Landlord not renting garage

MaryNB

I vaguely recall a thread on here (I could have read it elsewhere) where the landlord and/or their family were doing work from the garage which was not included in the tenancy agreement. Fixing up cars or something. They were using a lot of electricity and the tenants found out they, the tenants, were paying for it.
Something like that, I'm terrible at remembering detail.

ETA: Found it
Landlord stealing (abstracting) electricity from private tenants - and other issues

user1977

ProDave said:

Why does everyone assume there is something sinister going on here?

I think lockdown has encouraged lots of curtain-twitching speculation.

NameUnavailable

Why are some people so nosey?

theartfullodger

curiousneighbour said:

Hello, 

Someone has just taken over a property next door (not attached) to me and that property has a garage, not attached to it but kind of in front of it - you have to walk past it to get to the house. The properties only parking space is also in front of the garage door (bottom of my front garden)

The garage has electricity and water which is fed from the property and, from what I know, doesn’t have any sub-meters because the property has only been owned by two people and they wouldn’t have needed them. 

Now, I’ve looked at the advert and there is no mention of the garage OR a parking space for the three bedroom family home… 

I am worried that the landlord is not renting out the garage with the property and will be using the garage for themselves (they have lots of stuff in there currently) and will be using electricity/water (all be it not much) but won’t be making the tenants aware of this. 

I’m not sure what I should do, if anything? 

I’m also worried about parking because we have a private driveway between 4 properties and the only “spare” parking space, other than in front of the garage, is my parking space - happy for people to use in a pinch but not all the time! I’ll deal with that if it is a problem though. 

I’m more worried about the tenants paying for something that they’ve not used, when they are already spending a lot of money on renting/bills etc The property is currently empty, waiting for whomever to move in. 

Any advice or opinions appreciated! Apologies for the long post!

You'd need to read (carefully) the tenancy agreement.  If the tenancy agreement specifically excludes garage & parking space that's OK (depending on wording...).  But if it doesn't... you'd then need to read the deeds: If deeds include garage, and the tenancy does not mention it's excluded from the rental, then the garage is included, tenant has right to access (locksmith, change locks) etc etc etc..

Sounds like landlord/agent may be less than intelligent: (Good brains are not a requirement for being a landlord, nor an agent).

In your shoes I'd calmly & politely inform tenants of all this.  Nosey people have prevent child & adult abuse, criminal behaviour, brothels, cannabis farms, government ministers hiding that they are cheating on their wives with an aide employed by taxpayer etc etc etc etc... 

Keep it up! It's a fine old British tradition! (Like decency, tolerance & fair-play - that so many in power seem to have forgotten about).

Is this in wales, NI.. please??

Best wishes to all.

saajan_12

Not sure what the issue is here. A tenant would look at the space they are renting before agreeing, and agree a rent based on a property with / without garage, with / without parking etc. They may PREFER paying less rent when they don't need a garage or don't have a car, rather than pay extra. 

If the LL is using the garage for storage (as opposed to a workshop etc) then the water & power usage is so negligible, its not even worth a discussion. One lightbulb for an hour twice a year.. great you're saving the tenants from the huge risk of 4p. 

Morality isn't that clear cut, this isnt' life or death. If I was the tenant, the it would be more annoying / hurtful for my neighbour to suggest I can't look out for myself in the agreements I enter into and make me wonder where else they're nosing into my life vs saving me 4p. 

Gavin83

MaryNB said:

I vaguely recall a thread on here (I could have read it elsewhere) where the landlord and/or their family were doing work from the garage which was not included in the tenancy agreement. Fixing up cars or something. They were using a lot of electricity and the tenants found out they, the tenants, were paying for it.
Something like that, I'm terrible at remembering detail.

ETA: Found it
Landlord stealing (abstracting) electricity from private tenants - and other issues

If I was the tenant in that situation (or the OPs neighbour) I’d switch off the electric supply to the garage. It’ll almost certainly be on its own circuit. I’d then leave it off for a month, work out the difference in cost and offer to switch it back on in return for this cost, plus a bit extra for the inconvenience.

The exception would be if it was in my contract that I was expected to supply the landlords electricity but somehow I suspect it won’t be.

It would also depend on what the landlord was using the garage for and how much of a !!!!!! they were. Accessing it a few times a month for storage I could live with. Running a workshop of some sort, certainly not.