Leaving a rented house empty

diggingdude

Monday morning
Landlord - The property was broken into last night, it looks like you moved out a couple of months ago which is against your agreement
Tenant - What.....no way....I only moved everything out on sunday morning so that we can move the new minimalist furniture in on Saturday.  PS we are on holiday this week

Problem solves. In a week move a blow up mattress and kettle into property

theartfullodger

There is nothing stopping someone signing say, 17 ASTs at the same time but  living elsewhere in his own owned home.

But as he won't be residing in any of them they won't be ASTs , regardless of what the paperwork says.  Relevant terms (property, who is landlord, who is tenant, dates, rent amount and payment terms etc etc etc ...) still apply

Comms69

Joker2 said:

There is a lot of uncertainty regarding the authorities actions regarding squatters now that the world has changed so much?

In what way? Squatting is legal in commercial buildings, and a criminal offence in residential

davidmcn

Comms69 said:

Joker2 said:

There is a lot of uncertainty regarding the authorities actions regarding squatters now that the world has changed so much?

In what way? Squatting is legal in commercial buildings, and a criminal offence in residential

It's just a would-be spammer making meaningless posts everywhere.

theartfullodger

If it's empty it's not a rented house.  Insurance is a issue

shinytop

theartfullodger said:

If it's empty it's not a rented house.  Insurance is a issue

For the LL's buildings insurance maybe but that's their problem.  And for the tenant's contents insurance if there were any contents left to insure, which there won't be. 

Buzyizzy

Interested to read this as I am currently in the second month of an AST, but looking for somewhere to buy asap. My contract states I can give 2 month’s notice at 4 months. It’s entirely possible I would want to leave before then, but happy (?) to pay the six month’s rent. I shall have to have a read of my contract re leaving it empty. I also assumed once I’ve left, I’m not liable for the council tax. 

Very informative thread. 🙂

Buzyizzy

martindow said:

Even if there were a clause saying that it should not be unoccupied for longer than a certain period, the tenant could satisfy this by popping in or staying overnight  every now and then when this interval was up.  The onus is on the LL to specify conditions in the contract but they can't be too onerous or the tenant would never be able to go on holiday!

That was my thought too! I’m only moving 100 miles, so I could easily pop back overnight. 

Buzyizzy

What happens if you end up in hospital? 

theartfullodger

shinytop said:

If a tenant is renting under a 6 month fixed term AST, is there anything to stop them moving out after, say, 4 months and leaving the house empty until the end of the contract? ................

Depends what the tenancy agreement says on the matter (there is no "standard" agreement terms). Usually there is a clause in landlord's property insurance policy stating property won't be left unoccupied for (say) more than 7 or 14 days.  Certainly the case in for my (I'm a landlord) insurance of BTL property.  If tenant does then leave the place unoccupied to (say) end of tenancy there's nothing landlord or agent can do that other than try to evict for breach of contract (unlikely to succeed) or sue for any losses.. 

WHY do you think tenant might do this?? 

BTW an AST can be (say..) other than 6 months - 5 days, a month, 4 months etc etc etc...Amazing how many "gurus" who don't know this...

How often does landlord or agent  inspect the place?? 

This is of course a problem for cannabis farms, amongst other insurance problems...