Nightmare Landlady Running House From Abroad - Need Advice

00ec25

OP reading some of your initial posts it seems you may not have understood some jargon being used.

1. Your LL is not living in the UK. She is "non resident" for tax purposes.

2. because of point 1, she is required by law to provide to you an address in England or Wales at which you can contact her in writing. That is you can "serve" a "notice" on her. "Notice" includes you informing her of repairs and actions you take, it does also mean notice to leave, but in this context "notice" also means anything in writing

3. Without such an address you are not legally required to physically pay the rent, although you must pay it if and when the LL provides an Eng/Wales address.

4. because of point 1, if you pay your rent direct to a bank account in her name she must have confirmed to you that she handles her own UK tax affairs herself. That confirmation should take the form of a letter from HMRC informing her that it is agreed she can receive rent without deduction of income tax. If you pay her direct and she does not produce such letter then YOU as the tenant are legally liable for HER tax and must deduct 20% from what you pay and send that money to HMRC. So next time she accuses you of something fire back at her and put the pressure on her.

5. You say the leak is from the chimney and that a builder has already capped it? So the leak is now fixed? The LL is correct in that you do have a duty to "act in a tenant like manner" which means promptly report any repairs to the LL and not undertake any actions which will cause further damage. To that extent her claim you are "negligent" would have some basis ONLY IF you had delayed the ability to undertake repairs. However, it is clear from what you say that such a claim is invalid as there is nothing whatsoever stopping the LL from organising builders to attend and quote herself. The fact she expects you to do that for her is unacceptable and in no way your responsibility or negligence if you don't.

as others have said, write a letter to the English address summarising everything that has happened so far and throwing the ball back in her court. Bear in mind 2 further things:
a) she cannot legally serve a Section 21 notice on you during the first 6 months of your tenancy
b) if she does serve a S21 notice on you after 6 months you can contest it on the basis it is "retaliation" for reporting a repair. the law now says that such retaliatory S21 are invalid

In other words, and mixing the cliches, you still have quite a few cards up your sleeve that you can play hardball over if you want

G_M

antrobus wrote: »

My understanding is based on this simple statement addressed to NRLs;

If you want to pay tax on your rental income through Self Assessment, fill in form NRL1i and send it back to HMRC.

If your application is approved, HMRC will tell your letting agent or tenant not to deduct tax from your rent and you’ll need to declare your income in your Self Assessment tax return.

https://www.gov.uk/tax-uk-income-live-abroad/rent

So if the OP hasn't received a letter from HMRC they should be deducting tax from the rent.

Indeed.

Though we don't yet know who receives the rent. It may be that the rent is paid direct to the landlord's mum in Norfolk, in which case there is no problem - mum is liable for the tax, not the tenant.

always_sunny

G_M wrote: »

Indeed.

Though we don't yet know who receives the rent. It may be that the rent is paid direct to the landlord's mum in Norfolk, in which case there is no problem - mum is liable for the tax, not the tenant.

I am not sure why folks on this thread are so caught up about the tax and being abroad bit as if that's going to fix the issue.

The OP needs to be clear to the LL what she's expecting from the her.

In all my previous rentals I never had the LL physically taking care of issues and usually I would deal with the tradesmen, etc.
Would that be unreasonable from the LL? Some tenants say yes, some might no.
I (as a tenant) would not want the LL inside, others might be okay.

So far the OP problem is that "the roof began to leak slightly through the chimneys".
What's slightly we don't know. Is it damaging any OP's property, is it flooding a room, does it need to be fixed urgently or can it wait a week or two give it's 'summer'?

glasgowdan

always_sunny wrote: »

I am not sure why folks on this thread are so caught up about the tax and being abroad bit as if that's going to fix the issue.
It could be used as incentive to encourage the landlord to play nicer, and could be the cause of a huge extra stress on the OP if HMRC hits them with tax liabilities.

The OP needs to be clear to the LL what she's expecting from the her.

In all my previous rentals I never had the LL physically taking care of issues and usually I would deal with the tradesmen, etc.
Would that be unreasonable from the LL? Some tenants say yes, some might no.
I (as a tenant) would not want the LL inside, others might be okay.

So far the OP problem is that "the roof began to leak slightly through the chimneys".
Plus the fact they're getting uncomfortable messages, plus the fact they're having to give up a lot of time to deal with visits for quotes, plus the fact they have been asked to keep landlord's items safe in their own home

What's slightly we don't know. Is it damaging any OP's property, is it flooding a room, does it need to be fixed urgently or can it wait a week or two give it's 'summer'?
A roof leak is urgent regardless of season and the landlord should not be delaying it for the sake of a third quote or more.

There is a lot more to it than just the roof leak.

Pixie5740

always_sunny wrote: »

I am not sure why folks on this thread are so caught up about the tax and being abroad bit as if that's going to fix the issue.

The OP needs to be clear to the LL what she's expecting from the her.

In all my previous rentals I never had the LL physically taking care of issues and usually I would deal with the tradesmen, etc.
Would that be unreasonable from the LL? Some tenants say yes, some might no.
I (as a tenant) would not want the LL inside, others might be okay.

So far the OP problem is that "the roof began to leak slightly through the chimneys".
What's slightly we don't know. Is it damaging any OP's property, is it flooding a room, does it need to be fixed urgently or can it wait a week or two give it's 'summer'?

The landlord is not behaving like a reasonable person or as someone who knows her responsibilities as a landlord. The tax issue is important. If the landlord has not registered with the non-resident landlord scheme the OP could be facing a hefty tax bill. 20% of £24,000 is not to be sniffed at.

What you did or did not do in your previous rentals is not relevant to the OP. I mean you allowed letting agents to repeatedly cajoule you into signing new fixed term contracts every 6 or 12 months when you could have just the tenancy become periodic.

always_sunny

Pixie5740 wrote: »

I mean you allowed letting agents to repeatedly cajoule you into signing new fixed term contracts every 6 or 12 months when you could have just the tenancy become periodic.

I am not sure cajouling is the right term, it's not as if only happened to me, it is kinda a widespread situation in London and in other major towns. I know some of you believe in this periodic tenancies and keep giving that advice but as I keep saying to you in reality it doesn't always work that way.

Pixie5740

always_sunny wrote: »

I am not sure cajouling is the right term, it's not as if only happened to me, it is kinda a widespread situation in London and in other major towns. I know some of you believe in this periodic tenancies and keep giving that advice but as I keep saying to you in reality it doesn't always work that way.

Silly me! I didn't realise that London and other major towns were exempt from statutory law. Oh that's right they're not and periodic tenancies are a possibility for those who can hold their nerve.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

The LL saves money by not paying a managing agent. That doesn't mean you have to do it for free.

I hate it when thick, greedy, amateur LLs and agents use vaguely legal sounding words to frighten tenants into compliance. Your legal obligation is to act in a tenant-like manner- which you have done by quickly informing the LL of a potentially serious problem. It's clearly not reasonable for you to take personal holiday or unpaid leave to accommodate multiple trades quotes; the LL should nominate a representative to organise this on their behalf.

bouicca21

And as an aside, I'd be checking that the deposit is properly protected ...

benjus

always_sunny wrote: »

I am not sure cajouling is the right term, it's not as if only happened to me, it is kinda a widespread situation in London and in other major towns. I know some of you believe in this periodic tenancies and keep giving that advice but as I keep saying to you in reality it doesn't always work that way.

That's only the case because so many tenants don't know their rights and bow down to whatever the landlord or letting agent tells them. I'm sure in many cases the landlord doesn't even care, it's purely the letting agent that insists on a new tenancy in order to charge a fee (and may charge the landlord as well). If the tenant took the trouble to contact the landlord directly (tenants have a legal right to their landlord's real address) many of these could be resolved.

Ultimately, if the tenant stays in the property after the end of the fixed term and does not sign a new tenancy agreement, the landlord must choose whether to accept that they are now on a periodic tenancy and live with it, or commence eviction proceedings. If the tenant has been a good tenant, why would a sane landlord go through all the expense and inconvenience of an eviction, followed by the possibility of a void period, just for the sake of a crisp, fresh tenancy agreement?