Landlord and tenant dispute

Alys

I'm posting on behalf of a friend who has a flat that she rents out that's above her own house. It has three rooms (and a separate kitchen) and she rents out two, and keeps the other for when her daughter visits.

My friend would now like her tenants to move out as she feels they may have prevented her from using her internet at times so that they can keep all the bandwidth to themselves. She thinks that they have 'hacked' into her home hub in order to do this. This, if true, has caused her some major inconvenience.
All amenities are included in the rent, and although I do not think that the internet is specifically mentioned by name, they have had use of it for some 8 months now. The tenants deny all this and she has no real proof so far as I can see. One tenant also had her friend to stay for more than a week, which is against their tenancy agreement - again this can't be proved, my friend is just 'sure' that it happened.

She has asked the tenants to leave before the tenancy ends and they have refused to do so unless she compensate them by several hundred pounds, which she really does not want to do - the tenancy ends in late December anyway.

She and her daughter have both had 'words' with the tenant, and her friend, and her daughter has been accused of being aggressive, which she denies.

I'm telling her that I think she's on a hiding to nothing and that she should either wait for the tenancy to end, or make an offer of her own for compensation just to get rid of them. She refuses to give them a penny and is certain that she's in the right. She going to visit a solicitor to get them thrown out.

Surely the process of removing them will take so long that she might as well wait for the tenancy to finish? I see this as a total waste of time and money, but can't make her see this - am I wrong?

thesaint

Does your friend share any of the accomodation with the tenants?
Your friend needs to find out if the internet is part of the written agreement

pinkshoes

Are they definitely tenants and not lodgers? Sounds a strange set up.

How do the tenants access this flat?

Did she protect their deposit in a scheme?

Innys1

Is there a break clause in the contract?

theartfullodger

Was the flat upstairs part of a "purpose built" load or was it a conversion?? If a conversion this isn't an AST (even if paperwork says it is).

Is her internet BT??

Alys

No, no accommodation is shared, the tenants have their own door, which is incidentally also the back door to my friends house. She does use it sometimes, but only goes through the utility room, which is downstairs whilst the rest of the flat is upstairs.

I do not think the internet is specifically mentioned, but she isn't looking for any money for this and admits that the were allowed to use it, there was an extender specifically to give upstairs access to it - the problem is that she thinks they stopped her using it so that they could play games.

[Deleted User]

I think your friend should pay for a separate broadband for the flat upstairs from now on, and not give the upstairs tenants the login details to her own private one.

Alys

The deposits are protected.

The flats were converted from one house, but extra care was taken to install fire doors etc and she is sure that it is classed as a separate dwelling.

Alys

I should add that their offer to move out for compensation came via a solicitor (who we think is a friend of theirs).

Pixie5740

Can you confirm where the property is? Scotland? Northern Ireland? England and Wales? As there are different laws depending on the country.

Alys wrote: »

I'm posting on behalf of a friend who has a flat that she rents out that's above her own house. It has three rooms (and a separate kitchen) and she rents out two, and keeps the other for when her daughter visits.

What sort of tenancy is in place? Does each tenant have their own individual tenancy agreement or is there a joint tenancy in place?

Alys wrote: »

My friend would now like her tenants to move out as she feels they may have prevented her from using her internet at times so that they can keep all the bandwidth to themselves. She thinks that they have 'hacked' into her home hub in order to do this. This, if true, has caused her some major inconvenience.

If she suspects that the tenants or others have the password for her wifi then she should change it.

Alys wrote: »

All amenities are included in the rent, and although I do not think that the internet is specifically mentioned by name, they have had use of it for some 8 months now.

She doesn't know who has been using her wifi. Did she give the tenants the wifi network password or does she have an unsecured connection? Edit: I see from one of your posts that she gave them her password so the tenants have used it with her permission.

Alys wrote: »

The tenants deny all this and she has no real proof so far as I can see. One tenant also had her friend to stay for more than a week, which is against their tenancy agreement - again this can't be proved, my friend is just 'sure' that it happened.

Landlords cannot dictate to tenants whether or not they are allowed to have visitors to stay.

Alys wrote: »

She has asked the tenants to leave before the tenancy ends and they have refused to do so unless she compensate them by several hundred pounds, which she really does not want to do - the tenancy ends in late December anyway.

Just because the fixed term ends it does not mean to say the tenancy will end. A tenancy can only be ended by the tenant or a court. If the tenants don't leave at the end of the fixed term then your friend will have to serve notice and go to court for an eviction notice if necessary.

Alys wrote: »

She and her daughter have both had 'words' with the tenant, and her friend, and her daughter has been accused of being aggressive, which she denies.

Having words with the tenants about what? The internet? Having visitors? Your friend and her daughter need to back off.

Alys wrote: »

I'm telling her that I think she's on a hiding to nothing and that she should either wait for the tenancy to end, or make an offer of her own for compensation just to get rid of them. She refuses to give them a penny and is certain that she's in the right. She going to visit a solicitor to get them thrown out.

You are correct whereas your friend sounds like a fruit loop. She can go and see a solicitor but they will just tell her that she can't just throw the tenants out.

Alys wrote: »

Surely the process of removing them will take so long that she might as well wait for the tenancy to finish? I see this as a total waste of time and money, but can't make her see this - am I wrong?

No you're not wrong. Your friend should learn something about being a landlord and serve notice leaving the tenants alone in the meantime.

fairy_lights

If their tenancy ends in December whey can't she wait until then to ask them to leave? The problems mentioned don't seem serious enough to warrant trying to chuck them out early.