Tenant sent the builder home!

[Ilovemychocolate]

I am a landlord, and rent a house out to a young couple.
There is some urgent work that needs doing to it, so I arranged for a builder to attend the property yesterday and today to carry out the work, at my expense obviously.
At lunchtime the tenant sent the builder home, as her cat had escaped and she said the cat wouldn’t return if the builder was in the house, he was plastering so hardly creating a huge amount of noise.
Not withstanding that her original tenancy agreement stipulated no pets, (which I overlooked as she is very pet orientated) am I being unreasonable to ask her to pay for the builder when he has to return next week to finish the work?
She didn’t phone me first to check if it was ok to send him home, I called her when I found out she had, and she swore at me, saying she didn’t give a fuck about the building work, she was more concerned about finding her cat.
I am bloody livid right now, the work should be finished by now, and now I’ve got to stump up another £250 for an extra day!
And before anyone piles on, yes I have a cat, yes I get she was upset, and yes I know the rules about pets have changed since May 1st.

Sadly? Why sadly?

It's not even legal to do that

What are you on about? If a tenant doesn't want workmen in their home, then they certainly aren't going to want the LL there to "supervise" it. What on earth is she meant to supervise, the tenant? The builder clocking in and out times? Sit in her car for 8 hours until home time?

What does the tenancy agreement say with regards to allowing access? Does it specify anything about missed appointments or have a recharge clause? Without this you would be unlikely to be able to claim the costs back from her regardless that she sent the workman away

I read it as landlord had not agreed to the pets. CBA to scroll through to clarify further.

I’d try to evict her. 🙄

Far too much has happened already with this tenant not to go for full eviction now. There have been multiple breaches of tenancy before the law change on pets, verbal abuse and damage caused by the tenant to the floors and by filling the cellar with rubbish. A conversation isn’t going to fix this now. She’s taking the absolute piss.

Because you are just going to carry on suffering what you can’t even seen to see is a terrible tenant who has no respect for your property. That’s why sadly.

And of course you being oh so passive, will just let her stay there forever costing you thousands In repairs because you’re a decent landlord.…🙄

The first time she brought animals into the property without permission before the law change should have been the end of her tenancy. Everything since then is down to your own passivity.

Shes treating you how you’ve allowed her to treat you.

You know absolutely nothing about me, I am definitely NOT passive.
You are welcome to take your faux “concern” about me and generously bestow it upon someone else.
If you had bothered to actually read the thread, you will have seen the comment I made about finding out about the tenants pets at the same time as my teenage dd attempting to take her own life, funnily enough the tenants having flouted the tenancy conditions were not a huge consideration to me at that stage.
I am a woman in her 50s with a full time business, a side hustle, and two houses that I own and rent out.
So please don’t concern yourself any more, not that I think for one minute you were concerned, you were just desperate to stick the boot in.

Give her notice,sounds a nightmare, but meanwhile get her to pay the builder an extra day. Have these animals appeared after may 1st,or did u agree to them before? As for the flooring she's let the dogs ruin,she needs to replace that too

Tough, you wont get it.

Evicting is discretionary for pets. Considering the new laws allow it, there isn't a court/judge who will do anything but laugh and rip you a new one for wasting their time suggesting she should lose her home over something objectively seen as ok.

It was discretionary before the law change as well, but obviously landlords could abuse section 21 instead and do it for no reason. There was already almost no chance a court would evict even before the changes if you specifically used the pets as the reason and didn't go the section 21 route. There even less chance now.

It doesn't matter what the tenancy agreement says, it matters what the law says. Tenancy agreements usually have some sort of unenforceable guff in them, but thry are not legally binding if they give the tenant fewer rights than the law.

The law says that tenants can refuse access for all but emergency repairs. There is no recourse to allow a landlord to recover any costs associated with this, and you cannot use it as a reason to evict.

I really, really wish people (not you, I mean in general now) would stop confidently advising OP when they don't know the law. What you think should happen, or what you think is fair is totally irrelevant.

OP, you are not entitled to recover this money from the tenant either directly or through their deposit.
As you have been aware of and allowed the animals so far, you will be deemed to have agreed to them being in the property.
In terms of damage, your recoverable costs will depend on how long the damaged items have been in situ. For example, flooring isn't expected to get more that 8-10 years of use before being replaced, so any costs you claim will be proportionate to their expected life span left, not the full cost of replacement.

Except you cannot evict for any of these reasons! Her behaviour prior to the law changes are irrelevant, she is now protected by the new renters rights. Op can only evict for non payment of rent, severe anti social behaviour, or to sell the house. Selling the house is by far the easiest of the 3, but may still require to go through a costly court process.

If you CBA finding another tenant then I would advise using the message suggested by a PP re the costing you money and relationship broken down. I would say her announcing she doesn't give a fuck about the builder isn't quite swearing at you but it's extremely rude even with the likely reason being worry about the cat. I do think morally they need to pay for the builder and with a bit of reflection about how decent you have been about the pets, I hope they will realise that and agree.

I realise all that, I am conversant on the new legislation that came into force on May 1st.
As per my OP, I am going to ASK her to pay the £250 extra days fee that the builder will charge me.
I obviously understand that she can refuse to pay it, I also understand that it can’t be taken out of her deposit, or that she can be made to pay it.
I have been a landlord for 30 years, for two properties, I follow all the rules/regulations regarding letting a property scrupulously and always have.
My one mistake/kindness was in allowing the pets once I found out about them, but as I have said, my mind was occupied with far more pressing matters.
Kindly, I don’t need educating on my duties as a landlord, or the rights which my tenants have, I was obviously very upset that she asked the builder to leave the house so her cat could return home, I am going to allow the situation to calm down, give her chance to reflect on her behaviour on the day, and move forward.
Thank you to everyone who has commented with positivity, the posters who have gleefully tried to put the boot in/called me pathetic etc, please know you have my utmost sympathy for the kind of person you so obviously are.

Op my post was aimed at the poster I quoted, and those who are giving you incorrect advice. For what its worth I dont think its wise to ask her for the money, it's not her responsibility to pay and if she starts to get awkward she could use this against you to claim harassment. Tread carefully.

How pathetic! Of course the cat will be back in the evening when the builder had gone

The tenant has no right to swear at OP after sending the builder home, it was up to her to make sure her cat was secure.

I don’t think you can do anything but do get a
valuation. And let her know you are considering a sale

Are you legally allowed to ask her to remove her pets from the property on X date when the workperson will return? Since she shouldn't have them there that seems like a reasonable ask, and likely something you can use to get her attention.

I realize that, and my comment about rude posters was not aimed at you.
I am going to ask her for the £250, I’m flabbergasted at her audacity to send the builder away.
If I then don’t give her notice, who is she going to claim harassment to?

The OP doesn’t have to renew the tenancy.

There’s no such thing as renewing a tenancy it just automatically becomes a rolling tenancy

I am 100% team OP here, and think it's utterly wrong that you should pay for her unacceptable behaviour, but please do be very careful about how/if you charge your tenant the builder's fee. Many on MN will disagree with me, but we both know the rules now stack unfairly against you and for the tenant. I don't have sufficient knowledge to comment on the prohibited fees rules in your case, but I hope you either know more about navigating that than I do, or get advice from a solicitor.

I would certainly focus on finding the best way to evict the tenant, as she has probably already done more damage than the deposit will cover, so the losses are only likely to escalate from here, with little realistic hope of recovery. And she's a CF too.

Good luck OP!