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.

Tried girl Friday website suggested here too - they live too far from the property & it doesn't seem practical to pay someone so far e.g. £1500 in hourly rates, a month to manage it.

It indeed may be an HMO. That's a common designation in various council areas. Once OP returns it would be better if she gives notice to lodgers that exceed the HMO numbers, leaving two lodgers.

This is not good as legal advice, but in practice, winging it and hoping nothing goes wrong that might get it flagged up as an HMO happens before they are back in the UK is what is practical and what seems likely to happen here.

Confused- why should I check? I've already checked.

Also tried air sorted in london - says they don't cover area yet. Any other ideas?

Google your specific area with “Air BnB management” See what you find.

Do the same for “Girl Friday”; or “Petsobsl Assistant”; or “Property Mamagement”.

Or tell tenants plumber will be with them as soon as the let you know when is convenient.

Nosquirrels, it was agreed they'd clean up after themselves and contribute to everything but they don't follow through. Not just some. 99%. Can't enforce it or they'd just move out. Then we'd have same problem with everyone else. That's why we need an external solution.

Know if any way to search air b n b cohosts in london area?

I bet there is nothing at all in your lodgers contracts to state they have to be available to let tradesmen in. Is there?

Petsobsl = Personal

99%. Can't enforce it or they'd just move out. Then we'd have same problem with everyone else

Then don’t let out your property!

I think you have to do your own research now. I feel reasonably sure there’s an agency or service provider in your part of West London who can help you. Be creative.

Or - as I said before - tell your ‘tenants’ to help you or remain without a shower and face the probable deep-cleaning bill on your return.

No need for sarcasm if ppl are trying to help OP! If you interact with your tenants in the same way I'm not surprised they aren't going out of their way to assist you.

Anyway. From what I have read you are not happy with any suggestions other than a tenant rearranging their life to be available for tradesmen visits, which isn't really up to them. If you don't like their attitude and can't find a cleaner/house sitter etc that you can trust, the only other solution is to get more amenable tenants. Doesn't matter what has been said, you can only hold them to what is specified and signed to in your contract with them. If they are in breach of contract get rid of them, you might be luckier with the next ones. Sorry it doesn't solve the current issue, but I don't think you're going to solve this to your satisfaction any way.

You might also want to check out the new tighter legislation that comes in on 1st October.

House sitter is indeed another word for what you are looking for - therefore a term which you can google to find local agencies providing housesitting services.

Actually a HMO is governed by statute. If the property is occupied by 5 or more people not of the same household and is 3, or more than 3 stories it is by definition an HMO. Councils can apply regulations locally as they see fit which is in addition to the statute. For example they may choose to bring into regulation those who have 5 or more unrelated people in the property but are 2 storey, or 3 or more people but 3 storeys. So Op is not necessarily subject to HMO regs if the property is only 2 storey, but it depends on what the local regs are.

Why would it need to be as much as £1500? Would that be to get someone to go there most days, not only when you needed tradesmen let in the house? A gardener wouldn't need to go in the house at all and could just get on with it themselves once a week or once a fortnight. And a cleaner could be given a key by a tenant or however you'd get a key to anyone else). Given you have left your house contents with the lodgers, I assume those also aren't a major concern WRT cleaners.

If the situation is difficult, it's necessary to compromise a bit. A cleaner from a large agency may not be perfect, but will do some cleaning so the place is in a better state than if you left the lodgers to it for several more months.

. . . and OP will definitely come within the new HMO regs on 1st October and so will need to apply for a license.

I know there are cleaners out there who are not great, but it's not as if they do nothing at all - they just cut corners. With regular cleaners it seems impossible it would end up as bad as described in your first post, and that must have cost quite a bit to sort out.

Let through an agency, it makes life far less complicated and is worth the small fee.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a combative/prickly OP

Awoman, thanks for that input. Any advice on how to find a cleaner or are you just here to insult as well?

Squirrel "Then don’t let out your property!"

So just because tenants don't rush to clean, we shouldn't let out our spare rooms? Why can't we just have a cleaner? That's a bit of an over reaction isn't it? My post is asking where to find someone to let plumber in such as a cleaner.. so far we've been given some unresponsive links & impractical or impossible solutions

Ventiamore, you're right, "you sound unprofessional and your place sounds like a nightmare." Is really great advice to my asking where to find a cleaner. Thanks

Ventiamore, you're right, "you sound unprofessional and your place sounds like a nightmare." Is really great advice to my asking where to find a cleaner. Thanks

You're welcome frankie, but this wasn't what I said, was it?

Ventiamore, yes it was.

We've decided we're going to get rid of these tenants & look for a reliable house sitter we can trust to take care of the place.

After we've found someone, we might rent out a couple of rooms to Lodgers if we can find responsible normal people who behave like human beings.

we'd rather rent to no one than have people who behave like this with no respect for anyone or anything. Flushing the loo for example is not an option.

The question is, does lowering the price increase options to find normal people, or does it increase risk of finding abnormal people?