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

moneyistooshorttomention

travelchick wrote: »

I appreciate that they are more costly however it's not a legal requirement to put central heating in.
The house is rented to a single mum with 3 children.
Not a HMO
Her tendency states £600 a month but her benefits only covered £400.
It's a house my ex and I are fighting over in court, so the mortgage is covered I didn't chase her for the missing extra as I knew it would cover the extra cost of the heating.

I wonder if we can now deduce who the culprit is behind this.

My very first suspect, because of this fact, would be your ex. Start thinking through what he might have to gain by doing this to you/how he might have managed it/whether a letter DID genuinely get sent by the Council, but it only went to your ex and he didn't mention it.

I would have thought that the legal position would go along the lines of "If there are 2 (separated) owners of a house, then letters should be sent to both of them at their respective addresses". In the Council's position, I would have done that anyway in order to cover the Council's back and be able to prove things had been done properly (even if they weren't a legal requirement).

missbiggles1

Is this an ex council house and, possibly, leasehold?

travelchick

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

I would have thought so.

Get written proof they contacted your mortgage company 3 weeks ago, as that is good evidence that they clearly didn't make any serious attempt to contact you.

That's what I thought, I would have applied to the council home improvement scheme, which means if your garenteeing long term tenancy for a person on benefits they will instal central heating for free.
When I applied for it a few years ago I was told we weren't eligible as the house had heating!!
Sod's law

travelchick

missbiggles1 wrote: »

Is this an ex council house and, possibly, leasehold?

It is an ex council property however its a freehold.

dodger1

pmlindyloo wrote: »

Have you spoken to your tenant yet?

travelchick wrote: »

No I want to get all the facts in place before I speak to her.

The biggest fact of all (has the work been done) will only come from the tenant.

patman99

Oil-filled radiators are not as expensive to run as some people seem to think.
I have 2 to keep my flat warm (replacing a couple of convector heaters) and they cost me around £1.40 a day to run.

Travelchick, as you haven't contacted your tenant yet, you have no idea whether or not their house was indeed the one that the Council fitted the central heating too.

You need to get the facts before deciding on your actions. It is probably easier to speak in the first instance, to the tenant.

travelchick

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

I wonder if we can now deduce who the culprit is behind this.

My very first suspect, because of this fact, would be your ex. Start thinking through what he might have to gain by doing this to you/how he might have managed it/whether a letter DID genuinely get sent by the Council, but it only went to your ex and he didn't mention it.

I would have thought that the legal position would go along the lines of "If there are 2 (separated) owners of a house, then letters should be sent to both of them at their respective addresses". In the Council's position, I would have done that anyway in order to cover the Council's back and be able to prove things had been done properly (even if they weren't a legal requirement).

They didnt contact him the only reason I know this is because his copies of the letters arrived at the same time as mine, and they where sent to my home.
We have been divorce 7 years and he has never lived at this property. So I assume the reason they have sent his bill here as well is they dont have his address.

travelchick

regprentice wrote: »

Incidentally - the local authority do not need to settle for the same minimum standard of heating that you do as a private landlord. They have to comply with the 'Decent homes standard' and will likely see full central heating with a combi boiler as a minimum. If the council do the work this is the minimum they will provide.

Council were perfectly entitled to install in the absence of a negligent landlord. The real question here is why did they find you so difficult to contact? This is where you will establish what action you can succesfully take in respect of the 6k bill.

I wouldnt be quite as cocky as most of the other comments. 5 years of allowing an underpayment of £200 a month? Youre not getting that £7k back. I Hope you havent given her any texts/emails/letters referring to the '£200 off for poor heating' assertion made previously.

I'm sorry but you have been a soft touch. Your tenant has had you by the balls for years.

Hello
I really have no idea why they felt I was so hard to contact as they send me a monthly statement with regards to her benefits being paid into the mortgage account.
My tenant also has my contact details and the 1st I knew that the home improvement department where trying to contact me was when the mortgage company called me.

I am not trying to recoup the £7000 from her she doesnt have it.
I have been a soft touch but because the house is tied up in my divorce settlement its the best way of making sure the mortgage was covered as my ex wont help toward the house costs.
My tenant was a friend of a friend who left a very abusive relationship and fallen on hard times, I guess I was going through the same thing at that time and knew how difficult it can be.
I told her that I wouldnt chase her for the difference in the rent between the housing benefits and the rent but that she would have to cover the basic maintenance IE light bulbs trimming hedges all the little things that landlords can get bother with. However I told her for anything that would require proper work I would always arrange for a proper person to come in and fix it.
This was a chat I had with her over the phone however there is no documented evidence of this. the only texts between us are her texting me with any problems and me texting her back with who was coming and when they would be arriving.

System

It is an ex council property however its a freehold.

I wonder if the council have royally screwed up and thought they still owned the house and installed the CH as part of one of their upgrade programs.

moneyistooshorttomention

travelchick wrote: »

They didnt contact him the only reason I know this is because his copies of the letters arrived at the same time as mine, and they where sent to my home.
We have been divorce 7 years and he has never lived at this property. So I assume the reason they have sent his bill here as well is they dont have his address.

Not him then by the look of it.

Have they sent you both bills for £6,500 then, that is £6,500 each and the total bill is £13,000?

Actually, even if its only £6,500 between you, then how did they arrive at that figure? I cant imagine the house is that big and I wouldn't have thought installing central heating would cost that much.