To insist tenant heats house

[daisymade]

I own a cottage which I lived in for about 6 years before moving in with now husband.

it’s a listed cottage, stone solid walls with timber suspended floors and it’s cold, it needs a fair bit of heating. I’ve had the same tenant since I moved out and she’s lovely, keeps the place immaculate and genuinely looks after it as if it was her own, just her and her dog live there, she’s in her mid 40s. I’ve always inspected it twice a year and never had an issue.

during my inspection last week it’s apparent she’s switched the rads off in rooms she’s not using. I know this property well and I know it needs heating otherwise it will become very damp, the dining room is above a cellar with three outside walls and the two spare rooms also have lots of outside walls so they sit cold, especially the one which is now above the unheated dining room.

I went home and discussed with my husband and we both agreed that it’s bad for the property to stay like this, but that (like most) she’s hit with the cost of living crisis and can’t afford the rising costs. I emailed her yesterday and proposed that during the colder months I will pay for every other 500l oil delivery on the understanding that all the rooms are heated when the heating comes on (a couple of hours in the morn and eve which is what she said she usually has on timer). There is a log burner which really warms the place but she works shifts and so it isn’t always practical for her to light it but I have also offered logs.

she has just responded to say “thank you but I would feel very uncomfortable with that and I’m happy with the current heating”.

I don’t know whether I can insist on this? I’d hope that by offering what I have, I am financially covering what I am asking of her, even though the AST states the property must be adequately heated. I absolutely don’t want to lose her as a tenant but I’m also worried about my property, I know how cold and damp it might get, the dining room is a timber floor above a barrel cellar so heating it will stop any moisture setting into the room from damp and I don’t want to have hefty invoices for repairs in the future from this.

am I being unreasonable? I don’t want to offend her but it’s best for her and the property if I contribute towards it being properly heated?

Wanna be my landlord? I'd bloody love it if my landlord offers that.
Why wouldn't she want to comply?
Best for both of you.

You’re being more than fair Op, very generous I think. AND heating is a condition of her contract.

I agree with pp - reiterate firmly but politely why the property needs heating throughout and that this is why it is in the contract.

Hopefully she will concede and appreciate your generosity.

Sadly I think this will become a common problem for landlords and some tenants will be evicted for failing to heat/maintain properties.

YANBU. It’s more than fair to insist she heats the cottage if you are prepared to contribute.

I agree be firmer and spell it out in plainer language. This is help to fulfil her reasonable contractual obligations, not a favour to her out of sympathy. She would be mad to refuse.

I think your email framing was a little patronising and she's reacting to that.

I'm sure you didn't mean it. But when you led with "Im concerned that switching the radiators off in rooms isn’t good for you," I suspect she thought that you were offering charity that was uncomfortable.

That, or she's concerned that she'll now have to discuss with you every time an oil delivery comes, and then deal with the bill

What I would do is to clarify that the only reason you're saying this is because you're concerned about damp and the possibility of damage to the pipes (and not because you're concerned about her or that you want to micromanage her--though I'd leave that unsaid).

Suggest that instead of paying for every other oil delivery, you'd like to knock £X off the rent over the course of the winter with the understanding that she heats those rooms. (Calculate X by figuring out what it would cost to cover the oil, and then spread it out per month.) This should give her a bit more agency.

In future, write temperature control into the contract.

Well you’re never going to be able to get her to heat your house or leave under the new landlord rules
we are seriously thinking about stopping paying the mortgage on our rental property so the bank can repossess , it’s the only option left to us really
Our tenant asked us to serve notice, we did, sold the house to a first time buyer and now the local council have served a repair notice which makes everything invalid
The repair is to fit a bolt on the cupboard which houses the boiler so a child can’t access it
Its a cupboard mounted high on the wall

S21 no fault evictions are still being papered so they haven’t come in yet but regardless she would be in breach of her tenancy which requires her to adequately heat the house, although when I renew the AST in feb I will be more explicit in what that means as it’s ambiguous at the moment I think.

I’m not knocking money off the rent, asides from setting a precedent, it doesn’t give me the same assurance as if I’m physically paying for oil for the tank. I’ve arranged to speak to her this lunchtime so hopefully I can be firm enough to reword it as a fait accompli rather than a discussion.

I think her reply says "I don't like the idea of charity and I'd prefer to be cold" so I'd reply back with huge emphasis on the benefit to you which is why you're paying - it's to prevent damage etc rather than her thinking it's so she's more comfortable

Yes I agree with this. If I was the tenant I might feel uncomfortable that the landlord was offering to pay and I might say "no I'm fine". She might also be thinking for environmental reasons there's no point heating unused rooms. I agree with others that you probably need to spell out to her that it's essential due to the structure of the house. Hope you get it sorted as she sounds a nice tenant otherwise!

To be honest the fact that you've offered to pay for the costs is reasonable. I don't understand why she would refuse although I'm not sure if you can insist unless there is a clause in her tenancy agreement.

There's a massive cost of living crisis. This tenant has never switched off the rads before (presumably?) Pay for all of the heating or put up with it.

So you'll make someone homeless because you can't be arsed to fit a security measure? Lmao landlords gonna landlord.

If she's never turned the radiators off before why should OP pay for all of it?

Honestly OP (and I say this in the spirit of helping) your email is not clear/specific enough on the reason and the consequences to the property. As a result, it reads more like a charity offer.

I would talk to her face to face or on the phone and be much clearer: it is an old property and both heat and ventilation are mandatory in order to prevent mould. She may be OK with the risk to her own health but you cannot accept the property being put at risk like that and need it to be heated to the same levels as previous years.

Then you can talk about the pffer to share the cost of heating it, based on the increased price of oil but even then I would be very specificabout the time frame. You can always extend the offer but it'll be much harder to end it earlier than expected.

All that said, I can see so many LL and renters facing similar debates over the coming months, so you are definately not alone...

Your adequate might be different from her adequate which might be difficult to contest if it came down to it. I'm not sure how you'd be able to prove its inadequate until the damage starts to appear. She might just not feel the cold and not want the heating on.

She's ridiculous to refuse you paying every other oil delivery. If my landlord offered to pay half my heating I'd bite his hand off - and yes we have a damp home too!

Yanbu and are being more than reasonable offering to provide the oil. She is mad to be trying to resist.

Like pps i think there will be a mass shift to landlords increasing rent and installing remotely controlled systems to ensure minimum heating.

Agreed you need to explain why - can you link to the fact that the property is listed & thus extra important its maintained well?

You're being a very fair and reasonable landlord in offering to pay for some of the heating costs.

I can't understand why she refused unless she thinks of it as charity. Hopefully at today's meeting you can clear the confusion up and explain to her that as the owner of the building you have to keep it well maintained and that includes regularly heating the whole building to avoid damp and mould issues.

Good luck at today's meeting and please update us on the outcome.

Just write back ‘ this isn’t charity, ‘the dining room is wood floor above barrel cellar or whatever x concisely’. I have to protect the property from damp as it will be a very expensive fix for us and we would like to keep the property as original as possible for future generations. This is non negotiable. You are an excellent tenant for us and always look after the property so we want to ensure you can stay. All the best, x

The tenants responsibility is to keep the house heated between 12 and 15 degrees where heating is a condition of the agreement. The landlord has the legal responsibility to provide the equipment (but not the fuel) so the tenant can fulfil this.

I didn’t know this until I started renting a home by the sea as a holiday home. I thought I could just have the heating off when I wasn’t there. Instead we just keep it on low now.

@LemonSwan reply is perfect

You are being perfectly reasonable.

Be firm. Insist you will
Provide the oil but it must be heated. Make it clear that mould and damp will be considered damage which she is liable for

I live in Cornwall in a part tiny early 18thC cottage which was extended to the front in the early 20thC. So I have internal as well as external walls that are 2' thick, floors were concreted over, no damp proof course. After a very dry summer we've had heavy rain so the air is damp. I have dg with an air vent in the sitting room, I leave the bathroom window on night latch and slightly open bedroom windows for ventilation. But I've got my heating on for 3/4 hours a day. We've not had one day in the last fortnight where we haven't had showers so can't dry washing off outside. I use the tumble dryer to part dry and then hang up once the heating is on. I have a dehumidifier as well.

You're limited with regards to insulating walls in old houses. I don't have mould but leave wardrobe doors ajar to prevent it

Even if it wasn't an express clause of your tenancy agreement (an entirely reasonable clause too to adequately heat the property) implied into EVERY tenancy agreement is an obligation on the tenant to occupy in a tenant-like manner. This means adequately heating and ventilating a property.

Now, with the advent of the Fitness for Human Habitation (homes) Act there may be occasions when the poor construction of a dwelling has to be modified by a landlord to prevent excessive ventilation, poor insulation, cold briding etc.

However, even with an energy crisis tenants need to ventilate and heat homes and excessive moisture causing damp will be their responsibility
Lids on pans when cooking
Using bathroom extractor fans
Using tricke vents
NOT drying wet clothes indoors unless all moisture can be removed (vented tumble, open windows, dehumidifier- their cost not yours)

This is not the same as damp caused by water coming into the property, which is almost always a landlord's responsibility, although cleaning gutters out would usually be considered a tenant's responsibility occupying in a tenant-like manner

It's not the same as the other thread as the OP is offering to pay half the cost.