Tenant not paying on time/in full

jamels2 · 17 January 2019 at 2:01PM

Got a long term 3+years tenant who has been paying late recently (says due to pay day changing) but is also slightly in arrears. The rent level is low and hasn't changed since she moved in.
the flat is unfurnished and I don't have any middle man taking commission so i receive the full rent.
However it is £90 less than the lha allowance for the area. It appears to me the tenant doesn't claim anything from the council and tries to manage the bills by working or help from father.
So wondering how to proceed with this tenant.
Any advice? Should I change the rent date? By doing this I doubt she could pay the extra week /two weeks to get up to date. Should I make her aware of the lha rate? Should I expect her to claim from the council to meet the rent?
It is obvious she wants to remain as every time I have mentioned potentially having to sell the place she goes silent and ignores calls or messages.
On the other hand if she isn't too demanding and keeps the place in an ok condition should I be lenient?
Many thanks for advice.

bxboards · 17 January 2019 at 2:09PM

I have a tenant who messaged me about 5 months ago telling me rent would be about 2 weeks late - I had no issue with that really, he let me know, fair enough, and it was paid as promised.

Happened again 2nd month, again I said, no problem, thanks for letting know.

And the 3rd month - at this point I just asked look, would it be better just to change the date if it helps?

I suppose he has got 2 'free' weeks from me, but too be honest, I don't really care, it makes life easier for him.

If they are decent people, look after the place etc, I personally wouldn't bother if it was late by a week or two. Let it slide.

Comms69 · 17 January 2019 at 2:20PM

jamels2 wrote: »

Got a long term 3+years tenant who has been paying late recently (says due to pay day changing) but is also slightly in arrears. The rent level is low and hasn't changed since she moved in.
the flat is unfurnished and I don't have any middle man taking commission so i receive the full rent.
However it is £90 less than the lha allowance for the area. It appears to me the tenant doesn't claim anything from the council and tries to manage the bills by working or help from father.
So wondering how to proceed with this tenant.
Any advice? Should I change the rent date? By doing this I doubt she could pay the extra week /two weeks to get up to date. - why does it matter, the date rent is paid isn't necessarily in line with a tenancy period. e.g. rent period 1-31 . Should I make her aware of the lha rate? Should I expect her to claim from the council to meet the rent? - no. You cannot expect anyone to claim benefits
It is obvious she wants to remain as every time I have mentioned potentially having to sell the place she goes silent and ignores calls or messages.
On the other hand if she isn't too demanding and keeps the place in an ok condition should I be lenient?
Many thanks for advice.

I would just ask her to catch up at a rate of £10 a month until there are no arrears.

charlotte1994 · 17 January 2019 at 3:03PM

bxboards wrote: »

I have a tenant who messaged me about 5 months ago telling me rent would be about 2 weeks late - I had no issue with that really, he let me know, fair enough, and it was paid as promised.

Happened again 2nd month, again I said, no problem, thanks for letting know.

And the 3rd month - at this point I just asked look, would it be better just to change the date if it helps?

I suppose he has got 2 'free' weeks from me, but too be honest, I don't really care, it makes life easier for him.

If they are decent people, look after the place etc, I personally wouldn't bother if it was late by a week or two. Let it slide.

That's very good of you! Not many landlords would be so accommodating. It is awful when you get a new job and the budget schedule goes out of the window!

jamels2 · 17 January 2019 at 3:04PM

Thanks didn't realise they payment date could be different thought it was the first day of the month ahead. Eg pay on 10th for 10th to 9th of next month.
As for rent increase what do you guys think as it's 90 below lha rate and 150 below private market rate. Many thanks.

Cakeguts · 17 January 2019 at 4:06PM

jamels2 wrote: »

Thanks didn't realise they payment date could be different thought it was the first day of the month ahead. Eg pay on 10th for 10th to 9th of next month.
As for rent increase what do you guys think as it's 90 below lha rate and 150 below private market rate. Many thanks.

If you want to raise the rent but keep the tenant you need to do it by very small amounts.

jamels2 · 17 January 2019 at 4:23PM

Thanks for advice it appears this particular tenant may not be the easiest to evict for a number of reasons.
First if she's struggling with rent lower than market rate how will she find somewhere else and also find a deposit.
Second she has children and pets.
Third she may feel she has invested in the property as it's unfurnished so has provided all her own white goods and furniture.
So it might be better to let them remain and increase the rent in small amounts.

System · 17 January 2019 at 5:16PM

jamels2 wrote: »

Thanks for advice it appears this particular tenant may not be the easiest to evict for a number of reasons.
First if she's struggling with rent lower than market rate how will she find somewhere else and also find a deposit.
Second she has children and pets.
Third she may feel she has invested in the property as it's unfurnished so has provided all her own white goods and furniture.

Not your concern. You're running a business, not a charity. If the rent is £90 below LHA rate then it needs to be increased to at least the LHA rate and I wouldn't mess around doing it in £10 every 6 months because they've already had 3 years of seriously undervalued rent. Advise her she may be able to claim LHA if she's struggling.

Remember that every month you're doing yourself out of £72 post tax income on what will still be a below market rent which is £864 a year. If you are say in your 40s and were to invest that £72 a month every year in a stocks and shares fund for 20 years you'd potentially be doing yourself out of at least £30,000 by the time you hit retirement age.

jamels2 · 17 January 2019 at 7:27PM

Thanks it would be a jump of 12% to meet lha level. Maybe I should do it in 2 stages? Also does it require a new AST or just a letter?

Cakeguts · 17 January 2019 at 7:55PM

jamels2 wrote: »

Thanks it would be a jump of 12% to meet lha level. Maybe I should do it in 2 stages? Also does it require a new AST or just a letter?

It is your fault that she is underpaying by this much because you didn't raise the rent before. She has got used to having a certain level of income after paying the rent so if she is a good tenant raise the rent to the market level but do it in small amounts so that she gets time to get used to paying it.

Norman_Castle · 17 January 2019 at 8:03PM

As above, suggest to her she may be entitled to help with the rent even if she is working.

https://www.entitledto.co.uk/

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Tenant not paying on time/in full

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