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

travelchick

Southend1 wrote: »

Ah ok, all sounds very messy to me, you probably should seek some advice from your solicitor on this one. Maybe your ex is liable for the cost of the heating installation?

He will be liable for half of the bill however he is currently doing his usual "its your problem" and burying his head in the sand which wont make this go away, so im going to deal with this and whatever the outcome its half his loss.
But its something that I will have to speak to my sol to get it added to the separation of finances before they are finalised

travelchick

missbiggles1 wrote: »

I wonder whether they "central heating only rule" that they quoted refers to the housing standards required by section 604 of the Housing Act of 1985?

This is Maidstone Council's information on the subject.

Excess Cold
The main cause of excess cold is a lack of a fixed form of affordable heating
which typical occupiers find affordable to run.


"Affordable heating systems include:
• Gas Central Heating
• Oil Fired Central Heating
• Gas Room Heaters
• Electric Storage Heaters running from off peak electricity
The heating system must be able to heat the living room and bedrooms to 21°C
and 18°C respectively when it is -1°C outside.
In addition to an affordable heating system loft and cavity wall insulation should
be installed to current Building Regulations to help keep in the heat that is
produced. This is essential in properties which have electric storage heaters.
Plug in electric fires and portable heaters are not considered a satisfactory form
of affordable heating. "

http://www.maidstone.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/15257/Housing-Standards-Booklet-January-2014.pdf

Thats why I didnt demand the extra money off of her as this ofset what she paid in heating.
I think my main argument really is, if the council had said you have to instal this or you cant rent your house out I would have ended the tenancy.
They did not give me the chance to make my decision, I could have gotten quotes ect and seen if it was cost effective to instal it or to just pay the mortgage and use it as a 2nd home

regprentice

As I said previously the council have to comply with the decent homes programme. They arent going to simply fix a broken storage heater. If (in their view) they have had to improve the property's heating to an acceptable standard due to a pressing social need they will have done so by installing a full decent quality gas central heating system.

https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/improving-the-rented-housing-sector--2/supporting-pages/decent-homes-refurbishing-social-housing

I've seen a number of compulsory notices from councils to private owners in a previous job at a letting agency (though usually for communual repairs). The process of identifying the work to be done, tendering the work, doing the job itself and then organising the billing can literally take years in some cases - during this time your tenant has likely repeatedly made you out to be an absentee slum landlord.

The council are going to tell you that referring to the land registry (which presumably held the 10 year old address) was their policy and that you were responsible for keeping that legal record up to date. I would imagine they will quote the data protection act for not sharing addresses with other depts.

You wont be the first landlord to have a passive agressive tenant - what if she goes to the papers/council/mp because she is an abused woman with nowhere else to go whose landlord wants to increase her rent 60% overnight because she managed to get the council to bring the heating to an acceptable standard?

- Your tenant wants to be evicted so she can get priority housing
- If you want to sell your property as a btl with a sitting tenant you need to evict a tenant consistently paying only 2/3rds of the invoiced rent.
- If you want to sell at all you need to evict your tenant.
- If you want you move back in yourself you need to evict your tenant.

What's she going to ask the council for next... a new bathroom... a new kitchen?

travelchick

regprentice wrote: »

As I said previously the council have to comply with the decent homes programme. They arent going to simply fix a broken storage heater. If (in their view) they have had to improve the property's heating to an acceptable standard due to a pressing social need they will have done so by installing a full decent quality gas central heating system.

https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/improving-the-rented-housing-sector--2/supporting-pages/decent-homes-refurbishing-social-housing

I've seen a number of compulsory notices from councils to private owners in a previous job at a letting agency (though usually for communual repairs). The process of identifying the work to be done, tendering the work, doing the job itself and then organising the billing can literally take years in some cases - during this time your tenant has likely repeatedly made you out to be an absentee slum landlord.

The council are going to tell you that referring to the land registry (which presumably held the 10 year old address) was their policy and that you were responsible for keeping that legal record up to date. I would imagine they will quote the data protection act for not sharing addresses with other depts.

You wont be the first landlord to have a passive agressive tenant - what if she goes to the papers/council/mp because she is an abused woman with nowhere else to go whose landlord wants to increase her rent 60% overnight because she managed to get the council to bring the heating to an acceptable standard?

- Your tenant wants to be evicted so she can get priority housing
- If you want to sell your property as a btl with a sitting tenant you need to evict a tenant consistently paying only 2/3rds of the invoiced rent.
- If you want to sell at all you need to evict your tenant.
- If you want you move back in yourself you need to evict your tenant.

What's she going to ask the council for next... a new bathroom... a new kitchen?

Thank you I appreciate how you are seeing this and you are right it does sound like she is making me out to be fagan!! rather than someone who helped her when she was at rock bottom and gave her and her kids a break and i feel an idiot for not thinking more business about it.

I dont want to sell I brought this home for the future and I want to keep it, I am going to find out via agents and sol about how I can get her to pay the rent in full as per her contract as I agree ive been taken for a mug letting the difference slide because of the more costly heating, I am going to make sure that she if she leaves the house its because she doesnt pay future rents and is making herself homeless.
I am certainly not going to hand her a shiney new council house in the form of an eviction order.
If I get the house with and agent this will prevent the council accidentally loosing my info again as the bathroom and kitchen ect are all under 7 years old I will have them monitoring everything that maybe accidentally damaged in the future

missbiggles1

travelchick wrote: »

Thats why I didnt demand the extra money off of her as this ofset what she paid in heating.
I think my main argument really is, if the council had said you have to instal this or you cant rent your house out I would have ended the tenancy.
They did not give me the chance to make my decision, I could have gotten quotes ect and seen if it was cost effective to instal it or to just pay the mortgage and use it as a 2nd home

If that is a rule (and I'm not saying it is) I don't think you can just get round it like that.

travelchick

missbiggles1 wrote: »

If that is a rule (and I'm not saying it is) I don't think you can just get round it like that.

From what ive learn today you can, if you own a home you can at anytime evict your tenants if you do it within the realms of the law.
After all I could simply say I want to move in so im giving you 6 months notice.
I think you cant bully your tenants into moving so you cant intentionally do stuff to intimidate them to leave by providing sub-standard housing.

But it is a good point that Im adding to my ever growing list of things to ask a sol
thank you

Southend1

travelchick wrote: »

Thank you I appreciate how you are seeing this and you are right it does sound like she is making me out to be fagan!! rather than someone who helped her when she was at rock bottom and gave her and her kids a break and i feel an idiot for not thinking more business about it.

I dont want to sell I brought this home for the future and I want to keep it, I am going to find out via agents and sol about how I can get her to pay the rent in full as per her contract as I agree ive been taken for a mug letting the difference slide because of the more costly heating, I am going to make sure that she if she leaves the house its because she doesnt pay future rents and is making herself homeless.
I am certainly not going to hand her a shiney new council house in the form of an eviction order.
If I get the house with and agent this will prevent the council accidentally loosing my info again as the bathroom and kitchen ect are all under 7 years old I will have them monitoring everything that maybe accidentally damaged in the future

I am mostly on the tenant's side here. You should have provided adequate and safe heating. And you should have updated your details with the land registry. However, I think realistically the best way forward for your business is to evict this tenant and find one who will pay the market rent now that the house has proper heating.

travelchick

Southend1 wrote: »

I am mostly on the tenant's side here. You should have provided adequate and safe heating. And you should have updated your details with the land registry. However, I think realistically the best way forward for your business is to evict this tenant and find one who will pay the market rent now that the house has proper heating.

I am on the land registry at this address? so why did they only write to the one address thats not on the file??
As you will be aware you can have 3 addressed registered with them, Mine is different to my ex.
So i think it just show more neglect on the councils behalf.

regprentice

travelchick wrote: »

I am going to make sure that she if she leaves the house its because she doesnt pay future rents and is making herself homeless.

I am certainly not going to hand her a shiney new council house in the form of an eviction order.

These two statements contradict each other.

If she cant afford to pay she will simply not pay or underpay... until you evict her. She wont simply give up and go away.

Eviction is the only mechanism you have as a landlord to reclaim your property. (I'm in Scotland so unfamiliar with specific English law. but another earlier poster quoted the applicable notices to serve for your situation)

The majority of posters have recommended eviction. This is not because they don't like your friend...its not because they are malicious... its the voice if painful experience. This can get worse than it already is.....

Please speak to a solicitor or reputable letting agent. A decent one will be quite frank with you about your situation, if they aren't, find another.

System

I agree, just had skim read and find this all the more shocking because she was a friend of a friend. I would suggest getting shot of her as she'll likely cost you more in the future.

As for the local council, I've never had a positive experience of anything from any of mine. They can't use the DPA to excuse their actions as the council is a single legal entity and will have a single registration as a data controller e.g. an English council's registration

Eton_Rifle wrote: »

The law favors the tenant.

She can do far worse to you than you can to her. 6.5K could be a drop in the ocean by the time she's finished.

Evict her. It's the lesser of two evils.