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.

You could use keynest.com/airbnb-key-exchange-faq#jtt_about Key Nest for trades’ access.

keynest.com/airbnb-key-exchange#airbnb-key-exchange-pricing

Maybe they could also recommend a cleaner?

As for the type and behaviour of lodgers you find, that’s the luck of the draw. Presumably you meet them? It just seems strange if you keep accepting people who all turn out to be so different from what you anticipate.

So at 20.18 on Fri you had no idea what an HMO was, yet less than 2 hrs later you were fully up to date with all local & national regulations sufficiently to be quite sure that you are not one?
Despite having 5 lodgers/tenants living there, plus at least 2 of you?

JustLikeBefore This with bells on!

As a LL I was being nice when I posted last night. I manage rental properties from afar and I don't have my tenants do the work. I'd never give a discount on rent for having someone clean.

As a LL you are providing a service. The margins are slim and you need to be able to handle people, which isn't always easy. If I were you I'd seriously consider why you are a LL and if it's worth it. If you want to continue you need to learn how to LL. I grew up in the business which made it easier for me. Still I worked at an agency as a lettings agent on weekends and took various courses to learn how to manage my business.

In the meantime, call pimlico plumbers, have them stop by before Monday to get the key and provide you with an estimate. If they need to order parts they can do ahead of time.

In West London chard and Leslie marsh were always good agents and did a good job of managing my property. They were very expensive taking 20% of the rent but the took care of the place when I had just moved to NYC.

Tumbleweed from OP...

Thanks everyone for your replies.

If we go down to 4 tenants would that not require HMO licensing?

Up to October, it would be 2 lodgers (3 unrelated households including yourself and your partner) and from October just one lodger by the looks of things.

If you have a big house and are relying on lodgers for a significant amount of your income long term, it might be worth considering the HMO licence and its requirements.

Sorry, not quite right there.

The government is extending the mandatory HMO licensing scheme to cover properties occupied by five or more people making up two or more households. Any landlord or agent whose HMO is required to be licensed under the new rules, must apply by 1 October 2018 or they'll be committing an offence from that date.

www.lambeth.gov.uk/housing-and-regeneration/landlords-and-ownership/hmo-licensing-guide

So you and your partner plus two lodgers would be okay according to that definition. (You and your partner would be a household)

You should check your own local council requirements. Not all of them may have the updated info on their sites.

They are not tenants if living with you but lodgers.

It does seem like you need to seek some proper advice to ensure you meet your responsibilities.

If you do decide to go down the HMO route please take proper legal advice as to how to do this and run it.

You also stated upthread that cleaners who advertise or who work for agencies are unreliable. How else do you expect to find one?

Maybe advertise yourself on a local to the property facebook page.
The cleaner can be a keyholder and perhaps you'd be able to pay them their hourly rate to go to the property when tradesmen need to go in.

What sort of an outfit are you running there...

It is beginning to sound quite underhand/under the radar/not quite legit isnt it!

www.lbhf.gov.uk/housing/private-housing/property-licensing-landlords-and-letting-agents/hmo-mandatory-additional-and-selective-licensing-faqs

From this, which is one of the largest boroughs in West London, "Examples [of a HMO] would be shared houses with 3 or more occupants, flats with 3 or more occupants within a building and owner occupiers with 3 or more lodgers.

There will be a number of conditions attached to licences, some of which are set out in the Act and some of which will be prescribed by the council in individual cases. Those conditions that will apply to all licences are:

1. licence holders will be required to produce to the council annually for our inspection an in date gas safety certificate (gas safety inspections are required yearly)

1. licence holders will be required to keep electrical appliances and furniture made available by them in a safe condition

1. licence holders will be required to ensure that smoke alarms are installed in the HMO and are kept in proper working order and make declarations to this effect to the council

1. licence holders will be required to supply to occupiers of the HMO a written statement of terms on which they occupy the house and make declarations to this effect to the council.

Point 2 above seems particularly pertinent to your query re the shower.

Anyway, you're a prickly sort by all accounts, so since no agency or cleaner or neighbour seems willing to assist, it is doubtful us sub-humans would be able to assist you either.

Such an odd setup. Is it actually that you're still doing work to the house so in order to have it occupied and finances coming in you've rented out the rooms and then fucked off and left the lodgers to the mess and hassle?
Your previous posts suggest a lot of work needing/being done. What sort of state is the house in at present?

That's exactly what you need.
My daughter does cleaning for hmo's and I sometimes help her.
The people living in them sound the same as your tenants.
When they leave and you go in to do a clean the rooms are disgusting.
They leave the kitchen and bathroom in a terrible state.
She goes in weekly and keeps on top of it and reports any issues.
Do you have a local forum, we have one called next door and you can ask on here for any recommendations for cleaners/ workmen.

Sounds like they are doing the typical fly-by-night set-up of pretending to be an owner occupier to flout some of the laws in place for landlords. I've rented from similar. It means that they can boot you out whenever they feel like it as you are merely a lodger rather than a tenant. Said asshole didn't live there. All rooms were let. She just got her post delivered there.

If you had anything other than feathers for brains, you'd source a plumber and post them a key. Alternatively, leave a key with the little shop on the corner for the plumber to collect and return. Loads of ways around this but you seem intent on castigating your tenants/lodgers/not-tenants/non humans.....

I am just so glad you're not my landlord, OP.

And your snippetty crotchedy drivel ain't fooling me for starters. I know your sort.

And what the plants have to do with the price of turnips, I do not know!

Call your local council and ask them about the HMO rules. The councils in the NW I have called have been very helpful. Just bear in mind it's a long process. Once you have been through it once it gets easier. I have one vendor do everything and that minimizes the disruption for the tenant. Ask the council for the list of who is licensed and ask them which vendors they like to work with.