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?

She was considering it but was advised not to (sensibly) by people who have experience of being LL's.

Offering to pay for heating costs for tenants is a very slippery slope to go down..

@witheringrowan Daisy has already said a couple of hours morning and
night as is the tenants routine anyway is fine. It won't make much difference if that's at 14 or 20 AND Daisy will be paying for it anyway.

plus it's unlikely to get to 20 in the rooms that Daisy needs it on in anyway.

She will also be getting £200 towards her oil heating which is paid via the electricity bill from the government.
This year everyone pretty much is getting something for cost of living and that’s what we should be using it for.

I think its a very generous offer Op and i'd snap your hand off.

That would end up being more expensive than turning on the rads in the unused rooms. The heating is passing by thise rads anyway.

I'm seeing lawsuits where tenants challenge landlords stipulations re-adequate heating for their properties, surely it could be argued that this cannot stand at a time of unprecedentedly high fuel costs?

Agree. You need to be firmer and say it's part of the contract now but that you're paying.

Furthermore said lawsuits could result in it being written into law that landlords have to fund the heating for the properties that they let out?

I lived in a flat without heating for three years. We told the landlady on numerous occasions that the heaters weren’t giving off heat. She would come in, flip a switch and declare triumphantly ‘see the red light is on! They’re working!’

We used oil heaters. The flat was an ice box and became infested with black mould.

Why? It's good for a landlord to check the property to see if any structural work etc needs to be done or maintenance carried out. If the tenant is happy it seems unlikely that OP is checking rooms are tidy or whatever but more ensuring there's nothing they need to do. In this case the damp is a concern so OP has offered to pay towards heating which is very reasonable.

@CaptainMyCaptain but a pp calling her a stubborn old goat was a) rude b) irrelevant (IMO) op states mid 40's & that's who we are talking about.

anyway that's not the point of the thread, I was just taken aback at mid 40's being labelled as older. 😵‍💫😵‍💫

(but I understand that's not exactly what you meant)

whether she feels weird about accepting charity or not, is by the by though, she needs to understand the OP is paying for it, for her property, not her. So she either pays for appropriate care for the house or she allows the op to do so.

denying appropriate care for the house is not on.

Is not about cost, it's about comfort. Maybe the tenant doesn't particularly like high indoor heating because IMO it makes things feel stuffy. So being clear that its a lowish level of heat in order to limit damp is more likely to get their buy in.

OP - legally it's very hard to require the tenant to heat to a particular temperature. And ignore the people who are telling you to tell them that it's a new requirement in the contract, that will never stand up. I think, given that there are specific requirements in order to maintain the property, and given the rising costs of living, even with your offer to pay for a share of the oil, tenants' budgets will be under pressure, you need to think carefully whether this house is really suitable to be let out.

@daisymade You sound a very fair and responsible Landlord.
My parents owned a 1600’s timber frame /thatched stone cottage , and that was absolutely freezing.
It too got damp if unheated.

I had exactly your situation with a landlady- Her Victorian property had no central heating, just e£ectric fires and an immersion heater.

It was a bitterly cold winter, and she was worried about burst pipes-
She paid half the electric bill.

I can’t understand why your tenant would object to your very reasonable offer, and reason for doing so ?

I missed her age in the OP but agree that she should accept the Landlady's offer and her age is irrelevant. Mid 40s is young to me as I am in my late 60s.

@Whoputtheramintheramalamadingdong

non it's not, not if you want the property you own to be looked after!!

I have put my heating on the last couple of days, not because I couldn't keep myself warm, but because I am looking after the house & soft furnishings, stuff stored in boxes etc.

if I rented it out, I would contribute to heating costs, because I think that's fair & reasonable if it needs heating beyond what the tenants are happily coping with.

id have a clause in the contract, that was well written.

We need more properties available for rent, not less.

Lots of houses in the UK need to be properly ventilated and heated, not just ancient cottages. My house was built in the 50s and I need to be careful re. condensation. For my own health as well as the houses’s.

This is the fourth thread in a couple of days I've seen about heating and tenants!

I don't think it's considered a good idea to be switching off radiators to individual rooms, however.

It's probably a good idea to be airing rooms daily also. I do this in one spare bedroom prone to condensation.

@Orangesare but that's for the tenants bill, to 'spend' how she wants/needs, not to have additional heating on that she doesn't personally need.

It really hinges on the rental contract what's written re care for the house, but if the OP can afford & is willing to pay for additional oil, the tenant needs stop being difficult.

There’s another thread like this and a pp put a good clause in it I’ll copy and paste

Tenant to " ensure that the Property is properly ventilated throughout the Tenancy Period and report to the Landlord's Agent any damage that has been or is being caused to the structure of the Property by lack of ventilation and if the damage is caused by the Tenant's default or his invitees advise the Landlord of the damage so that it can be repaired or replaced by the Landlord at the Tenant's expense."

It's a difficult one, BUT in a situation where the LL is contributing to the cost, I can't see them getting anywhere.

Now that's utterly ridiculous!!

I think landlords are probably gonna have to factor heating into the 'rent' and be in charge of the heating (control it remotely somehow,)

I lived in a house share many years ago which included bills & the landlord had the boiler locked in a cupboard with the timer set. It was awful in winter if you were in during a week day (off work/between Christmas & new year etc) because the house was freezing & we couldn't change it. I'm pretty sure I checked at the time & it was illegal too

ignore the people who are telling you to tell them that it's a new requirement in the contract, that will never stand up.
I second this. Contracts don't work like that ... Imagine if your boss informed you that your work contract had changed so you now have to work double the house for the same pay, or if a tenant informed the landlord that the contract had changed and they would now be paying half the rent!

OP I understand why you want house at a certain temperature but tenants have a right to quiet enjoyment of the property which I think includes being able to chose the temperature.

If you have a good relationship with the tenant then can you call her and explain exactly why the house needs to be heated and what the temperature needs to be.
It might just be a misunderstanding that you want her to have hot stuffy rooms paid for by you as an act of charity like Lady Bountiful!

I haven’t read the whole thread but isn’t there a potential very obvious explanation?

You have offered to pay for half. I suspect she can’t afford the other half!

When you discuss I really suggest finding out if that is the reason and responding accordingly (pay 80/90/100% for agreed hours just for this winter?).

It’s a cost of living crisis because all kinds of costs are going up, not just energy.