Can landlord do this?

Dinglehopper

Can a landlord demand that a tenant pay for flooring throughout the entire house instead of providing it as part of the tenancy agreement? (Unfurnished property, private rental agreement)
We had a property lined up that we have waited over 18 months for (it was bought as a doer-upper and completely gutted and remodelled) we have visited the property many times and communicated with the LL (a friend of a friend, well known in the community) throughout this time. LL would keep us updated on progress and inform us of what fittings and fixtures were going in etc - he told us that downstairs would be wood flooring. No mention of other flooring at that time.
We were due to move in very soon, however landlord has now told us that he has 'sought legal advice' and asked advice of a fellow LL (funnily enough a previous LL of ours!) and that he expects us to pay to provide our own flooring for the entire house, bar one bathroom that has been tiled. It's a decent sized house and would undoubtedly cost a small fortune to put some form of flooring in every room.
This would have been the 5th property we have rented and we've never, ever heard of this before. The previous LL of ours he consulted with oddly enough, provided all flooring for us?
He is moving the goalposts in many different areas which is ringing alarm bells for us.
We have signed no documents or even read an agreement of any kind, yet have been asked for guarantors (never missed a rent payment with any previous tenancies, full time job with good wage, affordability not an issue although some old bad debt still hanging about on credit file) Is it possible the LL could have looked in to our affairs without our knowledge or is this standard practice to request guarantors?

Stevie_Palimo

I cannot figure out why you would even consider this as it is not a rental property as such without floors in it, Tell him to jog on and get in the real world.

Guest101

Just walk away

bebewoo

You would be crazy to pay for somebody else's flooring.
This landlord sounds like no end of problems.
Walk away.

Dinglehopper

Thank you all - you have confirmed what I was thinking - just wanted to be sure that we were not making a hasty decision.

HappyMJ

Dinglehopper wrote: »

Can a landlord demand that a tenant pay for flooring throughout the entire house instead of providing it as part of the tenancy agreement? (Unfurnished property, private rental agreement)
We had a property lined up that we have waited over 18 months for (it was bought as a doer-upper and completely gutted and remodelled) we have visited the property many times and communicated with the LL (a friend of a friend, well known in the community) throughout this time. LL would keep us updated on progress and inform us of what fittings and fixtures were going in etc - he told us that downstairs would be wood flooring. No mention of other flooring at that time.
We were due to move in very soon, however landlord has now told us that he has 'sought legal advice' and asked advice of a fellow LL (funnily enough a previous LL of ours!) and that he expects us to pay to provide our own flooring for the entire house, bar one bathroom that has been tiled. It's a decent sized house and would undoubtedly cost a small fortune to put some form of flooring in every room.
This would have been the 5th property we have rented and we've never, ever heard of this before. The previous LL of ours he consulted with oddly enough, provided all flooring for us?
He is moving the goalposts in many different areas which is ringing alarm bells for us.
We have signed no documents or even read an agreement of any kind, yet have been asked for guarantors (never missed a rent payment with any previous tenancies, full time job with good wage, affordability not an issue although some old bad debt still hanging about on credit file) Is it possible the LL could have looked in to our affairs without our knowledge or is this standard practice to request guarantors?

Housing Association and Council Houses typically come with no flooring.

You can carpet it yourself and take the carpet away when you leave. There is no requirement to leave it. If I did have to carpet the property myself I would want a 3 year tenancy with no break clause. 3 years is the maximum a shorthold tenancy can be (by using an ordinary contract).

Why would they want guarantors? As you say you've got the money and have a job. That's good enough.

A LL cannot see if you have defaults or arrears.

As you say it's ringing alarm bells so I'd consider letting it go.

HouseBuyer77

The landlord is within their rights to attempt to rent a house without flooring.

You are within your rights to not rent it.

I'm sure LL will quickly realise he's got a property that no-one will rent. You could hold on til this point, but it sounds like he hasn't got much of a clue so you may be better off with another property and a (hopefully) better LL.

As a point of interest in Germany whilst you don't have to provide your own flooring it's very common that you provide fixtures such as light fittings in a rental and often you need to fit your own kitchen!

HouseBuyer77

Housing Association and Council Houses typically come with no flooring.

I guess you often have far more security of tenancy in such properties? If you're planning on being in a place for several years, and you can contractually guarantee the LL can't kick you out before then, supplying your own carpet doesn't seem that silly.

In an AST where you can be gone in under a year it's a bit of a risk.

marksoton

He's clearly run out of money for the renovation....

Run for the hills...

GDB2222

HouseBuyer77 wrote: »

The landlord is within their rights to attempt to rent a house without flooring.

You are within your rights to not rent it.

I'm sure LL will quickly realise he's got a property that no-one will rent. You could hold on til this point, but it sounds like he hasn't got much of a clue so you may be better off with another property and a (hopefully) better LL.

As a point of interest in Germany whilst you don't have to provide your own flooring it's very common that you provide fixtures such as light fittings in a rental and often you need to fit your own kitchen!

It's quite common for LLs to ask for guarantors. Particularly on a newly-refurb'ed property where the amount of damage that can be done is far more than the deposit is likely to be. It's also quite common for tenants not to agree to this!

If the rent figure reflects the lack of flooring and the tenancy term is long enough, I don't see why you couldn't agree to provide the flooring. It's unusual, certainly, but you should take a commercial view of what's being offered.

Dinglehopper

marksoton wrote: »

He's clearly run out of money for the renovation....

Run for the hills...

Lots of people are saying the same thing. He has spent a LOT of money so far on what I consider to be non essentials.