Who's to blaim? Our tennants, out letting agents or us?

G_M

SerialRenter wrote: »

The fact that I'm disagreeing with you probably means I'm wrong! but I'll attempt to anyway.

Need more facts first:
Agent could have been treating the tenants in a less then professional manner and disregarded any legitimate maintenance requests.
Tenant is entitled to have a property in good repair, the council should provide a balanced report on any work that needs doing, I agree in this case they went OTT, but i think that should reflect poorly on the council, not the tenants. Or perhaps the council do have additional local licencing that the property needs to comply with.

True. But even so, removing the tenants will remove the urgency for reconstruction and allow OP time to either sell, or re-construct (or, dare I say it, re-let under the council radar... Agh!)

Plus serving a S21 does not mean OP has to evict. It simply starts the 2 month clock ticking so he has that option.

Indeed, it may well be that the re-construction required means the property will have to be vacated during the work, in which case the sooner a S21 is served, the sooner the work can commence. The alternative would be re-housing the tenants during the work, as if the poor OP has not got enough problems already....

Pixie5740

A section 21 could be issued but it wouldn't be valid if the deposit wasn't protected. I'm wondering if either the agency or the landlord has protected the deposit. If the OP was relying on the LA to take care of everything, what else could potentially have been missed?

BitterAndTwisted

There are seven parts to the Housing Act 2004. OP: does the documentation quote which part of the act they are invoking?

I suspect it's the part referring to HMO regulations, and unless the tenancy has been changed without your knowledge then your property is unlikely to come under that part of the act.

There's obviously a fair bit of background to this situation so the first stop should be a conversation with the agent to find out what's not been reported back to you, and then a chat with your tenant.

thesaint

Lots of Letting Agent hate in this thread. Despite nothing being said that any of the problems has anything to do with them. As you were.

G_M

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

There's obviously a fair bit of background to this situation so the first stop should be a conversation with the agent to find out what's not been reported back to you, and then a chat with your tenant.

I would certainly be talking to my agent, and my tenants.

But I'd also be talking to the council!

And as bitter says, reading the documentation carefully to establish exactly what the council are
* relying on
* assuming
* expecting/demanding

BitterAndTwisted

I didn't mention the Council as it's obvious that the OP would need to speak to them, but only after they've got as much background to the sitch from agent and tenant first.

Tenants don't often request a visit from the Council or EH if they are happy with the property.

I wonder how long it's been since the agent carried out a periodic inspection and what their report may have said about it?

red40

costelloe16 wrote: »

Hello,
I'm waiting to speak to the council woman who wrote us the letter, who indicates she's recently performed an inspection at the request of the current tennant

There is a due process an inspecting officer has to do before entering a property, if this isnt followed then any enforcement notice would possibly be defective.

costelloe16 wrote: »

has provided us with a list of things that need changing, including things like constructing a wall around our staircase that bends around into the living area, and then constructing a doorway at the bottom, plus changes to double glazing etc (we're talking thousands in pound of changes for the entire list)

If an enforcement notice has been issued then I suspect it has been issued under Part 1; sec11 or 12 of the Housing Act 2004 (Improvement Notice). However in most cases the council usually issue a 'minder-to serve' nituce, basically informal instead of formal to start with and ask what you intend to do about their report/inspection findings.

Obvioulsy dont know the layout of the property so couldnt comment on the reasons why they have asked for that but again I suspect its to do with fire safety. All their findings and recommendations are based on risk to future occupants.

costelloe16 wrote: »

Do I have any legal rights to extend or postpone these changes for when I can realistically pay for them which would be one thing a month at a push?

Yes you do have rights, but it would have to be formal enforcement notice before you could really do anything. If the notice is/has been issued under the Housing Act then you appeal the notice to the Residential Property Tribunal (RPT) who can confirm, vary or quash any notice.

costelloe16 wrote: »

Any help or advice about his would be great - I'm not a property developer

Part 1 of the Act applies to any residential property, whether its private/owner occupied or rented, it doesn't matter, but as I said the council have to follow a process and if they haven't any notice would be defective.

What you have to be mindful of is that it does become a criminal offence if you didn't comply with some of the enforcement action a council can take under the HA04 and you can be fined, but that would be a long way off.

G_M

red40 wrote: »

Part 1 of the Act applies to any residential property, whether its private/owner occupied or rented, it doesn't matter, but as I said the council have to follow a process and if they haven't any notice would be defective.

What you have to be mindful of is that it does become a criminal offence if you didn't comply with some of the enforcement action a council can take under the HA04 and you can be fined, but that would be a long way off.

Must admit I find this mind-boggling and scary. Don't get me wrong, I'm not questioning your obvious knowledge, I'm questioning the law i it's as you say.

My home is 150 years old. It has trip hazzards all over the place. I doubt it meets today's fire standards. It must fail these tests left right and centre. OK - I can't see the council coming round to inspect tomorrow (I'm hardly likely to invite them!), but you're saying in theory they could? And they could make me (yes force me) to spend thousands, maybe tens of thousands, updating, upgrading, modernising, and political-correcticizing this characterful house?

:eek:

red40

G_M wrote: »

Must admit I find this mind-boggling and scary. Don't get me wrong, I'm not questioning your obvious knowledge, I'm questioning the law i it's as you say.

My home is 150 years old. It has trip hazzards all over the place. I doubt it meets today's fire standards. It must fail these tests left right and centre. OK - I can't see the council coming round to inspect tomorrow (I'm hardly likely to invite them!), but you're saying in theory they could? And they could make me (yes force me) to spend thousands, maybe tens of thousands, updating, upgrading, modernising, and political-correcticizing this characterful house?

:eek:

In theory G_M yes they could, in practice they wouldnt.

Of course you could get your visitors to sign a disclaimer not to contact the council if they fear for their health, safety and welfare! :rotfl:

thesaint

What's more frustrating is that they won't go into a council house and hold themselves to their own standards.