Tenant’s ’friend’ locked out

OP says tenant says the ‘friend’ lives there.

Depends on the agency. I had endless issues with mine. Turns out they left a family with a newborn without hot water/heating for 3 days. I was fuming when I heard and immediately took the property back to manage, got the issue fixed then changed the boiler. I couldn’t believe their inaction. Then when the tenant moved out, the agency couldn’t find the deposit! The minute I threatened to sue /put this on social media they suddenly found it. I protected the deposit myself after that. I’m sure there are good agents out there, but the stress was more than dealing with it ourselves.

it's nice to have a lettings agency sort out your tenants dramas problem is that's going to cost her a good chunk of money monthly. On the other hand to all those posters encouraging OP to kick tenant out for breach of contract we don't know if that 'forgetful guest' is the cousin staying a few days to water the plants or an airbnb guest. In any case the teal tenant is giving her too much aggro. I've always made copies of my front door key and made sure to find a very discreet hiding spot, either inside a crack in the wall, inside a pipe etc... or give a set to a trusted close family member in case i loose my keys, it's just Common sense which looks like tenant somewhat lacks.

Serve notice on the tenant for breach of tenancy agreement.

Have a look on Air B and B! Wouldn't be the first time a landlord has seen their property being sublet.

How do you suggest they 'end' the tenancy agreement?

We don't have one
I looked at worse case scenario say if tenant didn't pay etc and they don't have any more legal clout than we do ourselves. I have a plumber and an electrician etc. I think an agent fee is something like 10% + VAT per month and i couldn't see what it's be getting for my money.

@paul2023 @olympicsrock it wasn't the landlady's issue. But she very kindly did come and let him in. We could confirm that he had been staying there. She may well have spoken to her Tennant too. She went out of her way to help. The Tennants when they returned were incredibly grateful. They were a lovely family and stayed years. We moved away before they did, they are still local as I see them around. He was the dad that dressed up as Father Christmas on Christmas Eve and knocked to give my kids a gift. We weren't that friendly with them it was just a lovely gesture.

What a mess. I would also be going over there today.

Suspect you're going to have to have a possibly tenancy-ending conversation with your actual tenant when they return.

It may already have been said, but by giving the friend keys there could be a risk that you were giving consent, now that you know they are living there.

Pretty much. In my experience, letting agents are as useful as a chocolate teapot when out of the ordinary difficulties arise.

I would have been jolly well pissed off. If I was that poster and the landlany. A man who wasn’t even living there officially was left there by his family when they went away.
He was drunk and locked himself out when going outside for a smoke.
It then fell to the neighbours late at night to get hold of the landlady who managed to
come out.
What if the landlady couldn’t come over ? What if the landlady couldnt be reached ?
What would the poster on here ( the neighbour) have done ? Let the drunk man stay at hers? With her own family living there? What would have happened to the drunk man ?Who would have come to help him? The police ?

Sadly , these are problems that some tenants don’t think of when they allow family members or friends to stay in their property whilst they go away and end up locking themselves out.

Would the letting agent not just have told the tenant that the friend had no right to be there?

I’ve never been a landlord , but have rented a house with DW some years ago.

We rented through an agency, we never had any direct contact with the landlady, infact im not even sure we could even contact her directly ourselves. The agency dealt with everything.

I can’t remember what we would have done in an out of hours emergency, I can’t remember if there was an emergency phone number or not. It was a long while back.

I do remember one night we were burgled when we popped out for a few hours. We called the police who eventually attended ( the thieves smashed a back door to enter ). Once they left, we called a locksmith who secured the fence doors with wooden boards. We had to pay him there and then of course.

The next day , we notified the lettings agency and gave them the crime report number. We were reimbursed the locksmith money within a few days and the door was replaced. Pain in the arse but these things sadly happen.

OP- could it be worth considering paying a lettings agency to manage your property for you ? This way , tenants wouldn’t be pestering you for any issues and the agency would have to deal with the tenants problems.

Try and see this from a landlord’s perspective. There was an additional adult ( outside the tenancy agreement) living in the property with mental health and alcohol abuse issues . Their erratic behaviour might cause damage to the property / leave it unsecured. The tenant wasn’t even there keeping an eye on things.

Not ok. No wonder the landlady wanted to come and check what was going on.

He needs to find somewhere else to stay.
If subletting isn't allowed your insurance could well be invalidated

Can you visit the property to see what is happening (I would take a second person with you). This all sounds very shady, as you say your tenancy agreement is with the tenant and there is clearly someone else gaining access to the property when he is away.

Well either way, it’s still the Xmas period and holiday season. It looks like the OP will now have to travel to his property to sort things out. Presumably a big inconvenience and will now have to change their plans.
I guess this is the downside to being a landlord..

This was my first thought. He knew it wasn't allowed. Too much aggro.

As a landlord, this would make me want to give notice. Your tenant has broken the terms of the tenancy and cause you stress, no way would I allow him to continue the tenancy.

'Someone who doesn't legally live there and doesn't have a key is locked out are they? Well that sounds fairly reasonable. That's how doors work. They can only be opened by the person who lives there or owns the house. I'm surprised you didn't realise that.'
I wouldn't be letting a random into my flat on the say so of my tenant. He's breached his tenancy surely?

Why should the landlord go at any point to allow someone illegally living in her property access to it?

Sorry, what? How is any of this relevant ? It’s beyond a ‘good deed’ for OP to drive a 60 mile round trip after consuming alcohol, to let in an illegal sublet they now nothing about into a property they’re renting to another tenant !!.

For less than £400 the locked out man could probably get a hotel room (his tennant pal can book & pay) and wait for you to get there in the morning.