Help Please

ReadySteadyPop

pope said:

Grumpy_chap said:

pope said:

The only details in the letter they left is there name my property address and there phone number. 

 Would a email like this just to out line. You have abandoned the property and failed to provide rent for this month. You have also left the property in a bad condition. You have mentioned in your letter left at the property that you will be removing all of your belongings as of yesterday. There is still a washing machine at the property and a few children's scooters also 3 mattresses at the property. These will be disposed of now. ?

So, your only method of contacting them is via telephone or text message.
I would not telephone but send a text (as that means there is a record of your efforts).
As short and factual as you can be.

"Dear <Name>, In response to your text of <date>, I attended the property at <address> on 1st March as requested.  As you will be aware, the property was unsecure, vacant and a letter from yourselves left for my attention, stating that you have vacated the property.  I consider your actions to be the immediate forfeiture of the tenancy.  I have secured the property.  There are some possessions left at the property which are not mine and I would be grateful if you would confirm your intentions with regard to these goods.  Kind regards <OPs' name> (Landlord and owner <address>)."

That is short and factual, but also gives some control to the former Tenants to communicate their decision with regard to the property left behind.  Send that text today.

Hopefully, the former Tenant will confirm that they have no desire for the property and that you can dispose accordingly.
If the Tenant requests the property, you will need to make suitable arrangements for the items to be collected.

If the Tenant challenges your statement around the property being forfeited, you can deal with that when it happens.  Share any response here if you need further advice.

If the Tenant ignores your text and does not respond, then I would send a follow-up text in 14-days:
"Dear <name>, Further to your vacating the property at <address> on 1st March, the possessions left at the property will be disposed of as waste with no value after 21 days from today's date, i.e. <date of proposed disposal>.  The items are, in summary <list>.  To make arrangements for the possessions to be collected, please make contact as <how to contact>.  Kind regards, <OPs' name>."

Also, today, type up a neat note and display in the window of the property near the front door so that it can be read from outside:
"NOTICE
The Tenancy for this property is considered to have been forfeited with effect from 1st March 2025.
The property has been secured.
The following possessions are being held securely and will be made available to the rightful owner on request:
<list>
Request for the return of the possessions listed above should be made to <how to contact you>.
If unclaimed, the possessions listed above will be disposed of as waste with no value and without further notice on or after <date>
Signed and dated,
<signature>
<OP's Name>
<date>"

I make the disposal date to go in the notice on the door 6th April. 
That assumes you send the text to the Tenant today (2nd March).
14 days for the Tenant to respond to the text or for you to send the follow-up text (16th March).
21 days from then, 6th April.



I assume you have changed the locks (all entry / exit points) - if not, get that done as soon as practical, ideally today.
Also, if not already done, read the utility meters, take time-stamped photos.  Today.
Keep the letter that was left for you by the Tenant at your home rather than leaving it at the property.
Take an inventory of the property and photos of how it was left by the Tenants.

You can make some start on getting the property ready to relet before the notice periods above expire. 
 - Cleaning and tidying. 
 - Gardening. 
 - Ventilating the property through.
 - Operate a dehumidifier
 - Pick up any post, discard junk mail.  Keep a tidy pile of any post for the Tenant (in case they return) but simply "return to sender" after the notice periods expire.
 - Making plans for decorators or such like, but not actually start any refurbishment works in case the Tenant returns to the property and claims you have made the property unfit for them to inhabit.

From a practical perspective, any decorator is likely to have a lead time of a few weeks, so you are not actually losing any time.

Make sure your insurance covers the property as vacant between tenancies.
It is still cold, so make sure heating will come on automatically for frost protection.
You will probably want to check on the property regularly.


I know this is unwelcome and unplanned, but actually if a Tenant has decided, for whatever reason, that they are not happy with your service then it is probably better that the Tenant just leaves than stays but stops paying requiring a long process to evict with a deteriorating relationship in the mean-time and the Tenant possibly neglecting the property.

Hope that helps.


EDIT TO ADD - When you put the lists of contents together, be precise and be complete.  Rather than "a few children's scooters" be specific and state (for example) "1 blue child's scooter, 1 red child's scooter, 1 black child's scooter".  Rather than "3 mattresses" be specific "1 double mattress"  "2 single mattresses".  It may seem like a pain, but it protects you in the event that the Tenant decides to recover the items and claims they were not what was left, or were incomplete.

Yes I will send as you have suggested. Also all of this is to much stress for me with the new Renters bill comming up as well I don't want to get striked again by bad tennants so have decided I am going to do the house up and sell it

Sounds like a sensible move.

FlorayG

So many LL doing this, it's going to come back and bite the Labour government. One of my tenants has told me she will be giving notice soon and I'm going to sell as well, can't be doing with all the new hassle to come

SiliconChip

FlorayG said:

So many LL doing this, it's going to come back and bite the Labour government. One of my tenants has told me she will be giving notice soon and I'm going to sell as well, can't be doing with all the new hassle to come

Given that the previous Conservative government were planning to do the same thing I'm not sure why you are knocking the current Labour government about this. And also:

"We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum."

Herzlos

Grumpy_chap said:

Also, today, type up a neat note and display in the window of the property near the front door so that it can be read from outside:
"NOTICE
The Tenancy for this property is considered to have been forfeited with effect from 1st March 2025.
The property has been secured.
The following possessions are being held securely and will be made available to the rightful owner on request:
<list>
Request for the return of the possessions listed above should be made to <how to contact you>.
If unclaimed, the possessions listed above will be disposed of as waste with no value and without further notice on or after <date>
Signed and dated,
<signature>
<OP's Name>
<date>"

...

I don't think I'd attach a sign to the outside of the property declaring that it's empty for 2 weeks, because then you're just inviting squatters.

The tenant has already been notified that the tenancy is over, so I don't think there's any need to unless there's some legal requirement?

I doubt the tenant will be back for some kids scooters and matresses, but I'd keep them for the 2 weeks anyway. Scooters at the back/side of the house so the tenant can get them any time and matresses somewhere that doesn't interfere with the renovation work.

Grumpy_chap

Herzlos said:

The tenant has already been notified that the tenancy is over, so I don't think there's any need to unless there's some legal requirement?

Technically, the OP should gain possession under forfeiture via the Courts.  The Tenant retains all their rights, even though they have done a runner.  The OP's ground for repossession would be non-payment of rent.

The notice is a common method.  It has to give the tenant the ability to re-enter and resume the lease should they desire so to do.
https://www.landlordvision.co.uk/blog/tenant-leaves-belongings-behind/

pope said:

 have decided I am going to do the house up and sell it

If you are minded to sell the property, then it makes sense to do so while the property is naturally vacant, which has occurred now.
You may wish to consider how much to spend on doing the property up. 
 - This will take time and you are incurring costs for time - utility bills, council tax as a minimum.
 - Any costs incurred on the redecoration will not add a great deal to the sale value.
 - Any costs incurred on the redecoration after the decision not to continue letting the property cannot be offset for tax purposes against rental income.
 - Any costs incurred for the redecoration will not be able to be offset against CGT.

Smalltownhypocrite

As per Awaabs law (September 2023) a landlord can no longer blame a tenant for damp and mold due to ventilation/condensation. 

The house itself should have enough ventilation provisions that even a person who cannot handle constantly manual ventilation is safe. Including things like insulation, adequate heating, trickle vents and automatic ventilation fans etc...

From October this year it will come into force in a phased system and should be fully enforced by 2027 (meaning landlords are expected to have updated their stock by then to be inline with the new rules/current modern regulation).

Condensation has always been one of the biggest causes of black mold and thus one of the deadliest forms of damp. Its cause it usually due to heating and heat retention issues more than ventilation (ventilation is more an issue in kitchens and bathrooms) and in cases severe enough to effect breathing (pretty severe at that point) it has never been the result of just 'not opening a window'.

newsgroupmonkey_

FlorayG said:

So many LL doing this, it's going to come back and bite the Labour government. One of my tenants has told me she will be giving notice soon and I'm going to sell as well, can't be doing with all the new hassle to come

I don't know why this is being blamed on Labour?
It was a Tory policy that was supposed to have been pushed through before the election.

I don't believe Labour have proposed any changes?

ReadySteadyPop

FlorayG said:

So many LL doing this, it's going to come back and bite the Labour government. One of my tenants has told me she will be giving notice soon and I'm going to sell as well, can't be doing with all the new hassle to come

Just means more supply on the market, not a bad thing at all, where is your tenant going to live, are they buying something?

Section62

ReadySteadyPop said:

FlorayG said:

So many LL doing this, it's going to come back and bite the Labour government. One of my tenants has told me she will be giving notice soon and I'm going to sell as well, can't be doing with all the new hassle to come

Just means more supply on the market, not a bad thing at all, where is your tenant going to live, are they buying something?

Unless they are leaving the country then probably just taking the 'supply' back off the market again.  Someone leaving a rental doesn't generate a new home to add to the total housing stock.

ReadySteadyPop

Section62 said:

ReadySteadyPop said:

FlorayG said:

So many LL doing this, it's going to come back and bite the Labour government. One of my tenants has told me she will be giving notice soon and I'm going to sell as well, can't be doing with all the new hassle to come

Just means more supply on the market, not a bad thing at all, where is your tenant going to live, are they buying something?

Unless they are leaving the country then probably just taking the 'supply' back off the market again.  Someone leaving a rental doesn't generate a new home to add to the total housing stock.

It generates a new house for sale, so adds to the For Sale stock which is why I said more "supply" not "stock", there is plenty of housing stock, that isn`t a problem.