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Original poster

To evict my tenants

254 replies

Landlordbyaccident · 12/03/2023 15:35

Name change due to personal info possibly given.

I brought my first home in my 20’s and quickly paid off the mortgage on a 2 up, 2 down terrace in Birmingham. Nothing special and it always needed a new kitchen. I invested very little money in this house as I was so unhappy there.

I brought my current home in 2018 and we are paying a manageable mortgage although other outgoings has become a strain in the current financial climate. We owe around £75k on a house worth around £250 (not sure if this is relevant). My previous house has been rented out to a friends friend for around 2 years before this it remained empty.

They are paying £475 per month, other rentals in the area go for around £800. Some months they pay late or come up short. I know they are struggling. They are from a Caribbean island so I am not sure what benefits they are entitled to to help them.

Anyway my husband would like to ‘evict’ them. Ideally I would like them to increase the rent and remain in the house as they are no trouble and really nice people. I am going to be transparent in saying the house could do with some work being carried out but they never complain as I assume it’s because I am in a position of power and they fear I would evict them if I do.

After writing this I am not sure what I am asking? Would I be heartless in evicting them (goes against my core values) or raising their rent ? Should I just continue with the current contract and seek to cut costs in other areas.

what would you do?

OP posts:
limitedperiodonly · 12/03/2023 18:10

I don't understand posts like this. What are you expecting? Absolution?

If you can't afford to pay the mortgage you will have to increase the rent and if the tenants can't pay then you will have to evict them and find others. There are many other nice people out there.

If this is breaking your heart then maybe being a landlord is not the business for you and you should sell. Cheer up. You have somewhere to live. You don't need two places.

The place should be of a reasonable standard which it sounds like it's not, so if you decide to carry on being a landlord replace the kitchen and the boiler and whatever else needs doing. Or sell at a price that reflects the work that needs doing and let someone else get on with it.

HamBone · 12/03/2023 18:10

Surely if you have no mortgage cost you can afford an ikea kitchen unless the kitchen is massive?

That was my first thought too, @Eas1lyd1stracted , but I can also see that if she's paying for a boiler maintenance contract and other outgoings, it would take a fair while to save up the money to buy and install a kitchen on that rent. I imagine it would be £6,000-odd with installation.

It's doeable, but it doesn't sound as if she's got much saved up for it so far. Plus a new door, etc.

GlassBunion · 12/03/2023 18:10

It's get-rich-quick landlords that are a huge part of the problem we have now.

Rentals in many parts of the country cost more than mortgages.

PixieLaLa · 12/03/2023 18:11

Mummyoflittledragon · 12/03/2023 17:51

This is op projecting her thoughts on the situation. she hasn’t been taking advantage of them when they’re on a paltry rent. More likely is that they’re happy with the house and have no idea they’re paying such a massive amount below market rent. I said about my tenant, whose bathroom I changed. It took about 3 years of periodically offering him to change it before I put my foot down and told him it was being changed, I was sorting out a furnished let and communicated the dates he had the let.

The property sounds tired rather than in a state of disrepair. As long as the front door and boiler etc works, it is fine as long as the rental figure reflects the state of the property.

Show quote history

And it sounds like your projecting your past experience onto this thread.

Of course the OP is taking advantage. They admitted themselves they have not carried out maintenance/repairs and know that the tenants haven’t spoken up out of fear of being kicked out!

whittingtonmum · 12/03/2023 18:11

I would not evict them.

I would also get real and understand that to achieve market rent you would probably need to invest some money in the property to get it up to a reasonable standard.

Don't be a greedy landlord who doesn't put the work/investment in.

justasking111 · 12/03/2023 18:12

You're sailing too close to the wind. You should have savings just in case of a problem with the house. We hold back 5k in the rental account for this reason. They're bad payers which is not your problem. I would give them notice.

VanCleefArpels · 12/03/2023 18:16

It's get-rich-quick landlords that are a huge part of the problem we have now.

If you had any understanding of the economics of being a landlord you certainly would not call it a “get rich quick” scheme. If it was you wouldn’t have landlords selling up in droves

HamBone · 12/03/2023 18:17

PixieLaLa · 12/03/2023 18:11

And it sounds like your projecting your past experience onto this thread.

Of course the OP is taking advantage. They admitted themselves they have not carried out maintenance/repairs and know that the tenants haven’t spoken up out of fear of being kicked out!

Show quote history

@PixieLaLa Unless I've missed something, I don't think the OP's said that they haven't carried out maintenance/repairs, she's said that they haven't done any larger renovations such as replacing the kitchen or getting a new front door. The boiler is safe and on a service contract, which suggests that she does carry out maintenance.

Fixing a dropped kitchen cabinet door or a dripping tap would be maintenance.

peeweechigs · 12/03/2023 18:17

Has anyone had to go to court to evict tenants? Why wouldn't they first offer the tenants£500- £1000 for a deposit to move somewhere else and avoid court? If they don't take it, then take them to court. Probably cheaper for the landlord?

bellswithwhistles · 12/03/2023 18:17

I'd sell the house personally. Give them the option of buying it!

Original poster
Landlordbyaccident · 12/03/2023 18:18

This no longer feels about my original post anymore but anyways 😂

I don’t want to sell. Thank you

The property is not in a state of disrepair. The boiler and the kitchen could be updated. The kitchen in particular is made from solid oak and has a 90’s design to it. It looks old fashioned.

The tenants appear happy there, but as another poster said I was projecting, they may be happy or they may just not complain due to the cheap rent.

The reasons for me leaving the house has nothing to do with the house or the area. Unlike a lot of LLs it was my home and my daughter lived there for the first year of her life. The house was completely re-skimmed, decorated and had a new bathroom put in before I left, as I said my initial plan was always to sell but that didn’t happen.

Everyone always advised that the kitchen could just be painted hence why I never ended up doing it whilst I was living there. I did waste 100s hours watching YouTube kitchen makeover videos though to prepare

i bought the house in 2008 when the market crashed. It has doubled in value since then so I have always felt like I could never really lose out with it even with the cheap rent. It’s DH why this is a real contention.

OP posts:
GoodChat · 12/03/2023 18:18

bellswithwhistles · 12/03/2023 18:17

I'd sell the house personally. Give them the option of buying it!

If they can't afford the rent they can't afford to buy it.

Laurawharton · 12/03/2023 18:18

We have a unratable boiler in are house we rent in Telford for £595 which is cheap around here now and a 20 year old kitchen if you carnt afford to rent at mates rates any more don’t feel guilty for the kitchen or your boiler I bet it’s better then most.
if you need the funds and have the means to get them I say do it, why should you have to struggle to make somebody else’s life more comfortable and them paying late or short for that amount of rent is also a bit of a piss take if I’m honest.

YetMoreNewBeginnings · 12/03/2023 18:20

peeweechigs · 12/03/2023 18:17

Has anyone had to go to court to evict tenants? Why wouldn't they first offer the tenants£500- £1000 for a deposit to move somewhere else and avoid court? If they don't take it, then take them to court. Probably cheaper for the landlord?

You have to be careful with offers like that.

Ive only ever had to evict one tenant (ironically the beat ‘on-paper’ tenant I’ve ever had…) and he was definitely the type that would have gone down the road of accusing you of harassment for offering money to leave.

Plus in many cases where the tenant is needing to be rehoused by a council or HA they can’t leave before eviction or they’ll be classed as making themselves homeless.

TheGander · 12/03/2023 18:21

Evict them if you want but you need to be ready to redecorate throughout, re paint, new bathroom, new kitchen, new flooring, if you want to achieve that £800pm. Better have tradesmen lined up in advance. See what the competition is around you and how the other properties are presented and ask yourself honestly if you want the bother of evicting and doing the necessary work to bring it up to that level.

yoghurtflavours · 12/03/2023 18:21

VanCleefArpels · 12/03/2023 18:16

It's get-rich-quick landlords that are a huge part of the problem we have now.

If you had any understanding of the economics of being a landlord you certainly would not call it a “get rich quick” scheme. If it was you wouldn’t have landlords selling up in droves

@VanCleefArpels The point is that people perceive it as a get-rich-quick scheme, buy properties while failing to budget properly, and then apparently can't afford to maintain the property, all the while putting the rent up while failing to provide a service. They're selling up because they didn't think through the economics of it all. People like that should never be allowed to become landlords in the first place.

DaisyBoop · 12/03/2023 18:22

Sounds like a nightmare but you’ve got to do what you need to do for your family. E.g. increase rent or sell. Look at it this way, they are happy to take the lower rent that you’re giving, now that time is over, they need to accept that you’ve been subbing them and pay up or move out. They may be nice people but nice doesn’t pay your bills.

My dad got himself into this exact same position a few years ago, almost word for word. He only got them out in the end because the tenant’s cousin passed away abroad and the tenant was the only relative and had to go to sort things out. The tenant finally gave notice but dad was so badly out of pocket. Don’t be my dad.

limitedperiodonly · 12/03/2023 18:22

If you had any understanding of the economics of being a landlord you certainly would not call it a “get rich quick” scheme. If it was you wouldn’t have landlords selling up in droves

@VanCleefArpels do you think it might be that the landlords who are selling up in droves who had a poor grasp of the economics? I understand that things change and maybe it was good before but if it's not now we all have to adapt and embrace some other way of making a living.

justasking111 · 12/03/2023 18:25

We're in the process of eviction, it's the only way our tenants will be rehoused. They now need somewhere for a wheelchair. This is because so many landlords are selling up because of the increase in mortgage rates so the housing stock for rental has fallen drastically.

curlymom · 12/03/2023 18:26

I haven’t read posts but here’s my opinion. I am a landlord.

I would tell them well in advance that I will be raising but maybe only by 10%. You can’t go up to 800 or anywhere close.
if you do need to do it up I don’t think you can do it while they are there unless you reach a deal.
I know you are being nice and they sound lovely but your property is your investment and you have to something at some point. It will need some kind of maintenance

Original poster
Landlordbyaccident · 12/03/2023 18:29

@Laurawharton are you DH? 😂

OP posts:
Sugargliderwombat · 12/03/2023 18:30

I know I'm the minority on mumsnet but I think you are being greedy. its a shabby old house and you've got nice tenants who don't complain or cause issues.

limitedperiodonly · 12/03/2023 18:30

@VanCleefArpels sorry. I should have directed my reply to @yoghurtflavours .

Nat6999 · 12/03/2023 18:32

£475 is cheap, ds has been looking at 1 bedroom flats in Sheffield & they want £800 a month, is your house in a good area with good schools etc? If so those points alone will push the price up without things like new kitchens & boilers.

VanCleefArpels · 12/03/2023 18:32

limitedperiodonly · 12/03/2023 18:22

If you had any understanding of the economics of being a landlord you certainly would not call it a “get rich quick” scheme. If it was you wouldn’t have landlords selling up in droves

@VanCleefArpels do you think it might be that the landlords who are selling up in droves who had a poor grasp of the economics? I understand that things change and maybe it was good before but if it's not now we all have to adapt and embrace some other way of making a living.

No - it’s changes to the tax treatment of mortgage interest payments plus huge increases in mortgage rates that’s the cause. Plus increasing regulations to (quite rightly) protect tenants which eat into landlord profit. Highly leveraged landlords can’t make much money any more. If you are mortgage free or low LTV mortgages then it can still be profitable

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