Tenant in arrears and wants washing machine to be fixed. Do I have to ? Or can I wait

Hellykirbs

Don't know if u can help with this but here goes:
I have a tenant currently £790 in arrears (nearly 2 months) my claim for possession was suspended to give her chance to pay back what she owes £50 per month.she has now advised the washing machine is broken and can I get it fixed. I'm not really in a position to pay out and really feel like why should I. Am I within my rights to refuse until the arrears Is paid

Fuzzyness

what law says you have to provide a working washing machine in a rented property? curious.

Werdnal

What does your tenancy agreement state about repairing the machine? Landlords have to maintain the property structure, water supplies, drains etc, but can opt out of maintaining the white goods. BUT if the tenancy agreement does not specifically rule out the LL's obligation to repair, then by default you do have to maintain the items supplied as part of the tenancy.

This obligation remains, whether tenant is in arrears or not. Is sticking to the payment plan?

If you cannot afford a bit of lost rent, and still comply with repairs as all good landlords should, you shouldn't really be letting!

bebewoo

Does it say in the AST that you will provide a washing machine?
Does it say in the AST that you will repair the washing machine if it breaks down?
If it is a standard AST it probably won't, but landlords usually do out of goodwill. Do you feel any goodwill?
PasturesNew is completely utterly incorrect, there is no law about washing machines.

thesaint

If the tenancy agreement is silent about repairs to the washing machine/white goods, then there is no obligation for the landlord to maintain it.

The tenancy agreement does not have to specifically rule it out.
Even if it is on the inventory, the landlord would have to opt in to repair it.

Check Sec 11 of the landlord and tenant act 1985.

bordercars

is the washing machine on the inventory, no, then dont even think about a repair, yes then what is said about repairs and renewals. i gift a new tenant any white goods i have spare, if they break they dispose of, end of.

Hellykirbs

Thanks for replies. To the person who said i shouldn't be renting if I can't afford the lost rent. I'd like to clarify I am a good landlord and have bent over backwards for this tenant. i have to rent the property for personal reasons - unfortunately I'm not in a position where I can take or leave rent. I need the rent in order to pay the mortgage. I don't rent it out for a laugh or a hobby I have no other choice. So your last comment really doesn't help. Thanks for the advice before hand though!!

G_M

A lot of contradictory advice above!

The Landlord & Tenant Act 1985 section 11 says:

11 Repairing obligations in short leases.
(1)In a lease to which this section applies (as to which, see sections 13 and 14) there is implied a covenant by the lessor—
(a)to keep in repair the structure and exterior of the dwelling-house (including drains, gutters and external pipes),
(b)to keep in repair and proper working order the installations in the dwelling-house for the supply of water, gas and electricity and for sanitation (including basins, sinks, baths and sanitary conveniences, but not other fixtures, fittings and appliances for making use of the supply of water, gas or electricity), and
(c)to keep in repair and proper working order the installations in the dwelling-house for space heating and heating water.

so Statute Law doesnot require a LL to repair a washing machine.

That leaves contract law. If the contract(tenancy agreement) says the LL will repair, he must repair.
If it says he will not repair, he need not repair.
If it says nothing, he need not repair.

Most decent LLs would repair whatever the contract says however (similar attitude to my post here)
.
But in a case like this, most LLs would not unless the contract required them to.

graduate

Personally I think that these two issues should be kept separate. We don't know the circumstances that led her in to a situation where she couldn't pay her rent. It appears that you have come to some sort of arrangement about the arrears so it seems unfair to punish her by with-holding the repair.It appears from the above that the matter of if you have to repair it comes down to the contract you have with her. If there is no obligation to make the repair I would look at the issue as 'What would I have done if the washing machine broke and her rent had been up to date?'

As a landlord you are taking on certain responsibilities and maintaing the property is one of these. Also renting is associated with risk (particularly in the current financial climate) like void months between tenancies, tenants not paying rent, tenants damaging property etc. and I am sorry that this tenancy hasn't been straight forward for you. Although blunt I think that the point about not having money for the repair is a valid one. Ideally you should have a contingency fund for such instances. What would you do if something big happened that you had to repair? Is it fair that this lack of planning could impact on your tenant (regardless of who they are)?

Werdnal

Hellykirbs wrote: »

Thanks for replies. To the person who said i shouldn't be renting if I can't afford the lost rent. I'd like to clarify I am a good landlord and have bent over backwards for this tenant. i have to rent the property for personal reasons - unfortunately I'm not in a position where I can take or leave rent. I need the rent in order to pay the mortgage. I don't rent it out for a laugh or a hobby I have no other choice. So your last comment really doesn't help. Thanks for the advice before hand though!!

But what are you going to do if you have a costly repair and no money to cover it. Whilst you may have your reasons for renting, it is never wise to do so without a good contingency of spare cash to cover the unexpected. Whilst your tenant not paying is annoying, you should be able to manage your mortgage payments without relying on the rent. If your heating fails in the middle of winter you cannot just tell the tenant you cannot afford to fix it this month, so put another jumper on and stop moaning. Letting when you are on a tight budget is very stressful if you cannot guarantee you can cover the unforeseen costs that naturally go with it.

You might not like it, but it is a fact of letting that it sometimes costs you a lot more than you get back.

mlz1413

Well the lesson here is not to bend over backwards!

Going forward did you rent privately and so have your AST at hand to check and your inventory to support what goods and what condition the goods were in at rental start?

Or do you rent via an agent? If so is your agent being helpful ie asking the questions raised on here?

Come back with some specifics and you'll get help.

As you are a newbie landlord and an unintentional one I'd really recommend that read as many posts as possible on here and look at the landlord zone website too