New tenants want everything but do nothing

[frankiesamson]

The ongoing saga with our various tenants is that they want the place to be clean but don't want to clean it or pay for a cleaner. They're never happy. We went away for 10 days and they had destroyed everything, let the plants in the house & garden die by not watering even once, and the house looked like animals lived there. Literally. It was a shock to walk through the front door- the dirty body smell in the house, blocked toilet, unclean floors & surfaces..etc.

Out of 8 tenants we've had, only 1 was a relatively normal reliable responsible person.

Our latest problem is that we had to go away for a few months & one of the tenants told us the shower is broken. Apparently it's been broken for ages but none of them informed us! She wants us to get it fixed asap, so I called a few plumbers & found one. However, the tenant(s) don't want to give us any specific time they can be in to let the plumber in to the house. They want it done, but don't want to let him in.

We've even offered to pay one of the less irresponsible tenants £200 every month just while we're away, to look after the house & garden.. she agreed.. but as soon as I mentioned to keep it clean, she changed her mind- so I offered her £100 a month to let workmen in to do repairs as needed but no cleaning- she agreed- but as soon as I mentioned the plumber was going to call around, she changed her mind again.

We don't know what to do. We don't know anyone in the area & have had awful experience with agencies where they take £300 a month and do nothing.

The strange thing is- for £100 a month it would involve in average maybe 1 hours work every 6 months. The tenants are all interested when we offer them the money but as soon as it comes to actually doing anything, they don't want it anymore.

I wish my landlord had offered me £200 to clean or £100 a month to let the plumber in when I was renting - I used to do it for free!!

Wish we could just find someone reliable & willing to be paid for this simple task.

A Girl Friday is someone you pay like a PA to do a job for you, like do some shopping, but a gift, deliver a parcel, sit in to receive a parcel when you can't, or maybe receive a tradesman.

Do you live in the house when you are there along with lodgers, or are you letting out a HMO?

I'm not surprised that the tenants don't want to take on the role of property manager (which is what it would become - they would end up always being the one to get in touch with you to let you know about problems etc etc), so you need to find someone else to manage the property on your behalf.

Do you not know any neighbours who could be trusted to have a key in case of emergency / letting in workmen?

Is it a house share with different tenants in different rooms? If so, that wouldn't surprise me as in those situations no one ever wants to take responsibility for shared spaces.

Ultimately you can't manage a property effectively if you're too far away (we're landlords for a flat about 200m from our house). And if they leave it in a total state that breaches their tenancy agreement, then you deduct the cost of cleaning and repairs from their deposit. (You have got pictures of what it was like before they moved in?)

I don’t think the OP wants to answer too many specifics, like are they lodgers, type of tenancy, is it a HMO etc. I get the feeling she just wanted a whinge about her tenants.

Silver, where do you get a "girl Friday"? Simply saying "get one" doesn't really help since that's the original problem lol

Olennas, why are you not surprised they wouldn't want to text me when they have a problem? Is it really not worth £200 a month to text the landlord when the shower or something is broken once in 6 months so he can pay for the repair? 😳

I used to see my landlord and talk to him almost every day when I was a tenant! It isn't that scary!! Goodness me !

Olennas, if u read the op.. we don't know neighbours or anyone we can give keys to

Jilted, how does answering whether it's an HMO affect the question of finding someone to clean & let repairmen in? I don't know what ah HMO is but I'm sure it doesn't transform the house into a yacht or change its location. It still has a front door and a key to unlock it.

Baked, thanks for that but sadly it doesn't change the fact that we don't live nearby & still haven't found anyone willing or able to manage it for us despite offering money. Saying "you can't manage it from a distance" is repeating the problem already stated !

OP - it's not about it being "scary" to text the landlord, it's about being the one responsible for doing it. And for having to deal with fellow tenants asking what is happening about stuff. And for taking the flak when there's a problem. I'd guess from the lack of enthusiasm for doing this role that your tenant has fingured out it would be a PITA for them and they don't need the £200 that much

An HMO is a House of Multiple Occupancy - where there is a single front door, shared common areas, but rooms are rented out individually to at least three tenants. I hope that you don't have an HMO as there are particular legal requirements that landlords need to meet

OP An HMO is a House of Multiple Occupation
'A house in multiple occupation is a property rented out by at least 3 people who are not from 1 'household' (eg a family) but share facilities like the bathroom and kitchen. It's sometimes called a 'house share'. You must have a licence if you're renting out a large HMO in England or Wales.'

x posted !

we don't live nearby & still haven't found anyone willing or able to manage it for us despite offering money

Except there are agents, but you don't want to use them Meanwhile your tenants are not getting the repairs that they are entitled to and you aren't getting the assurances that your property is being looked after properly.

I get the whole having to pay £££s each month for apparently not a lot in return (we rent out our property and live overseas, so use an agent to look after both our interests and our tenants' interests). But if you can't find someone trustworthy and reliable to do it informally, you will jsut have to bite the bullet and pay an agent

How many tenants do you have in the house?

All sounds terribly unprofessional and poorly managed. Are you sure letting rooms is for you OP?

I’ve never got this, we moved into our rental in February and we’ve never met our landlord, we’re bloody brilliant tenants.

Only 20 years old but have a baby and me and my partner adore our flat, our estate agents came to take photos and sent them to the landlord who asked the estate agents to tell us how lovely our home is and she’s so pleased with what we’ve done with the place and offered us a long tenancy in return.

We do know that the previous tenant absolutely ruined the place, it had new carpets/bathrooms/freshly painted walls and never paid the rent.

Why not just get an estate agent a kick out your crappy tenants? I know it’s shit and wouldn’t want it to happen to me but you get what you give.

Why does the shower break every 6 months?

All sounds terribly unprofessional and poorly managed. Are you sure letting rooms is for you OP?

^this^

You haven’t even sorted out a gardener or planted the garden to withstand drought and your absence.

Olennas how is arranging a repair man on average once in 6 months, in return for £200 a month, going to be a PITA? You've lost me & probably the majority of the population there.

Sunshine & olennas, you can rest easy, it doesn't need an HMO license, but thanks for the change of topic.

Olennas, where did I say we don't want to pay an agent? I believe I said we can't find one able to do it while we're away for a couple of months.

Awoman, I came on here asking advice on how to find someone willing to manage it while we're away. Your response "it all sounds terribly unprofessional and unmanaged", thanks for that.

Living, you sound like us- our old landlord said we were the best tenants. Now we are the most caring landlords but end up with worst tenants. Sadly getting an agent to rent out our spare rooms to Lodgers isn't an option (and in our experience the agency does nothing). We are only away for a couple of months.

Let it to a regular family. West London - if it’s a family-size house get a decent family in at the correct market price (or below, for the right tenants) and your life will be much easier.

Either it’s an HMO that you’re out if your depth with, or you’ve chosen the wrong tenants consistently.

Crochet, "why does the shower break every 6 months?" - answer- where did I say it breaks every 6 months? You're right though, it does so because it's on a timer to self destruct every 6 months 18 hours 2 minutes 5 seconds. We have it set this way so we can come on a forum asking for help finding someone to manage repairs & make u ask that question.