WWYD: Tenant not agreeing on check out date.

[LondonSuperTrooper]

I rented out my property via an estate agent with me managing the flat. My tenant has handed in his 8 weeks' notice period, which bang in the middle of me being out of the country. I rejected his suggested date of checking out and asked whether we can revert to the contractual date on the contract, i.e. 12th day of X month. He is refusing this check out date because he is on holiday.

Estate agent has had a chat with him with little success & is now unwilling to help as I'm managing the property. This is a very delicate situation as we both work for the same company, sitting a few feet away from each other. He is very popular within the company and very very stubborn.

My DP is suggesting releasing him early, which is right before we go on holiday. I am somewhat unwilling to release him early (which means he has given 6 weeks notice) in the event of not finding a tenant in time. Plus, the property will need some minor DIY & I'm not happy to leave the flat empty & without rent whilst we are on holiday.

I suggested to him that I would release him early if I find a tenant but otherwise his agreed check out date is 12 of X month. He is having none of it and is not budging! How can I resolve this situation please?

Thanks for the advice. So what insurance should I get?

I wouldn't bother with anything for appliances specifically, just normal BTL insurance.

Sorry for being dim, but what is BTL insurance?

Buy to let insurance. You should always have BTL insurance and in particular, malicious damage insurance so if a tenant or guest trashes the place you are covered.

Many insurance firms don't offer malicious damage cover as standard so you have to ask for it.

you need BTL insurance so that the house is covered full stop. If it's let, your normal residential insurance won't pay out.

It really does sound as if you ought to use an agent to do this.... have you got all the tax side sorted out?

Yes BTL insurance, which will cover the building, no need for contents unless you let it furnished. You can add extra's like malicious damage. No residential insurance would pay out, if the property had tenants. If you have residential insurance it will state that the property has to be occupied by the policy holder and immediate family and be occupied for a certain number of weeks a year.
We just have a separate bank account for our BTL's for tax purposes (just makes things easier), which holds a buffer to cover appliance, repairs and covers the mortgage for void periods.

Right, thanks for the clarifications. I do not need to have building insurance as this is covered by the monthly service charges. So do I still need to get a BTL insurance or is there another type of insurance that you can recommend?

No I have not got the tax aspect covered. The rent doesn't cover the mortgage & I know it ought to be done for tax purposes I keep meaning to find an accountant to do this.

Great idea of having a separate account for the flat - thanks.

I actually want to sell the flat but took out a 3 year fixed deal last year and so I'm tied till end of 2015... unless I want to pay 6.5k redempetion charge.

Also, thank you very much for all of your help and advice

The tax is easy but you must do it. You need to register for a self assessment tax return. Just keep a list of your income and expenses. You can also deduct the mortgage interest you pay. Even if you are running at a loss, you must declare it.

Have you checked with the factors if their insurance allows for rented property? If not then yes, you need to get some.

Stormy checked with what factors? I'm confused

I think she means freeholder or management company. The communal insurance policy may only cover owner/occupiers not rented properties. Tax is very straightforward. Just keep a track of your income and any associated expenses ie. insurance , maintenance(not improvements), mortgage payments (only the interest element not capital repayments), agent fees etc so that you can enter the figures on a tax return.

Thanks Liz, I think my figures will be pretty easy then as I'm on an interest only.

I'll check with the mangement company regarding the building insurance. They know that the flat is rented, along with 80% of flats at this development.

I just used confused.com & comparethemarket.com & they cannot provide a quote for insurance cover! Why is that?

Check out directline landlords insurance, I think they just won a Which consumer award for it and covers other things some insurers don't.

Sorry to add another element but I'm assuming you have a buy-to-let mortgage on this property, as opposed to a residential mortgage? If you don't have a buy to let mortgage then you should have got consent from your mortgage lender to let the flat, otherwise there will be penalties and in some circumstances it could put your rights under the tenancy agreement in jeopardy.

Yes, I do have a BTL mortgage :)

Thank you, I will look into Directline insurance at lunchtime.

2nd vote here for Directline, we use them for our properties. Makes it a whole load easier when you have IO mortgage. If you can keep hold of the property it is a good retirement fund.

Directline - last time I checked, do not cover malicious damage.

My car was once insured with direct line, when someone drove into the back of it they refused to pay at all!
their logic was they had assessed the car as being worth what the excess was so no payment, yet they were happy to take my premium for a value several times that.

Does that make sense?

insurances for rental properties need to be as follows, whoever provides them. All need to be valid for someone who isn't the owner living there. A normal policy will not do.

buildings; burns down, roof blows off etc.
contents: carpets, curtains, things like that. The Martin Lewis definition of 'things that would move if you turned the house upside down' is not right.
malicious damage is a very good idea - and Direct Line and Aviva do NOT include it. I have known tenants (not mine) threaten this, and have seen cases on here where they have deliberately wrecked the property. The tenant has a legal right to be there so normal vandalism cover from a burglar would not pay out.
legal expenses: if you need to evict, you will rack up some big bills for court appearances, serving notice, especially if you need someone to do it for you.

consider rent guarantee; if a tenant cannot or will not pay, can YOU pay the mortgage for the four months it can take to evict?

gas certs and deposit protection are legal duties and are not optional.

Thanks for the info.

I'm finding it hard to find landlord insurance WITHOUT the buildinbg insurance (this is already covered by my services charges).

IME it's irrelevant what date of the month notices is handed in on. You just tweak the rent accordingly.

For example, a previous tenant used to pay on the first of every calendar month. They handed in 4 weeks notice on the 15th. They always paid one month's rent in advance so depending on how many days were in the month they tweaked their rent amount accordingly.

Also, and forgive me if I'm being a bit thick here (bit tired) but 8 weeks is very different to 8 weeks, you need to work out of your want calendar month notice or x amount of weeks notice.

Can you perhaps suggest that he may leave on that date but agree to meet you for a final inspection upon your return and to sort out deposits etc then?