To wonder if my tenant should have told me..

[MatildaTheCat]

I'm a nice landlord, I promise. I have one very small flat local to where I live. It is 45m Sq. approx. one bedroom 10' 10' ( sorry to mix up metric and imperial) and another 7'x10' max. Living room again 11x11' max. No space to eat in the kitchen.My tenant is a young mum with two young dc aged approx 5 and 3 ish. One boy and one girl. They have bunks in the smaller bedroom. Her rent is covered by HB although she has refused to have them pay me direct and has on occasion paid late. Very late at the start of the tenancy.

She looks after my property well and I do regular inspections. I am aware that she has a cat although I've never seen it and it as against the agreement.

So, today I am due to go round to do an inspection and get a text putting me off because ' In April I discovered I was five months pregnant and the baby is now due in a month and I have to go for a check up.' I can't explain how much I cannot imagine how she will manage to live in such a cramped flat with three small dc. and all. The kit of a newborn.Perhaps I am naiave and this is normal. I'm thinking that with benefit caps now she won't get help to get a bigger place? It's a very expensive area and her dc are very lucky to be in a great school literally just over the road.

Should she have contacted me to explain her new situation? Is it none of my business? Am I right to feel concerned? I feel a heartsink situation coming on....

Thoughts much appreciated.

[thesaurusgirl]

Tenants who refuse inspections all together are idiots and I say that as someone who rented for 16 years. It sets the landlord's antennae against you for no good reason and can mean maintenance issues which are the landlord's problem becomes one you're expected to resolve if you want your deposit back.

Just make sure you give her plenty of advance notice and the chance to re-arrange the appointments if they aren't convenient - which it sounds like you're doing anyway OP.

[lottiegarbanzo]

Just be grateful you don't have to share with them!

[LaLyra]

Please don't ask her how she feels about staying in your flat a month before she's due to give birth. When I rented if a landlord had asked me that, especially if it was clear they didn't think the place was big enough, I'd have been worried sick they were planning on giving me notice. The baby will be in her room for at least 6 months, easily a year so the space won't massively be an issue as babies don't take up as much space as toddlers.

If you are really worried about the benefits angle then run the figures through something like entitled.to and see how her benefits will change between one child and two. Babies don't have to cost that much.

[NotYouNaanBread]

Well, look at it another way. She has a baby on the way and is staying within her means, by living in small home where she can afford to look after her children. It sounds like she can just about manage where she is now, so it would be irresponsible to move somewhere bigger.

On the other hand, somebody presumably impregnated her, and may even already be living with her - are you happy for your flat to be lived in by two adults and three children? I'm a landlord myself and def. wouldn't market a flat that size for 5 people.

[thesaurusgirl]

If the rental payments are not as late as they used to be, could it be that the baby's father has been contributing towards the family's expenses? Hopefully he'll step thse up once the baby arrives - meaning that there will be more money coming in, rather than less.

At the moment, it's none of your business how she pays, as long as she does.

[19lottie82]

Quarterly LL inspections are specified on the TA

I'm afraid that doesn't make a dot of difference! You can put whatever you like in the tenancy agreement, it doesn't make it enforceable.

Statute law states that the only time a LL has the legal right to enter a property without the tenants permission, is in the event of an emergency. And statute law trumps contract law (i.e. your TA) every time.

You can request inspections, but you can't insist on them. If a tenant were to refuse, all you could do would be to issue them a no fault notice to leave 2 months before the fixed term TA ended.

[LazyLouLou]

Actually lottie is not right.

A landlord can ask for permission to enter to inspect the condition of the property. This is a good thing as it allows both sides to assess and assure the proper upkeep and safety of a property.

www.thetenantsvoice.co.uk/advice_from_us/landlord-access/

You must give your landlord access to the property to inspect it or carry out repairs. Your landlord has to give you at least 24 hours’ notice and visit at a reasonable time of day, unless it’s an emergency and they need immediate access.
www.gov.uk/private-renting/your-rights-and-responsibilities

[lottiegarbanzo]

But OrangeVase makes excellent points.

[Topseyt]

She is under no legal obligation at all to tell you that she is pregnant again. None, and it isn't any of your business. As long as the rent is paid and the place is looked after then you leave her to her own devices.

As a landlord (I am one too), legally speaking you can only enter the property at all if you have given a minimum of 24 hours written notice. The exceptions to that are cases of emergency as already given above by other posters.

Why are you concerned about her? She sounds OK to me, although due to her circumstances, I guess that you would not be surprised if in the future she looked into the idea of moving to a bigger place. Don't do anything to precipitate that though. She might not, and "a bird in the hand" etc.... Far better the devil you know.

[TreadSoftlyOnMyDreams]

If she's already 5 months pregnant, the baby will be born before the childrens tax credit cap on 2 children comes into effect so she won't be affected by that as far as I am aware.

[jamaisdeux]

You are taking her money.
She is paying you.
Leave her alone. The fact she has a baby on the way is irrelevant. 'Kit of a newborn' there is no kit!

No, you do not sound like a nice landlord.

[NataliaBaker]

Isn't it 24 hours notice and the tenant agreeing? Rather than just the 24 hours notice.

[thesaurusgirl]

Yes, Natalia's right.

Accessing a tenant's home without permission except in an emergency is considered harassment.

[jamaisdeux]

quarterly inspections.

Dear God. Not on.

[LazyLouLou]

Tough as... you are only repeating what I said, what the site says. The difference is I quoted the sentence that says a tenant MUST give permission alongside the requirement that a LL 'ask permission' and Lottie outlined what would happen if a tenant refuses...

I am not sure why people find that so hard to understand. A LL retains rights over their property just as a tenant gains some when renting.

A landlord MUST ask permission and a tenant MUST grant permission at a mutually agreeable time for a list of non emergency reasons, and a condition check is one of them! What is so hard to understand? That there are repercussions available to both sides should permission not be sought or granted are equally true...

[19lottie82]

LazyLouLou, there are many arguments regarding this subject, and counteracting laws, being the tenants right to "quiet enjoyment" of the property, against that of the landlord to "inspect the property".

However, basically it boils down to the fact that if a tenant refuses to allow the LL access to the property, the only thing a LL can do is take them to court for an order to gain access and /or issue section 21 notice (non fault)at the end of the tenancy.

A LL cannot force himself in, enter when permission has been denied, or end a tenancy early for either of these two reasons.

[LazyLouLou]

As for quarterly... on a 6 month lease that just means the LL will check halfway through the current tenancy agreement... then both sides can outline what, if any problems, need to be addressed.

Not really all that intrusive, given that both sides are reasonable.

[thesaurusgirl]

The best landlord I ever had went in for quarterly inspections. Hardly anything ever went wrong as she just kept on top of everything - including shit I wasn't doing such as cleaning the dishwasher filters and extractor fan .

[NataliaBaker]

Phew, thought so! Had a momentary panic then that I'd been in the wrong with my own landlord a while back haha!