What are landlord forumites doing with tenants?

jj_43

It appears you have an emotional connection to the property which is understandable, but I suggest taking a step back and recognise you can't completely control this situation. Your tenants have their own life and choices to make (perhaps with your property), and all you can do is take some reasonable steps to manage the situation.

e.g.
1) review what you know about the tenants, are they well off? will they prefer to be warm this winter? Or cold and damp?
2) will their energy bills actually increase, if on a fix they may be ok
3) give some helpful advice about ventilation, service any appliances before the winter
4) arrange for a tenancy inspection to see the condition of the property and feedback to them if there are issues

Kostandia

macman said:

3 tenants: is this an HMO, or a joint tenancy?

@macman   yes it's a 3 bed HMO

macman

So it's next to impossible to ensure that 3 separate and independent tenants all obey the guidelines you have issued for the minimisation of damp and condensation in the property.
All you can do is arrange regular inspections to identify any issues early.

mysteryUser

Positive Input Ventilation is a great solution to ensure a building is properly ventilated at all times.

The one at my mum's house uses around 5 watts and keeps the house fresh and previous issues with mould all disappeared shortly after installing it.

Worth considering perhaps.

Chrysalis

Kostandia said:

A question to members who rent out property and if Martin Lewis team can advice: I'm desperately worried about my rental property over this winter. If the 3 tenants don't put the heating on regularly enough because of the high costs this winter, there will be a massive problem with damp, mould & condensation building up inside. What on earth do we advise tenants to do? Its a terrible situation. I have always advised my tenants to keep the house warm and ventilate during winter months (especially bedrooms where they keep the doors closed and drying wet laundry inside). But if tenants put very little heating on this winter, it's a recipe for disaster in terms of increased interior damp triggering mould growth. What on earth do we landords do? 

Ps. for any of those who get narky about landlords...this is not a personal profit rental, it's my very elderly mum's little cottage now rented to pay for her extensive care & dementia costs. Every penny of rent & much of my income goes to mum's care, including me caring part-time. 'wealthy landlord"?... No...not straining the NHS. So please be kind and focus on my genuine question.

I have some damp in two rooms and dont usually use heating.  I try to keep windows open as much as I can but only my kitchen has what I consider a proper window, all the other windows open in a way that I only get air circulation if its really windy outside.  There is occasions I leave my front door open for this reason.

I dont know what to advise you but I will give a perspective from the tenant side, I am aware this may not reflect on you personally as a landlord.

My landlord has not invested in improving the energy efficiency of the property, the certificate correctly states the wooden single glazed windows are a problem, and there is no insulation.  In addition the front door used to be really drafty (carpenter fixed this by adding something to bottom of door) and the boiler requires the pilot light on when not in use plus needs to pre heat water.

Finally my rent is increased way above inflation every year, this years increase was over 30%.

The heat retention is so bad, even after radiators are on 2 hours for me there is barely any noticeable difference in room temperature, and thermometer is usually only up 2C at the most.  Electric portable heaters work much better in poorly insulated properties as they so powerful and concentrated but of course are extremely expensive to run.

Knowing how it is like to live as a tenant, if I ever became a landlord I would work with the tenant.

So all the following would be considered.

1 - Reduction in rent in exchange for agreement of all rooms to be heated to prevent damp.
2 - Improve heat retention, which encourages heating to be used, if there is no heat retention then heating is bad as it just escapes and its £££ down the drain.
3 - Offer to reduce rent in winter months by differential in cost of gas summer vs winter.
4 - Never increase rent from the first year tenant moves in.  To help them with cost of living.
5 - Have a discussion with them on how things can work out best for both parties.
6 - Install Induction hob cooker, solar panels and batteries, giving tenant really cheap electric costs in return you ask for rooms to stay heated in winter.
7 - Pay the gas bill have it inclusive on rent.

Ultimately it may come down to who's spending the money, heating a home costs the tenant money, improving insulation costs the landlord money although many will pass that cost on to the tenant.

ispookie666

If only the govt changed the rules and allow tax relief on home improvements. 

Chrysalis

ispookie666 said:

If only the govt changed the rules and allow tax relief on home improvements. 

There needs to be a change as the vast majority of landlords would just pass it on as a cost to the tenant.  Tax relief I assume would mitigate that right?

Jami74

I am also a tenant and yes, we struggle with condensation every winter. 

There is no insulation at all. I can feel the cold air coming through the wall that the 1980's storage heater is on. The landlord is uncontactable. The letting agent say that the storage heater has passed the electricity safety certificate so will not be replaced and that the landlord does not wish to spend money on insulation.

Last year we bought a de-humidifier and we'll have this running all night (Economy 7) when we have clothes to dry. It made a huge difference and we felt warmer for having dry air. Usually the storage heater goes on once the weather gets wet but this year I plan to leave it off for as long as possible. Maybe invest in a de-humidifier and offer your tenants advice about how to use it to dry their clothes quicker and reduce condensation.

Edited to add: Not on universal credits and not entitled to any handouts.

macman

The landlord should be contactable via the address for service shown on your TA. If this is not supplied then you do not have to pay rent until it is.
Do you have a copy of the current EICR supplied? If not, your tenancy is not regularised.

Mstty

Jami74 said:

I am also a tenant and yes, we struggle with condensation every winter. 

There is no insulation at all. I can feel the cold air coming through the wall that the 1980's storage heater is on. The landlord is uncontactable. The letting agent say that the storage heater has passed the electricity safety certificate so will not be replaced and that the landlord does not wish to spend money on insulation.

Last year we bought a de-humidifier and we'll have this running all night (Economy 7) when we have clothes to dry. It made a huge difference and we felt warmer for having dry air. Usually the storage heater goes on once the weather gets wet but this year I plan to leave it off for as long as possible. Maybe invest in a de-humidifier and offer your tenants advice about how to use it to dry their clothes quicker and reduce condensation.

Edited to add: Not on universal credits and not entitled to any handouts.

That's really is a catch 22, it would be so much cheaper for the landlord to have upgraded insulation, either updated storage heaters or even replaced them with a gas boiler (up until recently that only cost landlords circa £500). If you were on UC/benefits.

Is it time to consider a move to a higher EPC grade property, even if it costs a bit more a month and maybe has gas central heating you could save a great deal of money on energy bills over the current property you are on?