A 'What if..' about the flooding.

Generali

A hypothetical situation:

I've just found a nice house to rent with my family in the Cotswolds. I've put down my deposit, gone through the very expensive process of being vetted, signed my AST with a 6 month break clause and moved in.

2 weeks later it starts to rain. A lot. For a long time. Before I know it, what I flushed away yesterday is bobbing through the kitchen. Many of my belongings are ruined and the house is going to be out of action for months.

I signed a contract with my LL for him to provide me with accomodation at 11, Lakeside Villas, Marshy Down, Oxon. He can't fulfill this contract.

What happens? Does he have to pay for me to live in comparable (non flooded) accomodation? If so do I have to pay him rent? What happens to my costs (e.g. emergency hotel for a few nights, having to pay to go through the vetting process again, removal van)?

I'm just interested. In reality, I live on top of a hill. If I flood then London will be under about 150 meters of water.

courtjester

It depends entirely on the terms of your agreement.

Generally, there would be a rent waiver clause in the event that the accommodation becomes uninhabitable - leaving you free to find alternate accommodation.

The landlord would have no responsibility to rehouse you or provide for emergency costs.

The optimum solution is to take out contents insurance which covers you for alternative accommodation costs or additional rent in the event of an issue such as flooding of the premises.

rosysparkle

We had a legal update emailed to us yesterday on this subject. Briefly:

1) habitation clause - ideally a tenancy agreemet should have a habitation clause stating that rent (or a fair proportion of rent) is not payable should the house become uninhabitable in whole (or in part). There should also be a clause allowing either party to terminate the tenancy at short notice if the property is to be uninhabitable for any significant length of time.

2) Insurance - landlords should take out insurance to recover lost rent payments while the property is uninhabitable (as well as the buildings ins to repair the property and contents ins if applicable). Some policies will pay rehousing costs for tenants. Following the recent floods some companies may decline cover or load the premiums heavily in flood postcodes, but such cover is still be recommended (and is obviously tax deductible).

3) Rehousing - On the one side is the presumption that the L/L will provide accomodation to the tenenat for the term of the tenancy as long as they ay the rent. On the other side landlords are not liable for force majeure Act of God. The best advice is to arrange the rehousing of the tenant as long as they pay the rent or offer surrender of tenancy. Each case will need to be considered in light of the wording of the tenancy agreement and the insurance position. Due to FSA regs, agents or tenants may not fill in landlords ins claims forms if they do not have the appropriate registration. They may liaise with loss adjusters but it would be a criminal offence to fill in the claim form.

Tenants should take out ins cover for their possessions.

Hope that helps.

Generali

Thanks rosysparkle.

So in effect, if there's a force majeure (which this clearly is) you're on your own if you're a tenant and you get flooded out.

rosysparkle

I think the best advice I would give to a prospective tenant is check the flood risk on the environment agency website and take out comprehensive contents ins (and if they can, insurance which would cover the cost of emergency accomodation) and ensure that there is a clause in the agreement allowing them to terminate the agreement if the property becomes uninhabitable.

We were very lucky in that we only had one tenant completely flooded out, and in that case the L/L returned the rent for the uninhabitable days, and her ins paid for his three nights in a hotel. We then found him another property (different L/L) and the original L/L agreed to terminate his tenancy from the day he was flooded out.

All other tenants here have been only partly affected or not at all (it's a hilly place, Sheffield).

The environment agency website is useful for checking flood risks, you get coloured overlays showing the degree of risk in a particular postcode area.

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/ Put your postcode into the search box on the right hand side of the page.

Generali

Hmm. So what would happen if I didn't have a 'habitable' clause in the contract? Would I have to carry on paying for a place I couldn't live in? Would the LL have a legal obligation to put me up elsewhere suitable until the place I was renting was ok for me to move back to?

dolce_vita

It depends on the landlord's attitude.

As a landlord of 3 rented properties, I would feel morally obliged to do all I could to help a tenant in this situation - either practically or financially.

But then how many BTL newbies with enormous debts and negative cashflow could afford to do the same.