Money Moral Dilemma: Should we pass on any of the £400 energy bill grant to our tenant?

garyjenkinson

It should go without saying the tenant should get some of the government's help with paying their utilities.
However, it simply amazes me the amount of "people" who are telling the OP to raise the rent. Why in God's name why? Unless your costs have risen in the mean time, why would you need to? Just because you can, doesn't mean you have to; just be grateful the tenant is paying for your mortage in full or in major part, and contributing to your pension investement. If you've got a good tenant do your best to keep them that way.
To all those advocating raising the rent, is it any wonder private landlords have got such an appalling reputation and those who have to rent hope you crash and burn?

honestcove

There are reasons why you haven’t put the rent up in 7 years (and include VAT as part of the recharge) - what are they? If truly benevolent, or for other reasons why keeping this tenant sweet is important,then pass on the benefit. 

Faceuptoreality

You should pay the full £400 because this is paid to every household. It’s your fault that you have a separate flat in your property which you don’t declare. Do you pay rates on this flat or pay income tax on the profit?

Thought not.

beanielou

Of course.

JayD

Really???

What kind of moral compass are you using???

At the very least, work out what percentage of the bill they typically pay and share the refund accordingly.

Just because you haven't put the rent up in 7 years, doesn't absolve you from being fair with this rebate!

And if it bothers you so much that you need to come onto a public forum to ask ... then put the rent up!

ninjakitty

Yes, if the man is paying a quarter of the bills then give him a quarter of the 400.

diystarter7

JayD said:

Really???

What kind of moral compass are you using???

At the very least, work out what percentage of the bill they typically pay and share the refund accordingly.

Just because you haven't put the rent up in 7 years, doesn't absolve you from being fair with this rebate!

And if it bothers you so much that you need to come onto a public forum to ask ... then put the rent up!

No need to be like that as the other poster was just posting their honest question, a bit rude if I may add.
We are all different and will have different views and often T's will side with T's and LL's with LL's. 
I'm none of them just a house owner that did aspire to be a LL but have stuff going on plus too many rights for T's.

The poster not raising the rent for 7 years is one of a kind. To keep the 400, nothing wrong with that whatsoever.

If I was a LL and in a set up as per OP, having initially stated I'd keep all of it I did review my stance and would hand out pro-rata. However, this would be subject to the T being nice T's.

CurlySue2017

garyjenkinson said:

It should go without saying the tenant should get some of the government's help with paying their utilities.
However, it simply amazes me the amount of "people" who are telling the OP to raise the rent. Why in God's name why? Unless your costs have risen in the mean time, why would you need to? Just because you can, doesn't mean you have to; just be grateful the tenant is paying for your mortage in full or in major part, and contributing to your pension investement. If you've got a good tenant do your best to keep them that way.
To all those advocating raising the rent, is it any wonder private landlords have got such an appalling reputation and those who have to rent hope you crash and burn?

100% This!!!  And LL's wonder why they get a bad rap, unbelievable!

diystarter7 said:

JayD said:

Really???

What kind of moral compass are you using???

At the very least, work out what percentage of the bill they typically pay and share the refund accordingly.

Just because you haven't put the rent up in 7 years, doesn't absolve you from being fair with this rebate!

And if it bothers you so much that you need to come onto a public forum to ask ... then put the rent up!

No need to be like that as the other poster was just posting their honest question, a bit rude if I may add.
We are all different and will have different views and often T's will side with T's and LL's with LL's. 
I'm none of them just a house owner that did aspire to be a LL but have stuff going on plus too many rights for T's.

The poster not raising the rent for 7 years is one of a kind. To keep the 400, nothing wrong with that whatsoever.

If I was a LL and in a set up as per OP, having initially stated I'd keep all of it I did review my stance and would hand out pro-rata. However, this would be subject to the T being nice T's.

Wrong.  We have been in our rental for longer than that and our rent hasn't gone up.  We have a very decent LL you see, not a greedy one

diystarter7

CurlySue2017 said:

garyjenkinson said:

It should go without saying the tenant should get some of the government's help with paying their utilities.
However, it simply amazes me the amount of "people" who are telling the OP to raise the rent. Why in God's name why? Unless your costs have risen in the mean time, why would you need to? Just because you can, doesn't mean you have to; just be grateful the tenant is paying for your mortage in full or in major part, and contributing to your pension investement. If you've got a good tenant do your best to keep them that way.
To all those advocating raising the rent, is it any wonder private landlords have got such an appalling reputation and those who have to rent hope you crash and burn?

100% This!!!  And LL's wonder why they get a bad rap, unbelievable!

diystarter7 said:

JayD said:

Really???

What kind of moral compass are you using???

At the very least, work out what percentage of the bill they typically pay and share the refund accordingly.

Just because you haven't put the rent up in 7 years, doesn't absolve you from being fair with this rebate!

And if it bothers you so much that you need to come onto a public forum to ask ... then put the rent up!

No need to be like that as the other poster was just posting their honest question, a bit rude if I may add.
We are all different and will have different views and often T's will side with T's and LL's with LL's. 
I'm none of them just a house owner that did aspire to be a LL but have stuff going on plus too many rights for T's.

The poster not raising the rent for 7 years is one of a kind. To keep the 400, nothing wrong with that whatsoever.

If I was a LL and in a set up as per OP, having initially stated I'd keep all of it I did review my stance and would hand out pro-rata. However, this would be subject to the T being nice T's.

Wrong.  We have been in our rental for longer than that and our rent hasn't gone up.  We have a very decent LL you see, not a greedy one

I never measure the "decent" decency of any LL by the very fact they may not have raised the rent for x number of years.
To me a decent LL is one that follows the rules and rents out to a nice, clean property that meets and surpasses all of the rules and regs. LL's are not charities as many T's see them but ordinary people who have worked very, very hard and had the expertise to save for a BTL deposit and then buy another property to rent out poss for their pension and or extra income.

Rasing rents does not make a LL "greedy" as you put it, far from it. They are mostly likley trying to pay their mortgages, ensure the property is in very good condition and the fact they don't want to default mortgage payments and lose their property and the T lose their home. So you see it is not "greed" but good practice, lawful practice to obtain rents and ensure that their T remains safe and able to stay there for many, many years if that is what they want.

Comparing "deceny" and "greed" when a LL raises rents as they are allowed to and to ensure they can run their property and look after the T when others can't their own home makes LL very decent.

For the record and I'll save anyone else saying this, you get rubbish LL's as well as rubbish T's

Personally, I see "greed" as wanting something for nothing.

longjohnjohnson

witchone said:

If he pays a quarter of the bill he gets a quarter of the grant, although we were all supposed to get 200 each before and got nothing so wait till you get it before asking.

Well no, not quite. We got nothing as it wasn't due to be paid until October, and it's still due to be paid in October.

Although I would generally agree not to do anything until the credits have actually been made.