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AIBU?

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Original poster

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

299 replies

birdladyfromhomealone · 02/01/2017 22:01

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

OP posts:
Formerpigwrestler9 · 03/01/2017 10:52

Obviously we need a rental sector, however many would like to own but can't afford to because prices have been bid up by btl landlords

whatsthecomingoverthehill · 03/01/2017 10:52

I didn't say they were iniquity. Landlords help provide a mix of housing between renting and owning. You might argue that the mix is wrong but not that they aren't needed at all. The "Landlords are eeevvvillll" mantra on here gets rather tiresome.

whatsthecomingoverthehill · 03/01/2017 10:55

High house prices are more due to lack of total supply. (Ignoring bubbles like London apartments being bought up but never lived in, which is very definitely wrong and about which Something Should Be Done).

Formerpigwrestler9 · 03/01/2017 10:55

When I last rented rents were cheap and rentals were a bit down at heel

I think tenants expect high spec and good service because rent is so high

MoreProseccoNow · 03/01/2017 10:57

Ok, it's perhaps worth checking if your LL insurance covers legal expenses. If you haven't already, join NLA - costs around £100 IIRC but they can be very helpful in these situations. Or look at the Landlordzone forums - free to join. Best to prepare for the worst case scenario.

I expect your tenants were just hoping you'd roll over on this one. Please stick with your plan to serve notice, as it sounds like all trust has broken down.

Formerpigwrestler9 · 03/01/2017 10:58

Nope
high prices are due to the availability of cheap credit, people can only pay what banks are prepared to lend

whatsthecomingoverthehill · 03/01/2017 11:00

I'd agree with that as well Former, though that doesn't particularly favour btl over homeowners.

whatsthecomingoverthehill · 03/01/2017 11:02

Also the massive reduction in local authority housing has affected things.

Formerpigwrestler9 · 03/01/2017 11:02

It does favour BTL
They can use equity in existing property to borrow more

QueenLizIII · 03/01/2017 11:04

AFAIK minor repairs dont entitle you to withhold rent.

You live in the house you owe the rent whether something minor that you broke yourself is fixed or not.

they've probably breached their agreement now.

MoreProseccoNow · 03/01/2017 11:06

I think there will be lots of LL selling up in the next few years, due to the changes in taxation. Contrary to what most people think about being a LL, there's not a lot of money to be made these days, with costs higher (higher interest rates on BTL, increased regulation e.g. Legionella assessments, also being unable to offset interest rates against tax).

Unfortunately I can only see rents increasing due to this: less property available for renting & more LL costs being covered by higher rents.

Formerpigwrestler9 · 03/01/2017 11:06

Yes of course, I think most people agree that expecting private landlords to take the place of social housing has been bad for tenants/families

iniquity · 03/01/2017 11:09

Its not about lls being evil The OP LL is reasonable compared to many out there. She wants more money. They feel they are already paying enough, £900 is probably a large part of their salary. They will soon find themselves homeless with a child unless they have a few thousand pounds lying around. This is not a good long term solution. The government must act.

PopcornBits · 03/01/2017 11:10

Typical landlord blaming tenants for all things breaking in the house. ''at my expense'' HAHA of course at your expense you are the landlord!!
You're breaching your own contract by not fulfilling your responsibilities.
Blaming them for not getting back to you with another convenient time to fix the ceiling, why didn't you communicate with them to offer another time? You say you just decided to leave it. TYPICAL LANDLORD.
I've been in their position before, maybe it was just bad luck that things broke and they needed you to repair them, you can't blame them for every single thing that breaks!
Tenants don't go around breaking stuff in the house just for the sake of it, they have a deposit they like to keep a hold of.

Formerpigwrestler9 · 03/01/2017 11:10

Landlords will have to dispose of thier properties or face ruin,they'll have to sell cheap, prices will go down and more people will be able to own instead of being forced to rent

fewer properties to rent = more properties to buy
Houses don't disappear into the ether when landlords selll them!

FatalKittehCharms · 03/01/2017 11:11

They are taking the piss.

You don't get to insist on locks being fixed when your child has broken them 3 times. And you don't get to complain about an unpainted ceiling when you 'forgot' to let the LL in to paint it.

TeaCakeLiterature · 03/01/2017 11:15

As lots of people have said, she's taking the piss. You're better off without them! Hope you get better tenants in future

KnittedBlanketHoles · 03/01/2017 11:17

Stop the press woman with child wants a tumble dryer in her home, and then a dishwasher- ooh, the absolute cheek!

JacquesHammer · 03/01/2017 11:19

I've been in their position before, maybe it was just bad luck that things broke and they needed you to repair them, you can't blame them for every single thing that breaks

And yet the tenants in question have already admitted their child plays with and breaks the locks because he is "houdini".

FWIW I think the only reason the OP mentioned fixing things at her expense was to illustrate the fact that she has upheld her responsibilities as a LL.

IMO there needs to be much tighter regulation in the rental sector for BOTH LL and tenants.

KnittedBlanketHoles · 03/01/2017 11:23

We have done everything by the book.

I don't know how you have the temerity to state this when you have already evidenced that you don't know what is in the book to then claim you abide by it?

MargotsDevil · 03/01/2017 11:23

If they are concerned about their deposit then they should be more careful about letting baths overflow and letting their child break window locks - why on earth is their child being allowed near the windows unsupervised if they know that (s)he has already broken locks?

Replacing a perfectly acceptable washing machine is not a requirement yet this LL has done so. 3% increase over 3 years is really low if property is already under market value. I get the impression that some of the posters here think the LL should just tell the tenant to do whatever they want, buy whatever they want and then give the LL the bill! Yet another thread which seems to be all about rights without recognising the accompanying responsibilities - on the part of the tenants. OP I think you've done the right thing serving notice - I suspect this may have just been the start of many problems for you otherwise.

MoreProseccoNow · 03/01/2017 11:24

The vast majority of those who rent (like me for 5 years) do so because they're either trying to save for the huge deposits required nowadays or can't get a mortgage (self-employed, paying off debt etc).

LL's selling up & cheaper property prices wouldn't have made any difference to us. We couldn't have bought anyway. And nor can many renters for that reason.

Marynary · 03/01/2017 11:26

It sounds like they are trying it on so best to evict them. If they were that desperate to get the ceiling repainted they would have contacted you by now, considering it is their fault you didn't paint it in the first place. They are probably just using it as an excuse not to pay rent. I used to rent out a room in my house many years ago to a twit who broke everything and seemed to think it was my job to replace because the rent was so high (I really wasn't). Fortunately he only rented the room for a few months.

user1471545174 · 03/01/2017 11:27

When does their contract end? Is there an option of keeping them at their current rate until it ends, then getting new tenants in at the market rate?

EweAreHere · 03/01/2017 11:37

Radio silence from them this morning ... yes, because they've overplayed their hand. They didn't have one. They're hopefully freaking out over what they've done, because now you rightfully want them gone and have told them so.

One cannot legally withhold rent for what they were claiming to withhold it for. And the rent increase after 3 years was more than reasonable.