Tenant is now letting house get dirty

bjbyorkshire

Thanks to the last few posters for their input - you all talk a lot of sense and said what you think in a very calm and non confrontational way. This is exactly the way I expected to be advised on what my rights and wrongs are. The blunt speaking and harshly worded posts are just the way some people are in life but for me a friendly/helpful approach is always the best way to get round a problem. Being too confrontational, especially in the first instance, is in my experience the way to get off to a really bad start. A smile and a bit of humour can usually get you a lot more done. I'm no pushover but I have got through life to this great age without ever upsetting anyone intentionally and see no reason not to carry on in this way. If my tenant ever says that I am visiting more than he wants or doing things he doesn't want I shall hopefully be able to say fine that's the way we will go on from now and that I'm sorry that he actually needed to remind me.

I am new to the Landlord/letting game and as I said before it has been a huge learning experience but it's not going to be for us long term. I spoke with LA today and told her about my concerns re the cooking grill and grease problem, the missing coals and the fact that I hoped that we hadn't overstepped the mark when we did the tree pruning to enable the satellite dish to still receive a signal, and when we replaced the door bell battery. She said that so far as she could see that if the tenant had felt in any way compromised by this then he would surely have been on the phone to them to complain.

I told her that I was almost certain that we would be selling in Spring(hopefully if the market is going the sellers way then) and the fact that I would feel a bit better if we gave him a hint that this was likely to happen and that maybe they could think about whether they may be interested in having first refusal to buy the property at that time at market value. She said that she would do her inspection in the usual way but would take extra notice of the areas I was concerned about and would say that I wanted to give them more than the statutory 2 months notice so that it didn't come as too much of a surprise in the new year.

The deposit is definitely lodged in the deposit service in the correct manner, as I felt sure it would be. I do have faith in this firm of agents and in particular this lady who I try to deal with when I ring up.

I will do an update again after I get her report in a couple of weeks time.

Thanks all

kunekune22

I'm sorry but I'm another one who finds your approach to being a landlord quite disturbing. I am both a tenant (in one country) and a landlord (in another). So far as our tenants are concerned, their housekeeping and lifestyle are their business. It's a possible risk but it's a risk you take as a landlord. We deal with them via the agent. I would not DREAM of commenting negatively on their diet (this is, sorry, a type of racism) or on whether they had had the nerve to purchase some furniture. People rent for all sorts of reasons - they don't have to be poverty stricken to deserve their rights as tenants.

We do currently have a landlord whose attitude is a bit like yours and I find it very stressful. The house is not permanently perfectly clean or tidy - it isn't possible given our other commitments - although for an inspection I will do a big cleanup. However, even for minor repairs, the owner prefers to come and bodge it himself rather than paying a tradesman. This is awful. I actually delayed reporting a problem with dripping taps because I didn't dare have him in the bathroom without a day's preparation.

I know that I am perfectly capable of putting the house back into the required state at the end - the only time we lost deposit money was when we had to move at a time when I was working 80 hour weeks, was suffering from gout, and the OH was also unwell. But during the tenancy our only obligation is to keep things reasonably clean and tidy.

And sorry, but I very much doubt any tenant would fail to spot your 'buttoned up' and sour look.

franklee

bjbyorkshire wrote: »

I spoke with LA today and told her about my concerns re the cooking grill and grease problem, the missing coals and the fact that I hoped that we hadn't overstepped the mark when we did the tree pruning to enable the satellite dish to still receive a signal, and when we replaced the door bell battery. She said that so far as she could see that if the tenant had felt in any way compromised by this then he would surely have been on the phone to them to complain.

Obviously some tenants complain loud and long about the smallest thing. Others put up and shut up for fear of being served a section 21 notice. It's possible your tenant genuinely didn't mind what you did. It's possible he found it intrusive but chose not to rock the boat so said nothing. I would be wary of believing the agent as they may just be saying what you want to hear.

bjbyorkshire wrote: »

I do have faith in this firm of agents and in particular this lady who I try to deal with when I ring up.

I hope you do have a good agent, I'm sure there must be some about somewhere. However in my experience letting agents, like estate agents, are primarily sales people and will tell the customer what they want to hear in order to secure the business. Their primary concern is to collect their fees with as little hassle as possible.

You must have had some reservations about the agent as you instructed the tenant to contact you even though the agent was meant to be fully managing the property. Surely the contract you signed with them should have specified the frequency of their inspections and if so were they done to that schedule? If the six monthly inspection was on 2nd March and the tenant hasn't been in a year yet then I'm quite confused over dates LOL.

I do feel a bit sorry for any tenant who had been little trouble and paid their rent on time who is booted out after a year so the landlord can sell. However that's the lot of a tenant so the best they can do is avoid accidental landlords if possible.

[Deleted User]

Just noticed a new topic in this section that reminded me of this topic. Not your behaviour bjbyorkshire, but the situation where a landlord is being over the top and the toll it takes on the tenant, which demonstrates why a lot of people here are very protective over tenants rights and can sometimes be quick to find landlords in the wrong: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4792704

nickspen wrote: »

Also forgot to add he also trys to tell.me how to live and where I can and cannot put my furniture even trying to tell me I can't have a freezer in my lounge as not room.in kitchen asked why I can't use one in kitchen which is an ice box so not practical.

nickspen wrote: »

constantly ringing me texting and randomly turning up at the door has even let him self in and taken photos of my stuff when I'm not there or aware of it.

Blackpool_Saver

franklee wrote: »

Obviously some tenants complain loud and long about the smallest thing. Others put up and shut up for fear of being served a section 21 notice. It's possible your tenant genuinely didn't mind what you did. It's possible he found it intrusive but chose not to rock the boat so said nothing. I would be wary of believing the agent as they may just be saying what you want to hear.

Exactly, I don't know if you have ever been a tenant bjbYorkshire but it's not pleasant, you never feel safe, constant inspections, never knowing if you are going to be booted out, just try to imagine how it feels. Next, try to imagine it with children and no husband to protect you. Reliant on benefits/ill health etc etc, this is the reality for many people on these boards, it's a hard life, balancing on the edge of a precipice......... those aren't exactly my own circumstances, but they are the reason why so many are responding as they do

seven-day-weekend

jayss wrote: »

I'm lost now, earlier the house was mortgage free, now it's 30k negative equity?

e.g they paid cash £150k, now it won't sell for more than £120k, thereby losing them £30k. It can still be in negative equity even if there is no mortgage.

Mylo_The_Moggy

I wonder which would be worse smelling, curry or fish?!
Fish actually lingers for a fair while, so it could be worse, they could be cooking fish every night. Nothing worse than fishy smells lol.

Granariesgirl

Fraise wrote: »

I've also heard that cooking Chinese regularly at home can leave grease all over the kitchen - everywhere. Chinese fry almost everything, and the oil goes all over the cupboards, right up to the ceiling.....

I have to say that not only the Chinese fry almost everything - plenty of people of European (that's including Brits, BTW) & African origin do too!

We once moved into a flat where the previous tenant was a white supremacist activist (mmmm...nice).
The flat looked pretty clean so I gave it the "new tenant's once over" with my cleaning products...
Until I got to the 70's orange varnished wood-clad kitchen - OMG!
The cupboard doors & cooker hood felt sticky to the touch so I got out the sponge, hot water & cleaning product. When I rubbed the sponge over the cooker hood - it STUCK FAST, there was THAT much grease on the surface!:eek:
To get the kitchen clean I had to use a jointing knife to scrape off the layer of fat, about 1cm thick on cupboards, tiles etc, releasing the smell of old chip fat, fish frying, meat frying - EUCCH! It then took a bottle of a serious kitchen cleaner to get it back to normal & a long hot bath & shower to get the minging fried food smell off ME.
On the bright side, I couldn't touch fried food for AGES, so it was good for my figure!

So the state of a kitchen is not a question of ethnic origin, more a question of basic hygiene & cleaning skills...

SternMusik

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

e.g they paid cash £150k, now it won't sell for more than £120k, thereby losing them £30k. It can still be in negative equity even if there is no mortgage.

I wouldn't agree that this is negative equity. They still have 120k positive equity in the house. They have made a book loss of 30k on it (it is not an actual loss until they sell).

seven-day-weekend

SternMusik wrote: »

I wouldn't agree that this is negative equity. They still have 120k positive equity in the house. They have made a book loss of 30k on it (it is not an actual loss until they sell).

Even if there is a mortgage, the drop in value does not apply unless they sell. Either way if the property is sold they will lose thirty grand.

I agree that 'negative equity' is probably the wrong phrase for an unfettered property, but it still does not mean the people won't lose money if they sell.