*Updated*Council billed me £6500 for work I didnt ask for? Rental house

travelchick

hello All
Thank you for taking the time to read this I have gotten up this morning to a bill from the council for repairs they did to a house I own and rent out?
They state that Under the Section 11-12 of the housing act they have done repairs to my home IE installed central heating.

3 weeks ago my mortgage company called and asked me if they could give my address to the home improvements decision of the council as they had contacted them to find us, I thought it was strange as my tenant had my details but i gave consent.
Today a letter arrived and it states that they served myself and my ex with an improvement notice on dec13 however we have never received anything? and the fact that they contacted the mortgage company to get our address means they couldnt have posted anything to us that we didnt get?
In the past my tenant has always just called or text any problems and I get them fixed?
I dont have £6500 so I am going to have to appeal this but my questions are.
If we are served with an improvement notice surely they have to send it signed for to prove we got it giving us time to repair anything?

Do they have the right to just go into the house without consent from us and without proving that they had made any effort to contact us.
I would have thought they would need a court order of something?

Any advice on this would be really gratefully received so that when I call them on monday I am armed with some information and things to ask of them..

Thank you

Southend1

Why were you renting out a property without heating?

travelchick

It had oil heaters installed in every room.
They are only 4 years old.

G_M

1) did the house have central heating? did it work? were there any known problems? Had the tenants complained to you about the heating?

2) was the property in poor state and was the work required

3) did the council have your address (actual address, not the let property)? How long have the tenants been there? What address do you use when paying council tax between tenancies?

4) is this an HMO?

5) what have the council said in response to your query about where/when the served the enforcement notice?

Essentially, yes, in ertain circumstances the council can do works and bill you, but only where you have first been served an enforcement notice informing you of the need for the work and requiring you to do it yourself

pmlindyloo

travelchick wrote: »

hello All
Thank you for taking the time to read this I have gotten up this morning to a bill from the council for repairs they did to a house I own and rent out?
They state that Under the Section 11-12 of the housing act they have done repairs to my home IE installed central heating.

3 weeks ago my mortgage company called and asked me if they could give my address to the home improvements decision of the council as they had contacted them to find us, I thought it was strange as my tenant had my details but i gave consent.
Today a letter arrived and it states that they served myself and my ex with an improvement notice on dec13 however we have never received anything? and the fact that they contacted the mortgage company to get our address means they couldnt have posted anything to us that we didnt get?
In the past my tenant has always just called or text any problems and I get them fixed?
I dont have £6500 so I am going to have to appeal this but my questions are.
If we are served with an improvement notice surely they have to send it signed for to prove we got it giving us time to repair anything?

Do they have the right to just go into the house without consent from us and without proving that they had made any effort to contact us.
I would have thought they would need a court order of something?

Any advice on this would be really gratefully received so that when I call them on monday I am armed with some information and things to ask of them..

Thank you

Here is an overview of what one council does in these cases. I would guess that the procedure they use is common to all councils.


http://www.pendle.gov.uk/info/100007/housing/1049/advice_for_landlords/2

They do have emergency powers where there is an immediate danger.

Have you spoken to your tenants to find out what the problem was? Have you had no indication of problems with the heating?

G_M

What kind of oil heaters? Parafin? Kerosene? Oil-filled electric heaters?

British Standard?

Oil heater pose a risk a) of damp but more seriously b) co poisoning and c) fire

I_have_spoken

You could have installed C/H and written off the cost against tax. Were you using an agent to handle everything?

bris

It's highly unlikely that the proper procedure was not carried out by the council. The housing officer must have seen something that worried him and tried to contact you about it.

People just tend to bury their heads in the sand and hope it goes away but these things can and will be enforced.

The council will take a charging order on the property plus interest if it's not paid.

Ulfar

No they don't have to send letters that have to be signed for on receipt, they can send them via normal post. If they have been sent to your address and they have have sent more than one, then claiming you haven't received them won't get you very far.

travelchick

The heaters were just plug in ones you by from B&Q that where wall mounted.
The tenant has been in the house about 7 years and was renting it before we got it add asked to stay.
She always contacts me when she has a problem and I have always arranged repairs ASAP
I haven't received any notice at all from the council or the tenant to say anything was wrong.
Surely to serve notice you must have to either serve them in person or a signed for letter?
My tenant is on housing benefits and her monthly bill is sent to me from the same council monthly, yet they told the mortgage company they didnt have my address?

I only got this letter today so I can't speak to the council until Monday.
I'm not a bad landlord or anything if I had received notice from the council about something hazardous I would have got it sorted ASAP but now I've been presented with a large bill and high interest rates and inspection fees after the fact.

I just didnt think the council could enter a property do repairs and bill you without contacting me 1st.
I understand if it was a threat to life emergency however according to the letter they sent I had been given 3 months notice do the work so this wasn't serious endangerment work issue?

travelchick

Ulfar wrote: »

No they don't have to send letters that have to be signed for on receipt, they can send them via normal post. If they have been sent to your address and they have have sent more than one, then claiming you haven't received them won't get you very far.

This I understand however they contacted my mortgage company 3 weeks ago claiming they didnt have an address for me so where did they send the notice to?
I haven't moved the address on file was always the same.

Surely to gain access to the property they have to prove they have tried to contact me?