AIBU to think my tenant might be subletting

[landladywithmissingtenant]

I live in a flat in a large block (60 flats in all) I own the one I live in and one other, which I rent out.
I used to see my tenant now and again, probably twice a month or so but I have realised that I haven't seen her in about a year or more. My daughter lives nearby and also used to bump into her quite a lot at the local shop and she says she hasn't seen her in ages either.
She's a retired single lady and it's a single occupancy studio flat.
The other day I was locked out of the main building and I rang her buzzer to ask if she wouldn't mind letting me back in and a man answered and buzzed me in before I'd finished my sentence.
I tried the buzzer again the next day and no-one answered.
Am I being unreasonable to think she might have left the flat and be subletting it? or something more sinister?
And WIBU to go and knock on her door and see if she's there? I'm worried I might come across as harassing her. And what do I say if she answers?

They do have the right to do inspections but it’s not mandatory. They are also legally required to give 24 hours written notice, unless in an emergency (fire/flood/risk of damage to property or life). So they can’t just turn up at the door to have a look who’s inside.

I think you need to check it out. It is perfectly reasonable to give notice of an inspection to check if any decoration or maintenance work needs to be done. You could also be somewhat truthful and let her know you are concerned that you haven’t seen here for a while, but there have been reports of a man seen in the flat.

A flat in our building was sublet as an Airbnb without the owners knowledge and against the lease (3 month minimum rentals). The CFers had put internal locks on the bedrooms and living room and were renting it at 3 separate units. They had also arranged for the key safes to be at a nearby shop to try and avoid detection.

I would be concerned and would do as previous poster suggest and start with an inspection. I speak from the perspective of a landlord who experienced sub letting. I saw evidence of it and wish I had evicted my tenant when I first became aware. I initially turned a blind eye to it as rent was being paid and the place seemed in an okay state. I would never do that again. Let's just say, a tenant who does this is not a good tenant.

Following a refurb that cost me over £10k I let the flat out again...I now pop along once or twice a year to have a conversation about maintenance. I check the smoke alarms are still there and functioning and that all is well. It's worth getting into the habit of doing this.

You do have to give 24hrs notice but of course it's up to you how you do that. I see nothing wrong with knocking on the door and asking if you can pop round tomorrow or in the next couple of days to inspect...

Did the man know you are the landlord? If not, I would knock again and when he answers causally ask him if he is the tenant before mentioning who you are.

This…….routine practice when letting out a property but you do need to to give notice of intention to inspect

It will be interesting to see the outcome of this. Hopefully it was just a friend visiting.

If you haven't already done so OP make sure you register for alerts on the property with Land Registry. This is really important if you are letting out property and stops anyone being able to take lending secured on the property or even selling it, without you being alerted.

Because a man answered the buzzer.

We are in a similar position with suspicion that our flat is being sublet, arranged an inspection now. Bearing in mind that when we let we say single occupancy non smoking no pets. This is what we state to insurance to we have to ensure it’s correct. I would do an inspection giving prior notice as stated in contract.

You used to be friendly. Just go and knock and ask if she has two eggs/cup of sugar/teabags you could borrow.

Same here!

Or, "I've realised I've not seen you in forever! Just wanted to see if you're ok" That makes it a friendlier less awkward approach.

Well you should still be having and electrical inspection carried out by a qualified electrician every 5 years, and your tenant should be given a copy of the report.

It's the law.

Sounds like you need to up your game as a landlord OP.

Sounds like you need to up your game and read the full thread. I've already said the electrical safety certificates are up to date.

On my property the insurance says I have to inspect 6 monthly- which I do- or rather agents do. Again I would use a new loophole in the insurance as an excuse- also have an annual boiler service and annual gas safety certificate as well as regular maintenance.....

Presumably if she's sublet to someone, he won't know who you are. So I'd just turn up at the door, announce that I'm a neighbour and ask to talk to (tenant's name). See what he says.

I might also ask the neighbours on each side whether they know who's living there.

If someone answers the door and it's not your tenant I'd record the conversation you have with him: you'll need evidence to prove that he is in situ. If no one answers the doorbell after the third or fourth visit I'd call the police, say you have concerns about your tenant who hasn't been seen for some months and who isn't answering the door, and ask for a welfare check.

Do you have a spare set of keys? If you were letting through an agency the agent would keep a set of keys for access in an emergency. And presumably you also have a phone number to contact your tenant? This is Housing Benefit fraud.

I'm presuming you have a proper written contract and haven't just agreed everything verbally?

I think it’s reasonable to do a quick check
Knock and if she answers just say that you wanted to check that’s she’s ok as you’ve not seen her for about a year .
If she doesn’t answer enquire to her whereabouts and ask whoever answers the door to get your tenant to get in touch.
As you know , you have the right to enter the property with notice to carry out an inspection if you suspect that she no longer resides there
I wouldn’t worry about upsetting her , you are being very reasonable and have every right to know who is living in your property

Oh sorry, missed that.

Op why are you being so snippy with other posters? For someone who seems to be all over the detail of your legal responsibilities you don’t seem to have been very responsible with regard to actively managing your property. Do you have an agent or are you managing it yourself?

If you are managing then you really should have been conducting regular inspections for all sorts of reasons, for example staying on top of maintenance issues, being aware of who is living in the property, or even just managing the landlord tenant relationship. If the tenant is subletting you currently have absolutely no idea who is in the property, or what they are doing. It could be an Airbnb, or a cannabis farm or a brothel. You could be in breach of the lease and are more than likely uninsured if something was to happen as there have not been regular inspections.

An even cursory read on the Rent Repayment Order Tribunal website shows some absolute horror stories of landlords who didn’t know what was happening in their properties and they ended up paying dearly. I have a relative who was brought to a RRO Tribunal by tenants who had moved in a gf without my relative’s knowledge (and he did in fact conduct regular inspections) making it an unlicensed HMO. He had to pay £20k to the bloody tenants who were the ones who caused the issue and was lucky not to have been criminally prosecuted by the council. The view of the Tribunal in all cases is that the landlords are expected to be aware of what is happening in their properties.

I am fully expecting a snippy reply to the effect that you haven’t asked for that advice, but mine and others are valid comments for you to think about.

I hope you get it sorted and that there is nothing untoward happening with your property. When this tenant moves on it might be worth raising the rent to market rate and using the excess to pay a good agency to manage it for you.

Yes I know she doesn't need to give notice to knock .... FGS

And they say the rental market is like the Wild West… Take responsibility for your valuable property, OP.

If OP knocks and the real tenant answers the door, OP can say she was hoping to catch her in because she needs to carry out an inspection as per the contract. When would be convenient?

Im an ex landlord who was in this scenario with subletting. If you're caught housing illegals and haven't taken basic precautions you'll get fined 20 grand per head. That was the legal advice I was given when it literally happened to me. So I had to move quick to start eviction proceedings.

She’s not letting to an illegal Immigrant. She’s letting go a retired lady. She’s concerned as she hasn’t seen the tenant for a while so is going to check the lady is ok. There’s no legal requirement to carry out regular inspections.

I never felt the need to inspect it.

a rented property is inspected once a year and the gas certificate is done once a year and the electric done every 5 years - perhaps you don't have gas but you must surely have an electric test coming up?

Its illegal not to do the two later but the inspection is common sense and 2 yearly is standard