Clearing out a council property

[birdseeder]

Hi, I'll try and keep this brief.

A family passed away earlier this year. They were only named tenant, having lived in property for 35yrs.
Partner of tenant not applicable to "take over" tenancy as property to big, understandable.

Partner was only over a "named occupant" and never on tenancy, lived in property with tenant for 12yrs

Partner now on housing list for smaller property

On speaking to council to ask how we need to leave the property, I am stunned to find we need to strip it back to bare bones, ie. remove all carpets and laminate flooring etc. Has to be back to concrete etc

My question is; as this person is not on the tenancy, are they legally required to bare any costs council could happen to charge should property not be left as clear as they want.

I hope I have been clear enough with my query :)

Thanks

Depends on Council.
Most properties received back aren’t stripped. So long as property isn’t actually damaged the outgoing tenant is unlikely to be charged dilapidations.
I would just empty all furniture and personal belongings and give it a good clean.

Your query aside, leaving laminate or carpet down if it's in good condition would be unlikely to cause an issue, imagine whether it would be acceptable as an unfurnished private let to guide you as to what flooring should be left.
Councils also often ask that any net curtains are left up to minimise the chance of opportunistic squatters noticing the property is empty.

What they want to be able to do is give it a minimal once over (safety checks etc) and relet it asap.

The remaining resident would be liable for all rent costs from the date of their partners death until they move out. This can sometimes take people by surprise, especially if the rent and council tax has been covered by housing benefit.

They might well send the occupant a bill for clearing out stuff if they have asked for it to be stripped.

Or they may seek that money back from the estate of the actual tenant (which may amount to the same thing).

Sorry but councils can be notoriously cunty about this sort of thing!

I didn't have to completely strip the house, just empty of everything bar carpets, fixtures and fittings. The biggest problem I had was only being given 5 days to do so.

Mine was completely gut it or be charged £x thousand for removal.

The next tenant would have got 1 year old professionally fitted flooring, fitted wardrobes, curtain poles, curtains, blinds, a shower mixer and decent lighting. I double checked after the moveable things were out, because I would far rather make somebody's life a little easier on moving in by having them there already. I'd had permission to do those things, too.

Instead, they got a mouldy concrete shell. Which is the way the council wanted it.

I saw my council property as it had been left by the previous tenant..

Nice laminate downstairs, nice carpets upstairs, wallpaper job done nicely if not to my taste...

Then when I moved in, the council had ripped everything out, and charged the previous tenant for this (I know this because the previous tenant must have flitted, so they sent the bill to the address, despite clearly knowing the tenant didn't live there).

My neighbour died, her adult son was resident. He had 7 days to gut it to the bare bones, or be billed. We got it done JUST... we were still ripping stuff out on the last day when he had to hand in the keys.

Thanks all, not looking good is it :(

We had to strip my mum's house completely, including removing the shed and greenhouse in the garden.

We had to strip everything eventhough I told them carpets were in really good condition and might be helpful to next tenant. Also told we would be charged £40 for every item we didn't remove.

Seems such a waste to me- surely if everything is in good condition it would just help the next tenant! Does anyone know why councils ask for properties to be stripped like this?

Yes why on earth would they remove things that the previous tenant is happy to leave and would be useful like carpets?! This is baffling

It’s definitely not all councils. I’m assuming some liability issue if carpet or flooring is later shown to be defective? How odd.

We had to strip my grandads house, he had lived there for 60 years so obviously has done a lot to the house, the greenhouse and shed had to go, the garden had to be flattened, pond filled in, walls had to be painted a neutral colour and carpets removed. The council will give you an option of paying a fee for them to clear it or to do it yourself.

@LilLilLu

Seems such a waste to me- surely if everything is in good condition it would just help the next tenant! Does anyone know why councils ask for properties to be stripped like this?

Because they can’t be sure every new tenant will get the same freebies (ie carpets etc) unless it’s stripped back. So... everyone gets nothing.

@LilLilLu

Seems such a waste to me- surely if everything is in good condition it would just help the next tenant! Does anyone know why councils ask for properties to be stripped like this?

Because if they rent the place out with carpets/flooring they could be expected to maintain them. Also some people would start shouting about the unfairness if Mary at no 12 was rented a completely empty property whereas Billy at 13 got one that had hundreds of pounds worth of floor coverings.

I still agree with @LilLilLu
Such a waste when you'll move in to no proper floors

NOK will usually be billed for cost of works if property is not left in the condition specified, as per their tenancy agreement.
If they refuse, the cost can be claimed from the deceased’s estate.

I had to clear out a (semi) hoarder's council property after a sudden bereavement a few years ago. The council were good about giving me extra time to do it.

I got the same "bare bones" guidance but left the laminate floors, fitting wardrobes and bathroom and kitchen "things" that were fixed to the wall.

I also had to leave a very large piece of furniture that was impossible to remove from the building as the council had installed new lifts since it was bought and was therefore impossible to fit into the new, smaller lifts. I left an explanatory note and never heard anything again.

My cousin left their parent's flat with everything (personal effects, all furniture) in situ and only took a few photos. Likewise, never heard about it again.

When we left social housing many years ago I was told to either strip and bin the nearly new (neutral and expensive carpets) or be charged if they had to do it. I paid our removers to take it up and take it to the tip. It does seem madness as those carpets would have been useful for someone just moving in/starting out. I think the Council/Housing association just assume that if it left they are responsible for it

I had the same issue when leaving a housing association property. We had a good quality, quite new, professionally laid, hall and stair carpet. Knowing how expensive it would be to replace I fought to be able to leave it and in the end we were able to do so. Considering that when we moved in the place was filthy even including a huge floater in the loo, I couldn't see why we had to strip out perfectly good carpet. In the end we were able to leave it but only after a fight to do so. I would have been so pleased to have had a nice carpet when we moved in! (Our next property was filthy too but as we were moving from rented to purchased we kept our old place on for a few weeks so that we could clean it before we moved in)

I cleared out my mum's place earlier this year and also had to remove all carpets, lino from bathroom etc. Shame really as it was all virtually brand new and plain and next tenant would probably have been so grateful. They allowed us to leave the fireplace. We had to remove lovely modern light fittings (or pay them for removal).

The council met with me and took photos and told me what was to happen in every room. We then had to meet there again on date tenancy ended for an inspection, further photos and to hand over the keys.

If we had left anything behind they would have billed my mum's estate for its removal. That is possibly what they will do in this instance.

Why are people sending perfectly good carpets to the tip? Most councils have a furniture reusing scheme and will gladly take carpets off your hands. They are then given or sold at very low cost to people in need.

I’m assuming some liability issue if carpet or flooring is later shown to be defective? How odd.
When I asked about carpets and curtains throughout, which council said we're really nice, I was told it was because they might not to be to the next tenant's taste and they might ask council to get rid of the them. It was an issue of cost to the council, not a liability issue.

Why are people sending perfectly good carpets to the tip? Most councils have a furniture reusing scheme and will gladly take carpets off your hands.
Our council, in s major city, don't so we gave carpets to someone in the next road who had none. We gave neighbours some things and the rest we took to a charity in the next county where they give the things out for free as long as you can prove you are on benefits.

That’s the way the council want it, because otherwise CF would be leaving dog-piss soaked, grease stained carpets down ‘as a favour’

Better to be totally empty than left with someone else’s rubbish, even though some carpets are probably fine.

Your deceased family members tenant can’t expect to leave the place in any worse state than they'd be prepared to find their next place, using the excuse of ‘it’s not their name on the tenancy’ is pretty low.