Too good to be true?

aqua111

My Partner rents out a house on a 6 months Rolling Tenancy.
The Agent called today and said would he allow the Tenant to install a more modern Bathroom Suite at his own expense on condition he would be given long term tenancy.
He has been in the house for 18 months.
Comments please.

mrginge

Possibly one of the worst deals ever.

aqua111

mrginge wrote: »

Possibly one of the worst deals ever.

Please would you explain?
He has not been asked to sign anything.

G_M

Possibly a good idea subject to caveats:

1) Does the partner/landlord plan to continue letting the property long-term? Any possiblility this might change eg want to move back in himself, or sell, or.......?

2) Is the partner happy with the tenant (ie happy to consider keeping this tenant long-term)?

3) If yes to both, then a long-term fixed AST seems a good idea for both sides, giving each future security. If more than a 12 month fixed term, he should consider including a clause for rent increases - though may decide to dispense with this if the tenant is improving the property.

4) any change to the design of the bathroom, whether lay-out and/or suite design/colour etc, should be subject to the LL's approval - do not give the tenant 'carte blanche'!

5) Installation should be done by a landlord-approved contractor. Again, do not give the tenant 'carte-blanche' to use any old cowboy

6) tenant may be envisaging doing the work himself. If LL is considering agreeing, he needs to be confidant the tenant is a good plumber, electrician, carpenter, tiler etc ..!! And there needs to be a clear agreement about standards, AND arrangement for resolving any later disagreement about whether that standard has been reached.

Whatever is agreed, needs to be in writing, and jointly signed.

dancingfairy

It seems it's the agent who's given permission and possibly not the actual landlord. If he gets permission, fine but he will either have to tie himself to a long contract or accept he may given notice. C
Df

AdrianC

aqua111 wrote: »

Please would you explain?
He has not been asked to sign anything.

The LL is being asked to agree to a long-term tenancy, in return for the tenant updating the bathroom.

That rings alarm bells on several levels...

1 - Are we still talking AST, or is some other form of tenancy being suggested, giving stronger rights to the tenant?
2 - Even if we are talking AST, how long? What happens if the landlord's circumstances change during that period, and he needs to sell the property? A house with a long-tenancy sitting tenant is not going to be easy to sell without a substantial discount.
3 - What if the tenant, knowing he has a long-term secure tenancy, starts to take the michael? It is much, much harder to evict a tenant during the fixed period of a tenancy.
4 - What if the bathroom installation's done badly, causing damage to the rest of the property?

Others can probably add to that list with even scarier reasons...

Unless the bathroom required is something very unusual (in which case, the landlord's going to have to pay to remove it when the tenant leaves - or, if it's for medical reasons, kicks the bucket), then it may be worth the landlord just paying to update it himself in return for a happy tenant on a tenancy of normal flexibility.

Good landlords like good tenants.
Good tenants like good landlords.

If there's trust and respect, a long-term lock-in tenancy isn't needed.

aqua111

This has not been discussed fully.
The Tenant is a Plumber.
We are assuming that he will trust us to keep him as a Tenant as long as Rent is paid and no problems arise.
We will stipulate that only qualified Tradesmen are employed.
We have not been asked to sign any long term agreement and would not be prepared to do so.
Rent is very reasonable and will not be increased if work carried out to a satisfactory standard.

booksurr

aqua111 wrote: »

at his own expense on condition he would be given long term tenancy..

aqua111 wrote: »

We have not been asked to sign any long term agreement and would not be prepared to do so..

then the tenant will not get what he wants in return so would be a fool to do the work for you

benjus

AdrianC wrote: »

2 - Even if we are talking AST, how long? What happens if the landlord's circumstances change during that period, and he needs to sell the property? A house with a long-tenancy sitting tenant is not going to be easy to sell without a substantial discount.

AdrianC wrote: »

If there's trust and respect, a long-term lock-in tenancy isn't needed.

These two statements don't quite tally for me. You say that there should be trust and respect, but also that the landlord should be able to turf the tenant out at any time if their "circumstances change". That hardly sounds like a fair deal to me.

Ok, it could easily happen that the LL needs to sell the property at some point. But throwing out the tenant just to get a better price for a vacant property is sheer greed.

I agree with G_M's post. This could work, but IMO it's only fair for the LL to commit to a longer tenancy if the tenant is doing this work at their own expense. Is the property mortgaged, and if so what kind of mortgage is it? If your partner does consider signing a long term agreement, check that this meets any mortgage conditions.

G_M

aqua111 wrote: »

This has not been discussed fully.
The Tenant is a Plumber.
We are assuming that he will trust us to keep him as a Tenant as long as Rent is paid and no problems arise.
We will stipulate that only qualified Tradesmen are employed.
We have not been asked to sign any long term agreement and would not be prepared to do so.
Rent is very reasonable and will not be increased if work carried out to a satisfactory standard.

You need to clarify what is being asked here. My understanding is that

* the tenant wants a new bathroom, and is prepared to pay
* the tenant also (sensibly) wants long term security before sinking his own money into the landlord's property ("on condition he would be given long term tenancy")
* the tenant asked the agent if the above 2 requests would be granted by the landlord
* the agent has asked the LL, who asked you, who asked us

Is that right?

Supplementary: you said the tenant is on a

6 months Rolling Tenancy.

Are you sure? This is highly unusual.
* A 6 month fixed term tenancy is common.
* A monthly rolling tenancy is common.
I cannot remember when we last heard of a 6 month rolling tenancy on this forum - if ever.

AdrianC

aqua111 wrote: »

The Agent called today and said would he allow the Tenant to install a more modern Bathroom Suite at his own expense on condition he would be given long term tenancy.

...but...

aqua111 wrote: »

We have not been asked to sign any long term agreement and would not be prepared to do so.

Both of these cannot be true.