Tenant Advised not to pay rent!

Trollfever

Witholding rent on an AST entitles the landlord to evict through the courts...........................


but it does tend to focus the mind of incompetent landlords.

carolt

Yes, I'd offer some sort of compensation. If house was warm generally, then probably not that much - agree 8 weeks sounds excessive. But I hope you did offer them a plug in portable device. And remember, pinkshoes, those things are VERY expensive to run (and not terribly safe if small children either) - some compensation for the extra cost and inconvenience of using one could reasonably be expected. I've had to wash up/take baths with kettles when our hot water broke for a couple of weeks and it was VERY inconvenient, really horrible. And that was a much shorter period of time. For ongoing hassles, some recompense seems fair.

If you feel 8 weeks is too much (I do), then negotiate an amount you're happy with.

Smi1er

Why don't you have a repair contract on your heating? You do have a gas safety certificate don't you...??

OP... ask the tenant for the name of the person at CAB who offered this advice as your solicitor wants to right them a letter of complaint.

Why don't you have a repair contract on your heating?

Tell them withholding rent is illegal but you are prepared to discuss a reduction due to hassle.

Did I ask you why don't you have a repair contract on your heating?

Loretta

clutton wrote: »

the reality of repairing older boilers is that it does take time - even if it is your own, rather than a tenants - it takes time to locate the right part, then sometimes the wrong part is sent, all these things have happened to me, and to my tenants. i would have suggested buying them those cheap (under £10) fires during the no-heating period.

i would write to the CAB and explain the legality of what their advice means to this tenant - ie that you could evict them if you so choose -and is that what they meant to do ? With-holding all the rent for one broken aspect of the property is ridiculous, with-holding all the rent when clearly the landlord was trying to sort it out is also ridiculous

Maybe the tenant needs to be informed that he can now be evicted - CAB probably did not tell him that - and yes, some sort of "2 weeks free rent" gesture might well be in order.

L/L needs to speak to the tenants, the CAB may not have actually told them that, the tenants may have just said that to get their L/L to get on with things as they were probably freezing and fed up

They should try and sort this out amicably but perhaps the L/L should have already approached the tenants with an offer of compensation before they got so upset about it

MissMoneypenny

clutton wrote: »

i would write to the CAB and explain the legality of what their advice means to this tenant - ie that you could evict them if you so choose -and is that what they meant to do ?

Didn't we just read on another thread, that the tenant can counterclaim for disrepair?

MissMoneypenny

clutton wrote: »

- and yes, some sort of "2 weeks free rent" gesture might well be in order.

Wasn't it you who was saying that on the landlord site you are on, that 1/2 the rent should be given back in situations like this? I can't help but think that that is too little, but no doubt that has been tested in court somewhere. It could be that they can claim all of the rent back for those 8 weeks.

If someone buys a house to live in and it has a failing heating system, that that is thier choice. If you get a BTL and it has a failing system, then you have a duty of care towards your tenant as you are taking money from them. They rented a house with hot water and heating and that is what you take money for. Nearly 8 weeks to fix the heating and water is totally unacceptable.

How long before the next part breaks? You owe them. This all part of owning a BTL and next time get the boiler sorted quicker, or buy a new one.

mdj1

Ahh yes, you do have a Gas Safety Certificate, you need a new one every year. Of you don't you are breaking the law.

It seems that there are far too many BTL'ers out there that think it's a quick way to make a quick buck, but it's far from it!

If you don't have the Gas Cert. I would get one done ASAP. Pay them their 8 weeks and keep quiet about it. It could get nasty / expensive if it went to court. Especially if the tennant knows their rights.

It's a shame that some tennants / landlords give all the others a bad name.

moneysavinmonkey

pocket8s wrote: »

Hey All

I received a phone call at the end of November, informing me that the tenants heating wsnt working properly. Pipes were blocked etc, after replacing radiators and pipes it was eventually fixed took about two weeks in total. I then received another phone call a week later that the hot water was not working properly. Again due to the complex problems it took about 4 weeks to solve the problem. The whole system was blocked and a number of parts had to be replaced.

All works were carried out by a Corgi registered plumber.

The tenant was understandably annoyed that it was taking so long to fix & decided to stop the direct debit which was due on the 9th of January.


Thanks

I'm not quite sure what to make of your story. As your first post makes the problem sound quite serious but you later downplay the incident saying it was just a radiator in the tenants bedroom.

As others have advised the tenant legally should not withhold rent but then legally you should carry out repairs within a reasonable time. Sounds like the tenants had 2 weeks inadequate heating followed by 4 weeks without hot water. If this was me, I would have expected the landlord to rehouse me until the works were complete or at least pay some serious compensation.

Not sure what I would advise you to do, ideally you should offer the tenant some compensation and try your best to restore good relations - a card with an apology as a minimum! However, i wonder whether your tenant is fed up with you and is planning on doing a bunk.. not paying their rent for the last month or so may be their parting jesture - can't say I blame them - sorry!

clutton_2

""Wasn't it you who was saying that on the landlord site you are on, that 1/2 the rent should be given back in situations like this?"

no it wasn't me.

i dont know what is reasonable - it depends on the time of year ( and NO its not been freezing for weeks) and how much negotiatoion the landlord and tenant do with each other and how amicable the negotiatiosn are.

heating and hot water are only part of the property and the services it contains. ITs not as if the tenant is suddenly without a roof or walls is it ?

I personally would not refund full rent at all - i would have provided fires and maybe given 2 weeks rent back as a token gesture. But you have to talk to each other, rather than get wound up on an internet site.

a court would look at this re how much effort the landlord had put into getting the repairs done - clearly this landlord had phoned most days and done her best - us landlords are not miracle workers.

MissMoneypenny

Doozergirl wrote: »

Under no circumstances should a tenant withold rent.

I don't know why people on these threads keep saying this