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.

[Artandco]

We have never had landlord inspection in 8 years..

[jamaisdeux]

Answer to your question...
You are being massively U.

[butterfly133]

I am so confused
are we really saying landlords don't have the right to just inspect their property any more?

OP, I understand why you are concerned but I am not sure what you can do about it.

[LazyLouLou]

Lottie, I don't think we are now disagreeing... though I did disagree with your initial post as it lacked details you have now given... I think we have said much the same thing... just from a different perspective.

[BeautifulBatman]

What's wrong with quarterly inspections? Having been a tenant, I cannot see a problem. The landlord has thousands of pounds tied up in the property - surely it's not unreasonable to want to check on it?

[Artandco]

Quarterly is every 12 weeks. That's a lot of inconvenience to always be in and available then.

[Topseyt]

I honestly think that asking her how she feels about staying there now that she is pregnant again is a very bad idea. It is not your business. She is an adult and capable of considering this herself, quite unprompted.

It could come across as intrusive and nosy, and it could also nudge her towards thinking of moving when she otherwise might have stayed put for a while longer. It might also make her feel insecure because she might wonder whether or not you wanted it back to sell.

Let sleeping dogs lie. You risk shooting yourself in the foot if you don't.

If I were to discuss anything at all it would have to be having the HB paid directly to you because the lateness at the start of the tenancy did cause problems. Point out that it would be one less worry, as the rent would be taken care of automatically.

Otherwise, JUST DO NOTHING. Seriously. You are not her HV or midwife.

[19lottie82]

BeautifulBatman, some people think that quarterly inspections are a tad over the top and intrusive. IMO 6 months is perfectly fine, but with maybe an initial inspection 3 months into the tenancy.

LazyLouLou, yes you're right. As I said there are 2 sets of laws bouncing off each other which makes the whole scenario v complicated indeed!

[jamaisdeux]

Why the confusion?

The OP is getting her rent. The renter is pregnant. She has a hospital apt today. The OP considers 2 bedrooms too small for the lady who is renting her flat. The OP is being ridiculous and it is not up to her, what is the problem? The OP clearly wants the pregnant lady and her two children out.

The renter is fine with the space. 2 bedrooms is fine for 2 children, one adult and a brand new, as yet unborn, baby.

[LazyLouLou]

butterfly - read the links I gave earlier. It is, as lottie said, a bit of a minefield but it boils down to... if a landlord asks in good time and a tenant refuses then the landlord can give the tenant notice - wth all that that entails.

So, given that both sides are reasonable, why wouldn't a tenant agree a time/date for reasonable reasons. The law says that condition checks are one of the legal reasons a LL can request access.

The repercussions of bad LL / bad tenant are all over the television recently. It isn't nice viewing from either side.

[SophiePendragon]

It would be classed officially as overcrowding and that might do something to your insurance. I'm not sure - contact them and find out.

I think you need to have a talk with her and make sure your plans reconcile. She might be wanting to leave or she might not.

Just talk to her and try and sort it that way.

[thesaurusgirl]

only a court can give the right to enter

How many tenants are going to take their landlord to court for a breach of their common law right to exclusive occupation?

Far quicker and easier for the tenant to send an email or letter the first time the landlord (or more likely the letting agent) enters without permission, and call the police a second. The relevant legislation is the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.

IME landlords and tenants usually get on reasonably well because they have a mutual financial interest in doing so. Letting agents on the other hand.....

[jamaisdeux]

I'd take this bloody landlord to court, in a second.

[QuintShhhhhh]

Would the baby not be fine in her bedroom with her for at least a year?

I dont see what your problem is? The flat is small, but has enough bedrooms for an adult, a baby and two children sharing rooms.

[butterfly133]

LazyLouLou - I see, so really it's not the case that you can refuse an inspection unless you're prepared to be kicked out - to me that's very different than what a poster upthread said.

OP - I do actually think morally you have the right to know who is living in your property. I rented for years and I just think it's fair. I don't know how your own insurance works though - do you have to give a number of occupants?

You must insist on inspection. I have never understood why anyone wouldn't - in fact I was surprised when one landlord didn't inspect every six months. You're not looking after your tenant or your property if you don't. But also, sometimes a fresh eye will notice something wrong when the person living there doesn't.

I do think it's totally normal, sadly, certainly in London, for this number of people to be in a 2 bed flat.

[thesaurusgirl]

Then you'd be laughed out of court Jamais.

The OP provides plenty of notice and is content to postpone the inspection because it's not convenient. She's not doing anything wrong.

But the tenant has already breached the terms of her tenancy with the cat, and with the late rental payments.

[araiba]

"I'd take this bloody landlord to court, in a second."

for what?

[Lurkedforever1]

Yabvvvu to bring up her housing benefit, if you're happy enough to take it then where her rent comes from is none of your business and just comes across as a judgy irrelevant aside.
Yabvvu to continue with quarterly inspections when she's got a track record of looking after the property.
Yabvvu to expect her to keep you updated on any change in her womb contents, its none of your concern.
Yabvvu to dress up your attempt at starting a thread to slate single mums on benefits as concern for your pocket tenants ability to pay.

[LazyLouLou]

Which? OP?

She has only asked if she is being unreasonable to wonder... if it were me I would also be wondering if there is another adult living in the premises.

OP has been reasonable regarding a cat that was not agreed upon and is now worrying about how the tenant will be able to continue with another child in a 2 bed flat. Why would that make it necessary to take her to court?

OP has every reason to feel anxious, at this point. Only time will tell if she is right to worry. Meanwhile she has every right to ask to view her property and the tenants current stance is not very reassuring.

[landrover]

Dont understand why the property will get more damp it there is an extra person?

[capulette]

I'm afraid I don't feel the pregnancy or where she plans to live afterwards is your business.

[jamaisdeux]

OP has never seen the cat, does regular inspections and gets her rent paid.
The renters decision to have a baby has nothing to do with her, as long as she is getting her money.

[Stubbed]

Funny though, if you discover that you are pregnant and think 'oh I must tell my landlord'. Of course she wouldn't bother to tell you, why would she? There's nothing forcing her to tell the father even.

[makesomenoise]

Why on earth is she 'lucky' to have her children in a great school which is presumably her catchment? What an awful attitude you seem to have towards her. She pays her rent, that's all you need to be concerned with. Her personal life is not your business.

[araiba]

"Dont understand why the property will get more damp it there is an extra person?"

humans breathe, they also create extra laundry etc, mum may be reluctant to open windows etc because she doesn't want the baby to be cold etc.

Modern building regulations created so many damp problems because there is such a small amount of ventilation in properties now

I always ring tenants to arrange a mutually convenient time to do inspections and then confirm it in writing, usually 3 months in to a 6 month contract and twice a year for annual contracts. i have yet to have a tenant who had any problem with this. Most of the time I would be in and out in a few minutes and often i would find stuff that they just didn;t know about or were thought too minor to contact me about- i get them sorted and we are both happy.

i would be very suspicious of any tenant who could not accommodate an infrequent, short inspection. I would never force my way in but i would explain that before any contract renewal, iwant to check out my expensive investment. but as said, ive never had this anyway