you are required to find alternative accommodation, or you may be lucky and they will be happy to let him stay in the hostel.

It should be 'sorted' in a reasonable time. Obviously you will need to notify your insurers, arrange builders to give quotes, work to be carried out. This may take some time. Before you go on holiday you should be arranging dates, possibly getting builders to give quotes but unlikely you will find the work can be started any time soon (just my opinion.)

wannahouse

i was under the illusion that IF a house becomes uninhabitable, that in one circumstance under which the landlord can end the lease without notice.

i remember something about the lease with our tenants saying such, and in the case of the house which we personally are renting, it was uninhabitable when we fist were to move in due to no water supply whatsoever to the house (long story) and the landlordc DID NOT rehouse us, we had to look after ourselves, and wouldn't even return the rentl we had paid her for that period! double insult..on top of that, shelter also told me she had no obligation to rehouse us and i would have to sue her if she wouldn't refund the rent...
it sounds as if the tenant in this case would not have the resources to sue the landlord..so you may get away with just telling the tenant that the place is uninhabitable and he needs to find somewhere else to live...
thats what our landlord did, and despite not being on the breadline, it wasn't worth privately paying solicitors to fight her.

molerat

A good read
https://www.landlordsguild.com/house-destroyed-by-fire-or-flood/

pmlindyloo

Reading recent posts and my own I really should have explained that Section 8 ground 14 is to do with your tenant having received a Noise Abatement order, not to do with his starting the fire or the house not being habitable.

My apologies, though in my defence, the link would have explained!

martinsurrey

Also consider Ground 13 on your section 8 notice, you can use as many grounds as you want (if you do one).

it’s arguable that his negligence (putting a heater on a bed and leaving it!) has damaged the property.

rpc

How bad was the damage? If it is just a case of redecorating one room then you probably need to continue the tenancy, provide alternative accommodation and get repairs done in a reasonable time. If that is the case, serve notice(s) using every ground you can.

If the flat was totally gutted, the contract could be frustrated as you are unable to perform your side of the agreement through no fault of your own. Frustration would end the contract from the date you were left unable to discharge your responsibilities.

G_M

No one has mentioned 'frustration': the ending of a tenancy where it is impossible for it to continue.

It is a complex legal area, with no clear defintions or consistant court rulings.

However the crux seems to be whether it is possible for the tenancy to ever continue. If the property is, say, smoke-damaged, then repairs are possible and the tenancy can resume. It is not 'frustrated'.

If the property has burnt to the ground, then it might be 'frustrated'. It appears that significant facts would be
a) how long will it take to re-build the property?
b) how long is left on the tenancy?

If re-building is possible and the tenancy could resume, the there is (probobly!) no 'frustration'. If the tenancy were of 6 months and re-building likely to take a year, then the tenancy would (again probobly) be 'frustrated.

So next - if frustration does not apply, then the tenancy continues (unless ended some other way - eg S21/S8/mutual consent). In that case:

* rent must continue to be paid
* The LL has no obligation to re-house (the contract only applies to the address specified) BUT
* the tenant can claim back any extra housing costs (eg his hotel or other alternative accomodation)

The question of liability for the fire, and damages, also arises, but is seperate: Either the LL, or his insurer, might claim for the damage to the property (in this case perhaps £000s!).

This is no different to the LL claiming for damage a tenant did to his fridge (and deducting from deposit) or his carpets (suing via the courts if the deposit is insufficient).

Well - a bit different, since it is a larger amount of cash! But the legal principle is the same.

edit: cross posted rpc.

ValHaller

caringa wrote: »

.... The question is - how soon do we have to make the flat habitable as we are due to go on holiday next week? Also, as he has previously caused a lot of trouble in the block of flats to which the police have been called several times, would we be able to tell him that he cannot return at all and how much notice would we have to give him? He has also been given a Noise Abatement Notice by the local council a couple of weeks ago.


We have given him numerous chances over the last year to improve his antisocial behaviour but now feel that it would be better if he left.

G_M wrote: »

No one has mentioned 'frustration': the ending of a tenancy where it is impossible for it to continue.

....

If the property has burnt to the ground, then it might be 'frustrated'. It appears that significant facts would be
a) how long will it take to re-build the property?
b) how long is left on the tenancy?

I am thinking that if a S21 notice can be issued now, it should be. And go on holiday, getting people in to quote as far as possible. By the time you come back from holiday, you may find that the timescales take you beyond the end of the S21. in which case I would think the contract is probably frustrated.