Tiny violins out - private landlord having trouble

[roarfeckingroarr]

I own a flat that I rent out because it no longer suits my needs to live there and I couldn't find a buyer without making a substantial loss during Covid (due to no private outdoor space).

I try to not be a dick - e.g. I charge under market rate, I don't increase the rent unless in between tenants, I get everything fixed as soon as I can (via management agency), I allow pets/children etc. All things that should be standard but too often are not.

Anyway, I have a tenant who is playing games. Every month for the last three she has had a problem paying the rent. First of all she wanted to move the payment date (fine, circs change, but she was a week after the agreed date), then she was late again, then she decided unilaterally she didn't have to pay because the boiler had broken and I couldn't get a new one installed over night. I reimbursed her for heaters to keep warm and had it replaced as soon as a reputable tradesman could install one - about a week in total. I get this isn't ideal and I offered a £100 discount as a goodwill gesture. She eventually paid.

I hate being a landlord and I am v shortly going on maternity leave with my second child so I need to sell especially as the income is now unreliable to use the equity to buy us a family home.

But I'm scared to put it on the market in case she takes that as free reign to stop paying altogether.

Does anyone have any advice that doesn't include "private landlords" and "scum of the earth" in the same sentence? I wouldn't expect her to let people traipse through her home at short notice and would hope to arrange maybe two open house mornings in Jan to minimise inconvenience - but I also expect her to stick to her side of the contract and pay the agreed rent during this time.

You are the poster who complained about older people owning bigger properties! And had a fixed idea about who should be doing certain jobs.

You still have to pay your mortgage though while living with parents...It could potentially be covered if you rent it out but then again what about void periods and if the boiler/washing machine breaks during that time, you have to fix it.

I don't increase the rent unless in between tenants

So you've had this property accidentally for quite a while?

I am v shortly going on maternity leave with my second child so I need to sell especially.....to use the equity to buy us a family home.

Not really a tale of woe then?

This tenant has withheld rent once because she without heating/hot water for 10 days. She has asked for leeway with the date she pays.

Please don't suggest that this tenant has never paid or that you fear that she won't.

This

It doesn't matter what the tenancy stipulates. Legally the tenant does not have to allow viewings.

LOL, that would be a motivator I suppose, but rate rises have already locked in big losses for recent buyers, you don`t need a crash for that.

Mummykins is pregnant with her second child. Mummykins knows that the property market is crashing. Mummykins wants to sell her second property as equity to buy a bigger home for her and her soon-to-be-two-darling-children.

@pattihews exactly. I just ignore those comments. Totally wilfully ignorant of life and how it changes.

But it is the consequence

so if no mention - then no consequence

if mentioned in tenancy then the OP can reasonably give a poor reference and has grounds for claiming some of the deposit

erm. How is that related. my MIL lived in a 3 bed terraced house. Its not really a big property but we did live with her for three years before buying. You don't necessarily need a 'big property to accommodate children who have problems paying the rent/mortgage cos they lost their jobs.

My point is that rental is probably better for people who are living hand to mouth as it is more easily tailored to one's financial circumstances. Best is living at home obviously or in social housing but thats not for everyone. Home ownership can be cheaper in terms of cash flow (and when you compare like with like), but it can be more expensive when you factor in things like refurbishment, maintenance and the fact that you have to pay even if the interest rate skyrockets etc or you have a huge change in circumstances over the years or your pay doesn't rise with inflation.

This is why a property inherited from my mother in law will be sold. We did think about renting it out as we don’t need to sell it, but renting out property these days is weighted so much in the tenants favour, you really would have to be bonkers to even think about it. It’s just far too risky.

*not available for everyone!

You're being wilfully ignorant of your tenant's life. The one who paid you a large amount of money for the past year and a half? That one?

I don't have any advice. The thing I would say if you do ever rent it out again, ensure you get a guaranteer who is a house owner.

Hard to have sympathy for any ‘accidental business people’ who enter any market without due diligence. Hard to have sympathy for people who claim they had no alternative choice, so started dealing in a market which involves people’s lives, without really understanding how notice and selling works for rental properties.

We wouldn’t have sympathy for those who say they have accidentally found themselves selling food, or running a gym or a cleaning business, or a dog walking service or whatever. If they said they’d just found themselves doing it but didn’t know anything about it, when they make a loss, we’d find it hard to be sympathetic. This is like this, but unfortunately, all the ‘get her out’ and ‘write it off as a loss’ shows people thinking about tenants as any other widget to be traded, and no recognition of a serious lack of knowledge on the part of OP which makes feeling sympathybdifficult.

It’s right that LLs can serve notice and reclaim their properties. Of course, the right to do this without fault is under challenge moving forward. The OP can reclaim her property but simply needs to use the legal process. Doing that rationally and sensibly rather than vindictively is really important. Unfortunately some posters in here sound quite vindictive. When tenants or LLs become vindictive, things are bad.

But the key is having more information. Sometimes info reveals an understandable reason why rent has been late. It doesn’t necessarily mean the tenant will be a long term bad one, although the signs are not great. But without finding out, you simply don’t know. And to me, the key problem in all this and after multiple pages of this thread is that OP is discussing with strangers and not speaking to the agent and getting the actual details so she can make informed decisions about next steps. I do wonder if the most enjoyable part is provoking a reaction.

Not really a tale of woe then?

WTF

i don’t give a damn about a landlord’s personal circumstances.

The Op isn’t bloody Robin Hood. She can do what the heck she likes with her money and property.

Seriously, mumsnet 😂

Also this not the best time to be selling flats especially without a garden unless you are willing to drop the prices.

Better yet, don’t get a tenant that needs to have the additional back up of a guarantor

A two bed flat in London currently is probably at least 1500 a month. That's the very least. This tenant has paid you £27,000 over the course of 18 months, again, working at the very least.

Twenty seven thousand pounds in 18 months.

Don't pretend to be a charity!

Does the Op continue to have any kind of Rel with the agents?

because if she just paid for funding and checks… then the agent would now have squat all involvement

finding

I've always allowed landlords/agents to do viewings when I've rented a property. Yes it was slightly annoying but it's also a reasonable request - so long as they don't take the piss. I always accepted that while it was my legal residence for the period of my tenancy, it was their property.

Same here, OP, I've never understood the refusal to allow viewings.

Get rid of her asap, and sell empty. If your contract is now rolling, you can refuse to renew with a month's notice, I think?
Wait till the New Year to let them know.
She's already demonstrated that paying rent is not her top priority, hard to imagine she will be anything but troublesome re: viewing and so on.
Do as much as you can through the agency you pay for, and good luck.

I would not allow it. Rents are too high to put up with that.