Help needed, leaking roof and tenants

maggiecon

Hi,

Bought a house in September and rented it out, tenant has been behind in rent from day one.

Flat Roof in garage started leaking a couple of weeks ago, the tenants reported it to environmental health who contacted me on Monday, I had it repaired on Tues/Wed of this week. The problem is the electrics are located under it and it could be dangerous.

We rang tenants yesterday and they said everything was fine, they rang us at 4.30pm this afternoon to say environmental health were there and the roof was really bad. Then I got further calls from the env health officer demanding an electrician provides a report to her for Monday. My husband has been on roof last two hours patch repairing to try and keep the rain out.

I cant afford to pay anymore money to fix roof as tenant hasnt paid any rent, they didnt sign a tenancy agreement. Can I get electrician to say they need to move out and will I be liable for alternative accommodation given that there is no tenancy agreement.

I really want them out of the house and they are deliberately not reporting faults to us and going direct to environmental health to make us look bad and I genuinely don't have the money to pay for the repairs.

By the way none of these defaults came up in my valuation survey and I had nt budgeted for it.I suppose there is no come back on the valuation.

I was also wondering can I get this repaired under my insurance policy?

fishpond

Is it insured as a BTL?

Owain_Moneysaver

maggiecon wrote: »

tenant hasnt paid any rent, they didnt sign a tenancy agreement.

You need specialist legal advice from a solicitor adept in residential tenancy law.

maggiecon wrote: »

I was also wondering can I get this repaired under my insurance policy?

Not unless the roof has been damaged by storm or similar. Routine maintenance, wear and tear isn't an insurable risk. And do you have landlord's insurance as ordinary homeowner insurance does not cover rented property?

C_Mababejive

They sound like trouble. Get advice,lob them out..

patman99

Get the electrician to disconnect the supply to the garage from the fuse box. Problem solved. No power to garage, no danger. E/H will be satisfied and will leave you alone.

pinkshoes

Did the tenants pay a deposit and have you protected it in one of the government schemes?

Guest101

If they have paid any rent, they are tenants. U need to serve a s21 for 6 months after they moved in

Pixie5740

You could also serve a section 8 due to rent arrears.

It might be worth joining a landlord's association.

BitterAndTwisted

By "the electrics" do you mean the consumer unit? If it isn't the CU then rain coming through the roof will not render the property uninhabitable.

I fear the OP may have encountered "professional tenants" who could be taking advantage of the OP's naivety. Using the leaking garage roof as a smokescreen/excuse for their non-payment of the rent.

Unless the OP has known about this leak for some time and the tenants have contacted EH and not paid their rent as a last resort against landlords who are unwilling/unable to have necessary repairs carried out. Repairs and maintenance are inevitable when owning a property but when you're a landlord being skint is not a valid excuse.

If they've paid a deposit and it has been correctly registered the the OP can evict via a Section 21 Notice and then court once the tenancy reaches the six months mark. Or a Section 8 Notice if the rent owed (rather than arrears) has reached two month's worth upon date of issue, and will probably succeed if there are two months owed on the court-date..

maggiecon

Thanks for you help, just a few pointers I should have clarified.

Consumer Unit is in the garage hence the major issue. I am now considering putting all the electrics in a water proof housing and letting the roof in the garage leak.

I cannot complete repairs until we get a good spell of dry weather, hence the ineffective repairs carried out earlier in the week. I cant see them having a legitimate complaint regarding this as there is another garage at the rear of the property which they can use.

My insurance is BTL, I didn't register the deposit with a scheme, never heard tell of it until this week. Is it okay to register the deposit now even though the 28 days have lapsed since the moved in.

I am in Northern Ireland so I think some of the law maybe different.

Still want the tenants out even when I get this issue resolved. I know from chatting to them they were taking their previous landlord to court regarding damp in their last house. She accidentally let it slip last night that the environmental health said there was nothing wrong with their previous house. Which has just confirmed to me they are "professional tenants" and know how to work the system. Its just so frustrating that they are prepared to lie to us and tell us everything is ok, let the problem get worse and then go the environmental health.

Especially now my house has damp in all the bedrooms which wasn't there last winter, environmental health are telling me that its not condensation that it is leaking fascia, so I now have to fork out to replace that knowing that I am still going to be left with the same damp issue and no rent.

My solicitor is advising drawing up a tenancy agreement once I get all the issues resolved, which I assuming gives them even more protection so I am worried about following her advice. She has quoted me £2500 in legal costs to evict them.

Talc1234

maggiecon wrote: »

Thanks for you help, just a few pointers I should have clarified.

Consumer Unit is in the garage hence the major issue. I am now considering putting all the electrics in a water proof housing and letting the roof in the garage leak.

I cannot complete repairs until we get a good spell of dry weather, hence the ineffective repairs carried out earlier in the week. I cant see them having a legitimate complaint regarding this as there is another garage at the rear of the property which they can use.

My insurance is BTL, I didn't register the deposit with a scheme, never heard tell of it until this week. Is it okay to register the deposit now even though the 28 days have lapsed since the moved in.

I am in Northern Ireland so I think some of the law maybe different.

Still want the tenants out even when I get this issue resolved. I know from chatting to them they were taking their previous landlord to court regarding damp in their last house. She accidentally let it slip last night that the environmental health said there was nothing wrong with their previous house. Which has just confirmed to me they are "professional tenants" and know how to work the system. Its just so frustrating that they are prepared to lie to us and tell us everything is ok, let the problem get worse and then go the environmental health.

Especially now my house has damp in all the bedrooms which wasn't there last winter, environmental health are telling me that its not condensation that it is leaking fascia, so I now have to fork out to replace that knowing that I am still going to be left with the same damp issue and no rent.

My solicitor is advising drawing up a tenancy agreement once I get all the issues resolved, which I assuming gives them even more protection so I am worried about following her advice. She has quoted me £2500 in legal costs to evict them.

A fair warning to those who buy starter homes as 'buy to lets' because the 5.5% gross yield (before agents fees, void periods, maintenance, non paying tenants and taxes) is such a great return.

Managing a property is just like any business and costs need to be budgeted and rules adhered to. The OP's ignorance to the protected deposit scheme is no excuse for non compliance

That being said I wish the OP well and hope that they can get their tenants out at minimal costs. I have had similar problems once and it can be a nightmare. I don't have BTLs anymore.