Email from tenant refusing to pay rent tomorrow. AIBU to give notice by return?

[birdladyfromhomealone]

Osting here for traffic also in Legal
Gave notice in September that we would be increasing rent £27 pcm. From Jan 3rd 17.
This is the first increase and they have been tenants for over three years.
Tonight we had an email that they have not signed the new contract or changed their direct debit as although they they agreed to this increase in Sept they now say they want repairs done first.
We had new DG windows fitted just before they moved in 3 years ago. They have managed to break 3 window locks in that time. The first one we replaced within the guarantee but these further two were broken in the summer.
We said they broke them so they should pay to replace them.
There was also a leak from the shower which was fixed at our expense.
We also had to have the ceiling re plastered due to the leak. We went round as planned to paint the new ceiling and the tenant a SAHM had forgotten and was out. A wasted 25mile round trip for us.
We texted and she apologised and has never come back with another convenient time so we left it.
Now they are saying they are not paying the increase tomorrow until we do the repairs.
Thoughts please

Serve them notice ASAP. They've obviously forgotten they rent the property and don't actually own it. Once they've started down the withholding rent route it's time to evict them.

Gwen
This - To be fair they knocked us down from £975 to £900 pcm 3 years ago.
The increase tomorrow is from £900 to £927 but other houses are £1,000-£1200 in the road
I dont expect other tenants to agree with LL but I have asked opinions and made the decision to give notice. I wish our tenant hadnt refused to pay :(

Well I think the tenants are in the wrong this time. They are getting the property at under the going rate and sound real fuss pots. I think the OP has done the right thing giving them notice. Why should she be messed about like this. And some Councils are terrible landlords and I suppose they'd be counted as professionals.

I doubt they have forgotten they don't own the property llan!

Properties do require maintenance and that costs money. The landlord will realise all the value that the property gains over the years, they will get all the benefits of being the owner so it is fair that they maintain their asset.

It is a shame sometimes that tenant and landlord relationships break down when perhaps more communication could improve them.

I don't think you sound a bad landlord OP, you have tried to rectify things. However, you should not let yourself in unless you hear back from them as without express agreement from the tenants it is illegal and if things are about to get nasty with the tenants it isn't worth risking it.

Good luck, hope it all goes as smoothly as possible!

I think you're cutting your nose off to spite your face, communicating with them on the issues you've listed and then making a decision either way would be the more professional way of handling it.

As for entering the property, no matter how much notice you give legally you still are not allowed to 'let yourself in' unless you have express permission from tenant, and that's regardless of what any tenancy agreement says.

Have you had the window locks checked by an independent party, e.g., not the person who originally fitted them? It seems a bit off to me that a young child is repeatedly breaking them. I'd be getting them checked to see if they're of a good standard, not defective, etc.

Was the tenancy a year long or six months? I don't know the exact rules but I remember reading that for a yearly tenancy you must give six months notice that the rent will be increasing.

Also their deposit should be in a deposit protection scheme, shouldn't it?

This is why, back when DH and I were renting privately, we made it a rule not to rent from people playing at being landlord and only went through agencies.

Gwen, it's a 3% rise in three years. It's well below inflation.

The repairs do need doing,but TBH I'd have let myself in on the specified date that tenant forgot, and done repairs.

I'd actually be telling her she needed to pay costs that became due to you because of her negligence/lack of care, whatever the term is in the contract.

Probably next to issue notice to vacate anyway. They sound like a liability.

Why are you charging below market rent? Is the property smaller than average?

The gate breaking due to high winds isn't something the tenant is liable to repair, same as plumbing issues, anything that has broken due to wear and tear, heating/boiler issues and so on. These fall.under the remit of the LL.

The window locks are potentially hers to repair but it's a grey area as they potentially could be faulty if they're repeatedly breaking.

TBH I'd have let myself in on the specified date that tenant forgot, and done repairs.

Then you'd have been breaking the law.

Prompto that's why I use a letting agent. The landscape of renting has changed so much in the last 10 years or so. I was finding it increasingly difficult to keep up to date with my ever-increasing responsibilities as a LL. I would never self-manage again. So many people think being a LL is a piss-easy way to make money. It's just not, if you do it properly.

It's really not an easy job MoreProsecco and as an industry I really think it needs massively tightening up with clear, concise rules for both parties involved.

Maybe 'playing at being landlords' was the wrong turn of phrase, you've expressed it much better than I have in that it's difficult to keep up with the ever changing landscape of private rentals.

For future reference, when we moved into our rental we were served notice immediately I think...S21? ..dated so that we would have had two months notice expiring on the day the contract expired. That way if we had forgotten that, and not negotiated new terms, the landlord would have been in a stronger position.

In my experience rents are raised much on long term tenants, but yours does not seem too bad after three years. Having said that, when we moved recently many landlords were having to take a cut in rents because the market was not that strong. We looked at a place that had just been vacated by people paying 2,250 a month and I happen to know it was reduced to 1875 pcm before they could re let it. All the properties round here were staying on the market for ages then being reduced in rent. Also, the place we vacated I thought would be let out for more than we had been paying, as we had been there a while, but it stayed about the same. Other properties on the street were going for more but their condition was better.

Ah, I see you are giving notice.
Can I just say, you don't sound like a bad landlord. I had far worse for over six years.
My rent was upped a few times. I'd treated the place impeccably and he never did repairs.
He wasn't fair,and treated me awfully. There was a small amount of arrears and instead of really discussing, they issued notice, which I didn't even use all of. I was out 3 1/2 weeks later, having had the carpets cleaned and repainted most of the house. He had decided to put my rent up to £800 pm effective of December (I'd moved out before hand) but it's now on the market, when they couldn't get £800. Or £750 it's dropped to £700 and still there. Not sure if that has much to do with him not even changing the heaters that haven't worked for over four years before having viewings!
You sound like you are trying to be quite fair!

Totally agree Prompto - the industry needs regulation. Unsurprisingly, no government is brave enough to do this.

Sorry, typo, I should,have said NOT raised much on long term tenants!

Prompts, it says in many agreements, that as long as the tenant has already 24 hours notice the landlord can enter the property. I don't say this from the side of landlord, but as a tenant, this has been in 3 rental agreements so far that I've signed. TBH it sounds fair to me.

I am an accidental landlord due to relocation overseas. There is NO way I would self manage. Do you not have insurance to cover the water damage etc? As previous posters have said, making money from being an LL these days isn't easy. My dad inherited some rentals from his mum and sold them because they were too much hassle, even with an agent.

You make it sound like you think you're doing her a favour by maintaining the property.

they sound deliberately difficult

hungry it does say that in many contracts but (statutory?) law overrides contract law and it is in fact not legal to enter without express permission.

Prompts, it says in many agreements, that as long as the tenant has already 24 hours notice the landlord can enter the property.

It doesn't matter what the tenancy agreement says, it's overriden by the law and the law says that the landlord cannot enter without permission regardless of how much notice is given (unless the repair is an emergency).

You sound OK as lls go, I do feel sorry for the family, it will be hard for them losing their home. I hope they have enough money to find another one easily.

I think serving notice on a family with children in the home due to frustration on your part at having to fulfill your duties as a landlord is pretty shitty actually.

You're right, they don't sound like great tenants, but don't underestimate the fact you may end up with worse - and in the meantime this family will have to find a new home with all the stress and hassle that will entail.

You're an amateur, and dealing with you directly is not working for either you or the tenant. Put your hand in your pocket and get a proper approved managing agent in.

I've been in both positions, LL and tenant.

The tenants have done themselves no favor here; they've brought the notice to vacate on themselves.

I do recommend you hire a letting agent or become more familiar with the letting laws going forward, however. You don't seem very clear on them.

Oh, and you should add language to future contracts about damages. If they cause it (shower/tub flood; window locks, for example), they should be paying for the repairs.