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.

Why don't you Google it. People don't have to help you, and why should they when you're being so bloody rude.

Ventiamore, yes it was.

Nice to see you like putting words in people's mouths and insisting this is what they said.
Initially I wasn't actually sure whether you were being sarcastic towards my comment (which did not in any way say what you said I had) or whether you were genuinely thanking me for making vague reference to the fact that other comments were not useful in telling you how to find a cleaner (which btw was not your only initial or subsequent complains and issues).
I am aware that sometimes written comments are open to being interpreted differently, but to say someone has said something which they haven't, (and using quotation marks!) is not a misunderstanding at all. As such, I wholeheartedly agree with ThatIsNachoCheese above, and wonder if you treat your tenants in the manner with which you have interacted with the majority on this thread. Because I wouldn't go out of my way to help you, neither should they, as it is actually your responsibility to ensure things are fixed, whether the tenants are available to answer the door or not.

It's unfortunate that you don't know any of your neighbours. Why is that?

Gosh you sound awful.

If people choose to lodge and pay for a room with an owner in situ they expect not to be responsible for the property. You expect the owner to sort the garden and any maintenance. Hence paying less to lodge.

It sounds like you really arent being very responsible at all, confused as to the definition between tennant and lodger.... almost as if you wanted to just fill the rooms up with people and have no responsibility!

If you own a house big enough for 5 lodgers and bathrooms etc you really oight to be able to pay to outsource some of this. If you knew you would be away 3 months you shou ld have paid for a gardener amd a property manager or housesitter. To make people who were under the impression they were lodging responsible and for you not to be there to sort things is awful.

If theyre working they wont want to take holiday to sort a problem you should be sorting. You really should be there or have arranged someone to be on your behalf.

They must be really pissed off not having a shower and also not having the house sorted when they expected to lodge.

What would the income of 5 people lodging in london be?? Surely th at was enough to cover it and ought to be sorted before you left.

Making it somehow their problem for your responsibility is hideous.

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

Oh I see. You were just sping fur a fight then?

I offered you links in order to give you ideas of how to overcome your issues. Sorry they were “unresponsive”... but you’re free to google yourself!

Read the thread back. You haven’t really been asking how to find “a cleaner”. Start a new tbreadperhaps where you lay it out clearly in the beginning.

I didn't realise it was my fault for expecting human being tenants or lodgers or whatever you'd like to call them, to open the front door to a plumber once in their lives

It completely is your fault though.
It’s not a choice of language if they are tenants or lodgers, they are two different things. And those two different things come with two different legal definitions.
If you don’t know this then I wonder what kind of contract you have for them.

Fixing the shower is your problem. Your tenants are not obliged to take the day off work to deal with it.

Here you go. The legal definition of lodgers and tenants. www.schofieldinsurance.co.uk/interests/difference-lodgers-tenants/

The more you post the more I can see why your lodgers don’t want to help!

They didn’t sign up to take care of the property, if they wanted to do that they’d be tenants and then they’d have some say over the decor and arrangement of the property.

I don’t think it’s reasonable to take in lodgers if you’re going to be away from the property for months at a time, most lodgers might expect you to take a 2 week break once a year but they don’t want to use their annual leave to wait in for tradesmen or be expected to clean and maintain your property and potentially be accused of damaging ornaments or plants or having not done a “good enough” job.

If you were a good landlord you would have already had a maintenance contract with a plumber/electrician/handyman who could let themselves in to the property before you left the country.

As they’re lodgers and not tenants I think it is your responsibility to get on a plane and get back to make sure the property you’re taking money for is in good repair and then seriously consider whether this is the right business for you.

Try looking on Care.com

Sounds like you need an independent cleaner or even a house sitter.

Sorry OP but you are coming across as a bit of a wet fish.

Why on Earth would you pay a tenant £200 a month just to clean the house and water the plants???

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

That's quite insulting to poorer people. They are human as well!

I would be horrified to be a lodger and not have a working shower and find the person I was lodging with had just taken off having made no arrangements for the house.

Im really not sure the OP has taken her responsibilities to thise in her home seriously.

Can you not say to the tenants that the shower cannot be fixed unless one of them is willing to stay home for the plumber?

this is a classic AIBU thread, even though it's not in AIBU.

OP. I'm fed up with......how can I sort it

MNers. hhmm maybe look at doing X and Y, links. But sounds a little confusing,

OP. Moan, suggestions are rubbish give me more, and drip feed

MNers. ahhh well that's different, so you need to do X

OP. No I don't! I'm sure there is no difference!

MNers. link to differences

OP. non of you are helpful! I only asked Z. now you are just mean.

MNers. Err what? you sure you are in the right business? links more suggestion.

OP. that's not very helpful. how dare you! get your facts right. (even though OP didn't have a clue before)

MNers. oh fuck off, we see the problem now.

OP. I'm so right, everyone I know is a useless human being, same as you lot on here.

There is a huge difference between lodgers & tenants. You have lodgers who want to be treated as tenants.
I have been different types of landlord for 30 years. If a tenant had a problem I would drive the distance to sort it out. If a lodger had this problem, I would point out I was away and ask them to get it fixed and I would pay bill. If they can't be bothered then it's not my problem.
If they are smelly, disrespectful & leave the house filthy in my absence I would ask them to leave as soon as I returned.
FWIW, I have been a lodger, rented, owned various flats rented out on AST agreements - 13 years was my longest tenant, owned three holiday cottages and now Airbnb my own house.
I think your problem is not managing your lodger's expectations and explaining what their responsibilities are. As a co-habitee, I would expect them to live in a clean and tidy manner - while living under my roof - and if they break something, to organise repair and to contribute to their nice home that I provide by watering the plants etc in my absence. Those would be my expectations (or rules if you like). If they don't like them or can't meet my minimum standards - out they go!

FFS OP, use your brain.

Use a company like a Girl Friday to source and sit in for a plumber to fix the damn shower. And to source a cleaner. Not to property manage.

Just how long did you say you are away for?? I call bullshit.

Get rid of them for breach of contract. Surely in London there's no end of people needing a home

Get rid of them for breach of contract.

If they have a contract to breach. OP never clarified...

MsChandlerBong OP has already said all their lodgers and perspective lodgers are useless human beings, and they has always picked the best of a bad bunch........

not she worries by dropping the price she will get even worse.

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

Loads but you’re being such an arsehole I don’t feel like sharing it.

OP’s the one in breach of contract, not the lodgers. She has failed to provide the shower facilities they are paying for. I’d be withholding rent for the time they are without a shower.

OP, so you have a big property with multiple spare rooms. And you have lodgers that live in these rooms. However you are then away for months at a time, giving the lodgers a confusing situation of being in a house share rather than lodging.

When you are living there it is your responsibility to keep everything clean / plants watered etc. The lodgers have responsibility to tidy up after themselves / clear up any mess they may make but not to clean. When you are away why would you expect to find anything different?

You have come on here saying you need a word of mouth cleaner. I think a cleaner would be a good idea. But we can't offer you a word or mouth cleaner in your area because we don't live near you. A good cleaner who comes in 3 times a week say would also be able to water plants and potentially let tradespeople in depending on their contract. Failing that a key safe would be a very good idea. I'm sure you could ask a lodger to put the key in there the day before / take it out the day after. Tradesmen will be very used to this arrangement.

I can't help you find a plumber or a cleaner. It's just something you have to google, research reviews and ask for references from previous clients.

at Just!ike. We’re bloody awful us MNers aren’t we? All of us, just like her tenants, neighbours and all of the local property management companies. How can the OP have such bad luck?

Surely you just use a cleaning agency. Or advertise and rent out one of the rooms at reduced rate in exchange for cleaning and waiting in with repairs. That way you get someone who wants the win win situation rather than foisting it on an unwilling current lodger.