To come down like a tonne of bricks

[thisisasurvivor]

Hello all

So I rent a house out

Semi reliable tenants

Xmas rent late by ten days
All they could pay was half
So I said fine
Pay half no probs

Now - rent late
So they can only pay half this month

I have been very fair
Rent is 200 less than market value as I don't want to put any pressure on them

Say nothing and hope it won't happen again?

They have been there 3 years so only some issues since dec 22

Plus everyone is struggling financially now :(

OP I think you need to sit down and work out exactly how much of a a discount you're giving these tenants, is it £200 as per 1st post, £300 as per next post, or between £300-£500 as per this post?
If you want to be a social landlord, I'd then work out exactly how much it cost me per month (mortgage, repairs, safety certificates etc) and how much rent I needed to charge to break even if that's what I wanted. Is your mortgage fixed or variable rate? If variable you need to add another buffer to your rent charge. Tbh I'm surprised you've even got a mortgage in this way, when when worked in mortgages you needed rental income to be over 115% of the mortgage payment.
I'd then have an honest conversation with the tenants, explaining you're charging below market rate and how you want to be kind, but you are not covering your costs right now and if they can't even pay you this amount on time you fear you'll be forced to sell, in which case they'll need to rent a new property at market rate.
I'd also add their arrears to their bill, you could always write it off in future but by just letting them off you're setting a dangerous precedent. Ultimately this situation benefits no one, you're making a loss on your property, and if that loss forces you to sell they'll have to move with all the costs and stress that brings. If you really can't manage these conversations and enforcing your rental agreement, I'd get a professional lettings agency to manage it for me. They should also be able to advise the market rent for the property. Tbh if your tenants are dicking you around because they think you're soft the risk of getting a lettings agent should help without being "a tonne of bricks"

Are they in recreceipt of Universal Credit or any other benefits? If you are registered on the Landlords portal, you can make an application for the unpaid rent to be taken from their benefits over a period of time. You may even be able to receive a direct payment re the rent be made to you and the amount they receive from benefits will be less the rent.

@thisisasurvivor what does your sister say. I know two sisters who were in this position. My friend was a soft touch and felt sorry for them. Her sister said evict and sell. The house was sold but sadly the sisters still aren't speaking.

Can you not commence eviction proceedings?

You sound an absolute angel and a very beautiful person! God bless you!

It’s likely your landlord’s insurance will be invalid as you usually have to report any late payment of rent to remain covered.
Have you inspected the property recently?
We have been through similar - flat rented well below market rate to longer term tenants. They only paid half rent for Jan, late rent Feb and in March they dropped the keys back to the agent a week after the rent was due with no forwarding address. We are now spending in excess of £10k to get the flat back up to a lettable standard as they’ve damaged so much and have left so much of their stuff behind. It cost £1100 to clear the place! Their £700 deposit didn’t go far.
We were understanding of their financial issues and were being flexible but they just took the piss. Judging by the letters for them that have come, they’ve left a trail of thousands of pounds worth of debt.

If you want to sell you can market it while they are insitu, but they may be difficult (from your perspective) about allowing viewings. You can’t force them to let people in. If your rental contract allows for viewings and they refuse you could sue them after they leave for any losses from breaching their contract - but are you likely to be able to recover anything if they can’t even pay their rent all the time? You also have the issue of what happens about the sale if they refuse to leave at the end of their notice period and you have to go through the eviction process. Most people will not want sitting tenants and definitely not ones who have refused to leave when legally required to. You aren’t as likely to get such good offers on the house if you try and get offers while they are still there as you might if you wait until they are gone. However, since you aren’t in the area, if you get them out first you would then have the concern of an empty property which you couldn’t keep a decent eye on. That’s a bit swings and roundabouts, but getting them out before you market is likely your best option.

Ending their contract if you want to sell is just the standard S.21 process. If they fail to leave in time you would have to go to court to evict them.

I suggest, if you decide to end the lease, the you be prepared for them to not pay rent for the last months and probably not be out on time - they’re clearly struggling with money and moving is expensive, they’ll need first month’s rent, deposit and moving expenses. If they can’t make rent they probably don’t have that sitting in savings somewhere and if your current rent for them is below market they are going to struggle to find somewhere else they can afford. They may need you to start the eviction process in order to get housed by the council.

I used to private rent and the monthly rent payment ALWAYS came first in paying bills. It's so important to keep a roof over your family's head but not just that, it's out of respect to the landlord as I was living in their house. I had no idea what outgoings they had and it wouldn't have been right for me to not pay on time which could potentially make the landlord in financial difficulties.

If the tenant is genuinely struggling then they need to look into possibly claiming some housing benefit to help with the rent or to get some budgeting advice.

I think you sound like a great landlord OP and I would have been so happy if you were mine. I would have made sure I discussed everything with you though and kept you fully informed of any hardships.

Have your tenants even discussed the issues with you?

I too am a landlord. Tell them what uve thought of, and ask if this is workable for them or what do they suggest they can stick to. Say you need to know for certain as you can just about pay the mortgage to keep a roof over their heads as it is at the moment and you wouldn't want to need to have to sell.

If that doesn't do it then nothing will. It's kinda spelling it out to them

I think you need to give yourself a break. You are learning how to go about this - the world hasn’t ended because of anything you / have or haven’t done.

You have been generous with your tenants - I wish more people were like you. I would follow the M&S Percy pig approach to this situation (google how they responded to an ice cream parlour infringing on their brand) - write them a note / text / email and gently explain the consequence of them not paying. Offer to write off the first underpayment but ask kindly that they work with you to agree how they will make up this shortfall.

Also for official advice go to the nrla website forum or an fb landlord group.

You sound like a very kind person, I’ve not read all the thread but obviously good regular communication is important with the tenants. If you don’t want to sell or evict, if I was in your shoes maybe an agreement to pay x amount extra on said rent each month, and review it again in three months. Stipulate this must be adhered to.

Section 21 is no fault, this would be section 8 as they are in rent arrears,

They’ve been there years, assuming they are now on a month-to-month, S21 would probably be cheaper and faster.

With a S8, they would just need to start paying a bit of the arrears back and the court would probably not agree to eviction.

Is there a reason you’re self-managing? I’m a landlord and in your current position I’d put the property in the hands of a decent property manager and let them sort it out.

They don’t have two months of arrears.

Section 21 no fault evictions are no longer allowed. The law has changed.

The law hasn’t changed yet. The bill still has to go through parliament.

Could you link to information on that? The government, CAB and Shelter websites all seem to say tenants can get S21 notices to end tenancies.

It’s not law yet.

it’s part of the rent reform bill that the government tabled today. Still has to go through the House of Lords etc.

And only the No fault bit will be removed. It’ll still be used for selling, landlord moving back in etc

I apologise, I misread.

Yes it does still have to go through the legislation process.

Apparently it's going to allow tenants to be able to have pets and make it illegal for landlords to refuse those on benefits or with children.

Good idea, but I don't think you can claim unpaid rent from the deposit. Worth checking.

Serve notice and sell.
I think you’re too considerate/kind/ compassionate to be a landlord.
I know of people who would sub let your place, or worse, I have read about those who adopt the landlords ID and sell the house, landlord completely unaware till it’s too late.

if you want to be tactful, ask them to agree a specific date that they will pay you the arrears and if they miss the deadline , inform them that if they do not pay the arrears by 'x' date you will start the process of getting them evicted
if they do pay the arrears, you need to remind them of the tenancy agreement they signed and if they break it they will be out on the ass
you could send them reminder texts a few days in advance of the rents due date every month