Tenant is now letting house get dirty

bjbyorkshire

Me yet again...

I have got out my original paperwork from EA and it states that the "dilapidations deposit" (one month's rent ie: £525), will be held in the "Deposit Protection Service" (DPS) approved scheme and would be lodged there within 14 days of being received by them.

Also

The 6 monthly inspection is said to be to "check that the property is being used in a "tenant like manner" and will be a visual inspection of the carpets, walls, cooker, main living areas and garden. Where these were felt to be unsatisfactory, a more detailed inspection would be made". Phew... that actually does make me feel quite a bit better.

You all seem to have a very low opinion of estate agents and their usefulness/worth/value that it made me seriously doubt just why I was expecting them to hold my hand in the event of everything going pear shaped. I was told by the tenant himself that he was surprised that I didn't manage the property myself as it is a small, fairly new house and could easily be managed by me. I wanted a safeguard that should I get the tenants from hell, as several people were only too willing to provide me with horror stories about rental properties when I said that renting was my plan, and that I preferred to stick with paying the EA but asked the tenant to contact me in the first instance should he have any problems needing repair etc.

DRP

bjbyorkshire wrote: »

Me yet again...

I have got out my original paperwork from EA and it states that the "dilapidations deposit" (one month's rent ie: £525), will be held in the "Deposit Protection Service" (DPS) approved scheme and would be lodged there within 14 days of being received by them.

Yes but was it?

For your own satisfaction it would probably be a good idea to request the agent sends you copies of the paperwork. Or just go down to the office and take copies...

bjbyorkshire

Annabee wrote: »

bjbyorkshire - just to give you some idea - I got a quote in May from a cleaning company to do an end-of-tenancy clean on my daughter's student house. House was a semi, but did have 3 floors and 5 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms. The quote was £389 to include steam cleaning to carpets, and £269 without.

Of course this was a different area (Kent) and probably a different type of house. And I don't know if they charge more because they presume students will be dirtier, and also because they know they'll be splitting the costs? Anyway, I thinking you'll be looking at over £100, probably £200, definitely. They should clean venetian blinds, kitchen fans, especially if you point it out to them and put it in the agreement.

Thanks Annabee, that is really good to know. Yorkshire should be on the cheaper side than Kent, and that sounds like a great cleaning service, I couldn't believe son saying he was quoted £60 as there were no carpets and that was for high cost north London. I have stayed in his flat and could have spent a week cleaning for him (especially the kitchen) Here I go again... but it would have been more than my life was worth to even suggest it to him. See I can keep my nose out and my mouth shut when I sense I might overstep the mark. As yet I don't get that feeling from the tenant, he seemed genuinely happy/grateful that we had got boiler and electrics sorted in quick sticks before his freezer thawed out and also done him a tree lopping service to enable his TV to keep on picking up a reception. He would have been PDQ to ring us up if his sky dish was not functioning or else he would have had to get sky in to shift the dish onto the roof. (We also gave next door people permission about 4 years ago to wire in to our dish as they can't get a reception at all because of this banking of trees and shrubs.

Does Mrs reasonable/amenable/willing to bend over backwards to help sound to be coming through here?

I am already feeling a bit lighter about the grease situation now, but how much better all round it will be if EA are willing to point out the situation to them rather than me. I think tenant seems very nice bloke but having not met wifey then she might well throw a wobbly if her housekeeping prowess is called into question.

arcon5

bjbyorkshire wrote: »

As I said, I will leave well alone for now, but I am a bit surprised that my rights as a home owner/landlord possibly wanting to take back possession of a house don't seem to be quite what I thought they would be.

Don't you just issue a section 21 notice (subject to any minimum contracted period remaining) to have them leave. Then apply to courts for possession. But they may leave before that stage.

I don't think the law is that unfair though. Tenants should have some protection from landlords. After all not everybody can actually afford to move house with all the fees and costs involved. And if they have poor credit, with the requirement usually for a guarantor or 6 months up front. Being evicted can have serious affects on peoples lives, so a balance between LL and tenant protection is essential.

Why not do the inspection yourself and then write up a report along with a list of recommendations? Then do another in say 4 weeks and see how they get on. You may well find they are not bad tenants, just got complacent. I know if you visit my house at certain points of the month it may look a mess (although usually with childrens toys, mail and paperwork that i'm half way through and pots here and there).

bjbyorkshire

arcon5 wrote: »

Don't you just issue a section 21 notice (subject to any minimum contracted period remaining) to have them leave. Then apply to courts for possession. But they may leave before that stage.

I don't think the law is that unfair though. Tenants should have some protection from landlords. After all not everybody can actually afford to move house with all the fees and costs involved. And if they have poor credit, with the requirement usually for a guarantor or 6 months up front. Being evicted can have serious affects on peoples lives, so a balance between LL and tenant protection is essential.

Why not do the inspection yourself and then write up a report along with a list of recommendations? Then do another in say 4 weeks and see how they get on. You may well find they are not bad tenants, just got complacent. I know if you visit my house at certain points of the month it may look a mess (although usually with childrens toys, mail and paperwork that i'm half way through and pots here and there).

I feel the 6 month initial period is a fair period and that was what I always knew was set in stone. After that I was sure that one month from tenant and 2 months from Landlord was a bit unequal but ok I saw the point as people wouldn't always be able to move on so soon and without expense, but now I understand that if they stay put after the S21 notice is up and I have to go to court with all the ill will and bad feelings that that will cause, any tenant that I did have a god relationship with is likely to make sure they leave the place with their "stamp" well and truly on it.

Just out of interest how do court costs stack up if it takes a couple of months or more of court proceedings to evict? My deposit is soon depleted after cleaning and court costs and maybe no rent forthcoming because of the bad feelings.... see, it's not totally biased in Landlords favour.

No, I will leave the inspection to the EA and will try to let her know my concerns and what I would hope she may pick up on and hope she deals with it in a way that will be less offensive than me saying anything, I could see that not being particularly welcome.

Anyone going upstairs in my home right now would not be impressed with the tidiness, or lack of it. I have stuff on spare bed waiting to be altered, stuff in same room awaiting taking to a charity shop, last nights clothes on a chest of drawers because I am spending too much fun time posting on this flipping forum to go do any actual tidying upstairs. I totally understand untidy, its muck and thick grease that I take issue with. Plus a 5 gallon drum of cooking oil in the middle of the kitchen along with a griddle.... I'm not sure some of you get it either but I know some of you totally do so I feel that I am not over the top critical. Clutter ok, other stuff needs early intervention to stop it being beyong cleaning in another 6 months plus.

BitterAndTwisted

Most sensible tenants who give a monkey's about receiving a decent reference from their current landlord would not risk remaining in the property after the Section 21 Notice expires. Most especially if the landlord has already intimated by informal means that they are intending to end the tenancy in order to sell the property.

Your tenants are professional people who are likely to be able to secure their onward move relatively easily, so probably won't be minded to take it personally. It's those who have very severely restricted budgets and limited choices who can be reluctant to go.

meg00

Mrs Yorkshire,
I sympathise with your situation.
I watched in horror when the tenants in my very first rental stomped all over my beautiful cream carpets the day they moved in without wiping their feet, on a filthy November night.
By the time their tenancy ended the carpet looked as if they had been stripping motorbikes on it. We found out later from neighbours they liked having BBQ's, and if the weather was not very good, just had them in the house!.
The lady was also fond of sunbathing topless - aged 56.
So the nice middle aged couple left the place we sweated blood tears and money on, like a pigsty - we even found chewed gum everwhere, including the freezer drawers. Nice.
Ten years on & a bit wiser, I accept that other people live their lives the way they choose, and make sure that tenants understand when they sign the agreement I will enforce it at the tenancy end.
In amongst the bile you have received on this site there has been some very sound advice. Give yourself a bit of time to reflect on it.
It sounds like you have a nice tenant, who is very probably grateful for your prompt attention.
Other people's housekeeping skills, in my opinion, are like parenting skills. Best ignored unless life threatening!
You sound like a really nice lady, and have certainly cheered up my Saturday.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

bjbyorkshire

Meg00, thanks for the sound advice, you also sound like my kinda landlady/person. I'm now sure we are not really cut out to be Landlords and at our age and (how do I put this so as not to get a backlash from you know who) lifestyle. I think we may just cut and run but not before spring. By then the tenant may well have decided that a move to another area is what he may want as his work and promotions will more than likely necessitate that anyway.

I am sure the EA is up to speed (famous last words) and so a word in her shell like before she pays a visit next week, just pointing out my main concerns and asking her to be especially vigilant when viewing the kitchen area and perhaps asking if she could make a follow up visit sooner than 6 months.

I'm waiting with anticipation to be ripped to shreds again for the above comments.

Homeagain

bsms1147 wrote: »

It's their house.

No it's not. It may be their home but certainly not their house.

Granariesgirl

Hi bjbyorkshire & co,

Interesting thread with some sound advice.

Here's my two penn'orth: have you thought of talking to the tenant ref. the fact you really want to sell the place before summer but as you realise the difficulty of finding somewhere new so prefer to warn verbally rather than just give 2 months notice?

This way you could perhaps agree to a mutually acceptable cut-off date for getting your property back.

Give them first refusal to buy at a fair price - who knows, they might be interested! :cool:

Whatever you decide, good luck: being a decent landlord is hard work BUT so is selling!