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.

She sounds like a charm!
I would ask the deposit company to look at it when she leaves.
That might be the best way of getting your money back especially as she moved a cat in and broke the AST.

Oh for fuck's sake!

This is why landlords are despised.

You must give her notice, she has disrespected you.

So, is this tenant is sitting in a half plastered house, or was he not able to start? I would write to her to tell her that her language and behaviour were completely unacceptable. Throwing out a builder who had been booked to do work on the house has cost time money and hassle to all concerned and that you will be charging her for his wasted time, which you have had to pay. You can then recover it from her deposit if she fails to pay.

I am afraid you are incorrect there.

You can write it off as a tax deductible business expense as it was incurred wholly and exclusively for your business. There is no legal way you can pass this on to your tenant it would violate the Tenant Fees Act. That's what businesses expenses are for

It’s really not. The tenant has been completely unreasonable here and I say that as a tenant who generally loathes landlordism.

If that’s possible that’s definitely the easiest solution

Quite. However, I’m not sure on what basis you could recover the loss from the tenant.

Do you have a letting agent, or is there a deposit that is protected with the DPS or similar? I’d ask them for advice.

Or maybe also post in the Legal Matters forum on Mumsnet.

Throwing a builder out of your house when he was booked to work for the day is not a mistake, it was petulant. She could have left him to work and gone looking for the cat. The landlord and the builder shouldn't have to pay for her tantrum.

Throwing a builder out of your house when he was booked to work for the day is not a mistake, it was petulant. She could have left him to work and gone looking for the damn cat. The landlord and the builder shouldn't have to pay for her tantrum.

Cat people are crazy

Why did the builder leave when he wasn’t finished? He should have called you

Your tenant is taking the absolute piss. Get rid.

Deposit is protected in TDS.
But that will ALL be needed to fix the floor her bloody dogs have ruined!
I know there’s no legal recourse to get her to pay the extra day for the builder, I’m just bloody fuming at her audacity at asking him to leave!
And then to to swear at me when I questioned her!

LLs are passing on far too many expenses to their tenants that should be passed back to the tax man.

There was a case on a LL forum where a white good had to be delivered and the LL wanted to make it an all day appointment. The T could not afford to lose a days pay so asked for a more specific appointment. The LL said the T should pay the extra £20 for a specific slot. The LL can write it off as a business expense. The T cannot. Such bloody meanness

I feel your pain but there is absolutely no way you will be able to get the tenant to pay.

Charge her she had no right to do that. She won’t learn if there’s no consequences. Life does not revolve around her

Yes she has.

Her contract doesn't allow pets, but the LL overlooked her initial pet (a rabbit).
She has gone on to add the cat and two large dogs. The dogs' claws have ruined the wooden floors.

So she is in breach of contract.

And her deposit should be retained to repair or replace the floor.

Im not saying the T was right. She was clearly unreasonable and it would have been better to let the builder finish the work once he had begun. But LLs have to realise that they cant arbitrarily get money back from tenants. There is a legal process to get your money back and the simplest is to call it a business expense.

Pretty sure you can make her pay but it will
be via small claims court. As long as you have evidence so written from the builder and hopefully you can get her in text / email to admit she made him leave.

Firstly ask her to cover the extra day of pay. Then if she doesn’t is it not a letter before action. Then open a case.

If you’re thinking of selling this property though sell it. Get her out.

I think you should sell up.

Anything beyond emergency repairs needs to be arranged at the convenience of the tenant. Clearly it's inconvenient for her to have plastering done. Plastering is not an emergency repair, it is cosmetic. You don't need to pay for the builder to return. She can live with the unpatched area unplastered until the expiry of the notice period. Once she's gone the plastering can be bundled into the various cosmetic touch-ups you do to get the property ready to advertise For Sale.

Your tenant is taking the absolute piss OP.

Did you have anything in contract about if tenant refuses entry to workmen carrying out essential work? Tenant should pay any additional to have builder back.