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Landlord inspection after 10 years
My friend is moving out of her rented house after 10 years. The landlord has not once done the legally required electrical and gas inspections and has always told my friend she is responsible for maintaining the property, gutters, decking and whatever else. He has only ever been in when she reported something broken and he wanted to fix it himself. Once, he was "waiting for a part" and left her without not water in the bathroom sink for 6 months... And he blamed her for the shoddy work the builders did when they insulated the house on that government scheme, saying she should never have signed off on it (she signed nothing...) and should have called him to say the work was badly done....
She is out of contract and has never paid a deposit. Well, £70 cash when she moved in.
Now he wants to inspect the property after she left. Considering his previous behaviour, we are fully expecting him to say that she is required to repaint the house, fix all the holes, wash off any mould, replace the carpets and redecorate the wallpaper that is peeling in the bathroom due to exceedingly poor ventilation....
However, I feel she owes him absolutely nothing. He is a genuinely patronising misogynist ("You should have told me about the builders, but as a woman, I realise you probably don't realise the work is shoddy" etc) so he will probably try to bully her into paying him money.
What are her rights here? I suggested if he starts, she can just point out his complete lack of following the rules and that she will be happy to report him to the council....
Comments
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Does she have records of the issues she raised with him over the years (emails etc.)? Is she leaving the property in a “reasonable” state (i.e., she hasn’t damaged it?). If so then I wouldn’t have thought she has anything to worry about. (Bearing in mind I’m not qualified in this area). There’s no deposit so that’s not something can threaten her with. And he certainly can’t force her to pay. If I were her I’d take photos the day I moved out so she can prove what state she left it in. And then walk away and not look back.
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There is no major damage but the house looks run down because nothing has been done to it for 10 years. He will no doubt consider general wear and tear as something that she will need to pay for. I worry about his attitude because he has been incredibly patronizing every time he has been in the house so I think she will just make sure somebody is with her or I go with her when he does the inspection because every time he has been there he has made her feel like a piece of !!!!!! when in reality it is not a renter's responsibility to clean the gutters on the first floor and to clean the roof and to maintain the large trees in the garden that were there when she moved in. She built her own garden fence because there wasn't one when she moved in, and yet he criticised her for what he felt was a lack of maintenance on that fence....
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But without a deposit he has no mechanism to extract money from her than by going to court which firstly moves it into a very different place and secondly you'll have a judge deciding what's fair wear and tear etc if her defence is reasonably well written and evidenced
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Cool. That sounds like what I think. He can whistle for any money. He's the kind of landlord that gives every one of them a bad name.
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Without a deposit to withhold I think the landlord has limited options, but a couple of points might be contentious "fix all the holes, wash off any mould" - has she made holes in the wall while living there? I saw your comment about poor ventilation, but presumably there are windows that open - I'd at least make an effort o clean the worst of this mould off, unless this was something that was raised and ignored by the landlord.
"We act as though comfort and luxury are the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about” – Albert Einstein1 -
Why does she need to be present during the check out inspection? If she takes photos before she leaves then she can prove how she left the property. And, as there’s not deposit to return, there’s really no need for her to be there. I’d simply return the keys, set up mail redirect, and walk away.
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Yes there are some holes in the walls from where, in 10 yeas, she has hung things. We will fill these and then paint over them.
There is mould in the bathroom right next to the window that has been open for 10 years. It has peeled the wallpaper and he will have seen it when, after 6 months, he finally came back to fix the hot water in the sink.
The Man is insufferable. When she neatly resealed the bath (at her own cost), rather than ask him to do it, he said: "you wasted money by using expensive silicone. As a woman, you wouldn't know about different types of silicone…".
I highly suspect it won't matter how clean and perfect she leaves the house, he will tell her it is not enough.
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The only consideration is if she will need a reference from them for their next place… that said plenty here recommend breaching contracts, awaiting for bailiff to turf you out etc and so they are probably better placed on how you deal getting your next landlord happy when your previous one isnt.
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She's one of the few lucky ones who managed to get a 100% mortgage and escape the rental trap. And people like him. He has more to fear from her reporting than she has from him demanding money. I just wanted to check legally as well. I think the best thing is for her to leave the keys and not be present. There is no reason to voluntarily be humiliated by him for no reason other than his own incompetence as a landlord.
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In considering that other mandatory requirements were not delivered I wonder if any tax was paid.
If your friend is feeling particularly resentful then a note to HMRC may prompt a review and send the karma bus around.
Your life is too short to be unhappy 5 days a week in exchange for 2 days of freedom!
One can always make more money. No one who has ever lived can create more time.5
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