Tenant has asked us to fit carpets.

[fatnfrumpy]

We are new to being LL,s and our first ever tenant has been in for ten months now.
They always pay on time and seem to be a nice young couple.
However we seem to have several texts from them asking us to fix this and that.
so far month one, say shower is leaking. We have a new electric shower fitted.
month three, they report a smell in the bathroom. we unblock the drain that is filled with cooked onion from the kitchen sink.
Month five, they use the brand new fitted intregated dishwasher for the first time ever! (£7,000 brand new fitted kitchen when they moved in) they report that it leaks. The reason it leaked is the door was too tight against the cupboards. Had they used it before we could of got the kitchen fitters to rectify the problem but after five months we pay a carpenter to do it. BTW the tenant is a qualified carpenter but wanted us to pay some one to do it. It meant planeing the side of the intregated door!!!
Month eight, reports that the spare unused bedroom radiator is not getting hot and needs bleeding.
Month nine, their bedroom radiator is now also not getting hot, we call a plumber this time who bleeds the whole system and puts in chemicals.
Month ten, tonight I receive a text as follows,
Hi fatnfrumpy,wonder if it is possible to get some carpet,it,s so cold here even with the heating on. I would be willing to put some money towards it?
We have the original floorboards downstairs that we had varnished before they moved in. We also installed a wood burner inthe front room as he is a carpenter he access to wood to burn!
We rented the house to him at approx £150 pcm under the going rate for the road as we didn,t use an agent. We also saved him agents fees.
AIBU to think he is starting to take the mike or is this normal.
Thx in advance to a virgin LL.

Doesn't sound to me like they're taking the mick. If you're renting a property, I think it's fair to expect things to work, whether you're getting a good deal on the rent or not.

Hmm I don't think any of their requests so far sound petty or unreasonable. Some tenants wait and report lots of things at once or others, like yours, report them as and when they occur.

They wouldn't have known about things like the heating not working properly before they turned it on for the winter. And whilst the floorboards may look lovely they probably are not very cosy. Perhaps you could buy some cheap, large rugs instead if you don't want the permanency of carpets.

Hi. I'm a LL. These seem like normal requests tbh. I would query the carpets though. Perhaps you could offer to pay for underlay and they can pay for the carpets? They did know there were no carpets when they moved in.

Everything so far sounds fine to me as a LL. I like to be told what is wrong and get my own people to fix it. That way I know it is done properly. He might be a carpenter but is he a good one?!

Either way, it is up to the LL to keep the place in good order and sort out the repairs.

WRT the carpet if the flooring that is down is in good condition then I would say no. They knew it was a hard floor when they moved in.

What you might like to consider is allowing them to do it out of their own money - but you don't have to.

As a LL I think most of those requests are reasonable, like the leaking dishwasher, but if they block the sink it's their problem to unblock it. Bleeding rads is a grey area. We used to rent a house where one rad had to be done every few months so we did it and I'd probably do it if we rented again. But some people aren't happy to do any maintenance in a rented house.

I would decline the request to fit carpets. They knew the house didn't have them when they decided to rent it so they can't expect them to be fitted now. If they have a problem with the floors they can buy rugs.

Not your responsibility to provide carpets. They took the property as is.

Advise them to buy rugs and take them with them when they move.

Repairs are your problem, I'm afraid. Better they were reported regularly than not. It's irrelevant that the tenant could have done the job himself. Do you have a maintenance contract with a local handyman or property management firm? This will bring costs down.

If you think your tenant is too high maintenance for you, you may be better off serving an S.21 at the appropriate time when the tenancy is due to end, and starting again. You sound fed up and that's not good for a client relationship, which is what a tenancy basically is.

I think everything they've asked for is perfectly reasonable....but if you don't want to put carpets down, that's your prerogative.

I can imagine some houses get draughts through the floorboards, and in weather like this it won't be funny.

I can't believe you are grumbling because they didn't use the dishwasher earlier....maybe you should have tested it worked.

^client relationship, which is what a tenancy basically is.

Er, no, it isn't. It's a landlord-tenant relationship.

As for serving notice, why should the tenant be made homeless just because the landlord can't be arsed to fulfil their side of the contract? It's attitudes like yours that make renting in this country so absolutely shit.

Read some of my other posts on MN Property before you start attacking my attitudes as an LL.

If you've also misunderstood my post entirely. A client relationship, in which the tenant is the client. Perhaps learn to read?

It's all pretty normal stuff really but I wouldn't be laying carpets for them, have you put down in the tenancy agreement that they can or cannot decorate? If they can tell them carpet is down to them or they could of course buy some rugs!

I have never heard of anyone asking their landlord for carpet mind!

I don't see why I should read your other posts, 1605 - if you put stuff on a thread, expect for it to be commented on on its own merits. If you're not happy with that, perhaps you could convene your own committee to read through responses and decide what is acceptable or not to be read on a thread. Or perhaps you could MTFU and accept that you will be judged by the words you write.

A tenant is not a client. A tenant is a tenant.

And saying that someone should be made homeless just because a landlord can't be arsed to do their 'job' (such as it is - most of us have to work for a fucking living) properly is a shitty attitude.

You clearly have your own troubles, Wallison, and you're bringing them to a thread which is not about you.

Please don't impugn my reputation with your chippy misinformed bollocks.

buy some rugs

Your 'reputation'? Oh my.

You're the one who is advising someone to make people homeless because they ask for things to be fixed.

I can't see anything that they've put down that is unreasonable. Wouldn't you be more irritated if they didn't report leaking things and then got damp? Tbh I can see exactly why he didn't want to sort out the issues around tge house - you could just turn round and say that he caused damage if you didn't like what he did. It's one of the few payoffs about being a tenant, you don't need to fuss about those things as its for LL to fix.

We requested our LL removed the stinking, piss covered bathroom carpet and that it be replaced with lino, but that's as far as I would go with flooring requests I think .

Regarding everything else, the sink blockage was caused by them and is their problem to sort out - our contract states that any drain blockages are our responsibility to fix, maybe put something like that in next time? Everything else is fair enough for you to sort really. Ikea do quite a large fucking ugly rug for £25 (My mum just bought one, awful, but cosy), point them in that direction.

I think OP is just demonstrating that the request for carpets has come after a number of things they've had to pay to sort out. Maybe if there'd been no repairs for 10 months OP would have been more like to consider it.

I think asking them to buy rugs they can take with them is a good idea. But as a LL myself, I wouldn't pay for carpets if the floorboards were in an acceptable condition.

if the radiators need frequent bleeding, it is a sign that there is something wrong with the heating system. Maybe it is pumping over, maybe it has a sucking pump, maybe there is no corrosion inhibitor in it.

Bare floorboards are for looking at rather than comfort. They are noisy and cold and draughty if there is no insulation underneath them. It sounds to me like the tenants were not aware of how cold they are when they rented (presumably it is a house not a flat?) and are trying to be reasonable by offering to contribute to the cost. A few rugs will not keep the cold our even wall-to-wall car petting will do that. The wood burner will also tend to suck cold air in.

I am going to guess (may well be wrong) that the tenants are not people who are used to owning their own home and doing minor repairs and DIY themselves, or they would have known it is quicker to unblock your own sink and bleed your own radiators than to ask someone else to arrange it.

Some tenants are just naturally more demanding than others. Whether that's because they're harder on wear and tear or because they refuse to accept responsibility for things such as carpets (not specified in the inventory) or blocked drains (their responsibility)

If you're not an LL who's inclined to service them as they wish to be serviced, they're not going to be happy and you're going to resent them. Better for both of you that you move on.

No one is being made homeless, Wallison. They can get another LL whose idea of client service is closer to their own.

Thx for the replies.
I understand we have an obligation to do repairs but feel that they are all slightly petty.
What 32 year old can't bleed a radiator?
The heating was working fine when they moved in last winter. It was services in April this year.
The downstairs had just been varnished when they viewed the property. We put in brand new underlay and carpet in the hall, stairs, landing, two bedrooms and en-suite. The day before they moved in.
In addition to the above we also bought them a brand new washing machine when the old one was too short a spin for them.
They also complained the front door sticks in wet weather and all the windows have condensation on them. Although they told us they never open the windows to ventilate!!!!
We provided them with a whirlygig washing line which is unused but hang washing on radiators and we have noticed the curtains are never open day or night.
No doubt the next thing they complain about is damp and wood rot?
As I say a nice couple and good at paying but slightly starting to get on my nerves!

I think everything is fair but the carpets.

Personally I wouldn't pay for that.

You probably don't want carpet grippers nailing all over your nice floorboards but you could suggest they put some inexpensive felt backed carpet down (loose laid) which will make a big difference insulation wise. Literally

I can see both sides, my friend is a tenant who moved in recently, and although the house is nice, there have been these kind of niggling things not working like stuck windows, radiators not heating up , minor leaks (that might damage floor and cause you to lose deposit). And a thing like a radiator needing to be bled, does also mean one of her children sleeping in an unheated bedroom which is a bit crap, TBH.

If the OP's house was newly refurbished, there will be some snagging things that don't become apparent until the house is properly used and lived in through a summer and winter - hardly the tenant's fault. OP I guess you'll get used to it but it sounds like your tenant is only experiencing what you would have done if you'd been living there.

Ah now that's the good thing about being a tenant. Not having those worries.

I am both a landlord and a tenant at the mo!

If you have a standard lease it should make it plain they are responsible to ventilate the house and not block the sinks.