If my tenant has negotiated a lower rent because she is a single mum of 2 she should not move in her entire extended family?

[QuintessentialShadows]

She negotiated her rent down, as she was just her and her two kids. Ideal quiet tenant, long term let.

So, a whole gang of people surprised my dh at the house when he went to London to have a final look prior to tenant moving in.

My other neighbour down the road got talking to them ( same ethnicity) and they said they were ALL moving in. Mum and her two children, her husband, her brother, her mum and her dad.... Only mum is named on the contract and the contract stays that nobody else can live there aside from named tenant.

Where do I stand? Can I demand higher rent bearing in mind wear and tear of appliances etc? With three working grown ups living there, surely they can afford it?

How annoying .. but you will have somebody look over the agreement for you won't you?

Clam, thats been doing my head in, too.

What is the point of naming the tenant, then let it say tenant can enjoy the property with immediate family, when making a big point of two further clauses dealing with sharing posession of the property with none other, and sublets.

It is a good idea to mail such a query to the agency.

Aubergine, I am hoping this litigator I spoke to today will get back to me tomorrow after having received the contract today. I hope for the sake of my purse he has not spent the entire day musing over the contract. I used his firm previously on some employment issues when we had some problems with an employee.

But....

I did ask the agent let his property management department go and throw the stinking maggot filled FOX out of our bin and onto the pavement (as requested by the councils waste management) - ah the excitement of landlordship

Some sort of victory?

I got the following email from the agent regards the contract:

"I've amended it as discussed, just waiting for the named tenants so I can put them onto it"

Clue here is named tenants!
Seems my tenant has admitted there will be more than just her, and is getting them on the contract. SO!? Next move from me?

Refuse to sign, or say "ok, in recognition of the added wear and tear for so many people, £10 extra per week per adult seems fair". (Then we are back to the going rate at the time of application, if she adds 4 more grown ups.)

Not read whole thread, so may be repeating...Wouldn't it invalidate buildings insurance or something? I wouldn't llet to them as I would no longer trust them.

hmm £10 a week sounds a little low to me but im not an expert

Ah! I am way behind here, sorry. Still stand by not letting to them though.

I would like to clarify the reason I am being cautious here...hubby has been asked to work on houses where they have had muliple family members living in them and they have been a complete mess

Obviously you dont know that she is not going to maintain your property but the fact that she asked for the area outside to be resurfaced seems to indicate that she needs parking for multiple cars and the fact that they shouldnt drive over the footpath doesnt mean that they wont.

tbh unless I absoloutely couldnt get out of it there is no way in hell I would let to her from what you have said!!

QS sorry this is happening to you and glad you are having a good time where you are.

What's with the fox? sorry havn't read it all and I'm playing hookey from work [yuk]

FWIW I wouldn't let a 2 bed house to 4 adults if I wanted it back in a good state, I wouldn't make modifications to suit my tennents and I wouldn't use Foxtons

(we rent by the way but have never asked for more than curtains IKEAs best of course)

Good luck

(you're making me want to go to Norway)

If other tenants are being added to the agreement, it is a whole new tenancy agreement, so I would run it past your solicitor first and ensure you get all the clauses in that you want.

just caught up --

Sorry yes ask for more rent.

Agree with Freckle..... whole new ballgame now, requiring new agreement - and DEFINITELY a re-negotiated rent! And now you have it in writing that she's intending to have more people. You don't have to agree to that, as you might not have initially, had you known, IYSWIM (badly expressed, sorry)

Foxtons...No,no,no,no...
4 adults, 2 children, 2 bedrooms! does not equate IMO.

I wouldn't listen to a word Foxtons said about the legalities - I wouldn't even consider using Foxtons so, if the contract is void, please find another agent. They will shaft you one way or another eventually. Please get independent legal advice about it because this tenant does sound like trouble.

I think that by law you have to have enough bedroom to accomadate everyone and your house clearly does not.
Also if she is claiming single parent benefit and housing benefit I would contact the DWSS and tell them she is committing fruad.

Good luck

Also you have to bear in mind the additional impact on wear and tear. For example, our bathroom suffered hugely from 4/5 sharers in the house, showering daily, compared to our normal family use.

Without knowing the exact layout of the house, it could accommodate them: there are potential four bedrooms: the two existing double bedrooms, the single bedroom and the study/dining room. The kids (don't know how old they are) could go into the single in bunk beds, leaving enough bedrooms for the other adults.

Whether you want to allow that is another matter entirely!

If you choose not to pull out, definitely go for a rent increase to cover the increased wear and tear. The it is up to her whether she wants to take it.

There is no way, now she has admitted there will be 4 additional adults living there, that she can expect to pay a reduced rent from the asking price. So, the whole deal has to be re-negotiated. So, looks like a potential win-win for you!

£10 extra/week/per adult?

Sorry, QS, but the word 'mug' springs to mind.

This is your HOME. This is an ASSET. You lose money on it and she will be gone away quicker than you can say quick.

I would raise that rent higher than heaven and get her gone.

You do not need this shit.

No businessperson would put up with this.

It sounds to me a little as though your agents are more concerned with renting out the property and getting their fees than finding a good tenant and giving you advice. Presumably they advised you to lower your rent in the first place? I would move on before the situation gets worse. A student with a guarantor is really not a bad tenant.

We used Foxtons to let our property once (I know, I know, we were young and foolish) and ended up with recent grad with guarantor. Of course, when she failed to pay, the guarantee was useless - Foxtons hadn't got correct paperwork - and they refused to help. Please ditch Foxtons.

How come, if you rent a holiday apartment, the fee is per person, per week, but in house lettings, it appears to be, "Oh yes. By the way, there'll be 7 of us, not 4. But we're not paying any extra!" !!!!!

this is your ONE and ONLY chance to get rid of trouble before it starts and ditch Foxton's all in one go.

or deal with the consequences long after this thread has died.

"I've amended it as discussed, just waiting for the named tenants so I can put them onto it".

I think the agent's thought process in sending this email is :

"F F F*, I need to get this registered before the end of the quarter so that I meet my target and don't get sacked",

not

"Hmm, because of my great experience and wisdom and concern for the landlord, I will advise her how to act prudently with no concern for myself".

My cousin ended up squatting in her newly bought extremely expensive Docklands apartment because Foxtons had failed her with some paperwork. She was literally running around, on and off tubes to try and get it done! they obviously should've been doing it all, but she still ended up not being the legal owner and living there not legally (iyswim)for a short while because of Foxtons cockups.