Tenant wants rent reduction WWYD?

[sparklyraindeers]

First time landlord here, still pretty new to all this as house was left to me as a inheritance property.

Last year the house was renovated and everything updated apart from the bathroom. The bathroom was a disabled bathroom so we altered it a bit and it's now a wet room with shower sink and toilet.

Last week (Monday) the tenant sent me a email saying there was a issue with the shower send plumber. I didn't see the email, I have said previously text don't email or both.

Plumber went down yesterday and it was clogged with hair, to access the sink trap you do need to unscrew it with a screwdriver.

The tennant now wants a £75 rent reduction due to no t being able to use the shower and me not being too quick off the mark. Plumber says wasn't a emergency as water could still get down.

What do you think, is that fair?

I personally think it's not down to a plumber to unblock seeing as it was a brand new bathroom.

Any advice please as I don't know what to do on this one?

It's unlikely they turned the water to the washing machine off at the mains to the machine, if work had been done it's more likely that happened before they moved in as a new tenant. I can't fathom how you would accidental do this.

With regards to hair in a plug hole, I think your be reasonable to say it is their responsibility to clean out hair traps and to give no rent reduction.

I would also point out that future visits for visits like this they will be charged as it falls beyond your responsibility as a landlord.

I have these things that you put on the plughole to catch things like hairs and veg and other bits of food They are only £1 each. This is what the tenant should have done.

Really Tired it is not law that it should take as long as a homeowner takes to repair something.

helena what are these things!!!

I have the worse hair catchers, in my shower they are a nightmare to clean I spent ages with scissors today (after I let it dry) to remove the hair.

Centurion Plastic Sink Strainer. i get mine from a local independent thrift type store but somewhere like Home Bargains should also have them.

A good way to remove hair from a plug hole is to squirt Veet, or other hair removing cream, down the plug hole. Wait a few mins and pour hot water down. It works well.

Penguins - surely depends on where mains switch is, mine is above the kitchen countertop and if i push the kettle back further than usual, it switches off the isolator for the washing machine (Although I wouldn't be so stupid as to call ll / plumber without checking basics like this / fuse etc first!)

Adarajames I think Penguins is under the impression it's the mains water that was off, rather than the electric switch.

OP, I also read it as the electric switch, can you confirm?

Does it matter? They are two things you'd check if the machine wouldn't work.

Does it matter? They are two things you'd check if the machine wouldn't work

Matters a bit. It's pretty bards to accidentally turn the water off. Quite easy to turn the isolator switch off.

Re hair catcher. I have this.

Umbra Starfish Drain Cover/ Hair Catcher, Surf Blue www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00HY8GU6Y/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_VjtpybQE5SQ3K

The switch is just a switch above the worktop with a little red light that says washing machine and one next to it saying hob.

I have read the contract, twice in fact but it's something silly like 26 pages long and I can't remember what's in it.

Buy one of those hair catcher things to minimise future problems. No one gets money off rent for anything! This wasn't an emergency.

adrienne, I rarely read any lease in detail. I rent via reputable agencies, whose standard leases will be based on both specialist legal advice and their own experience. Over time new clauses will creep in to deal with new problems (Air BnB, people registering companies to domestic addresses etc). There is always a lot of stuff about gardens and chimney sweeping that is irrelevant.

What I do check are the lease length, notice provisions, payment clauses, deposit arrangements and agreed riders. The bits that change with each lease. Inevitably there is an error somewhere.

However as soon as there is a dispute you need to go back and quote the lease. If it is a good agency it will be in there somewhere.

In terms of demanding tenants, I usually give them about a month, often by suggesting they put together a snagging list during their first couple of weeks and I then get someone in to fix everything in one go. Demanding can be good, as it implies houseproud. After a month it usually calms down. If it does not and call outs are unreasonable/silly I would consider threatening to charge, but more likely wait till I can give notice. (And a good idea to ask for a break after six months. Agents don't like it as they risk losing commission, but tough. Its good to have flexibility when you need it.)

And a good idea before any tenancy to try everything. The heating timer, lights, dishwasher, washing machine. The other extreme is outgoing tenants who have not complained about anything.

Their problem re the hair in the plug hole and invoice them for the plumbers work and no rent discount.

This reminds me - years ago I shared a nice flat with a woman who had let her previous flatmate handle the bills etc.

When it came to me being there it turned out this woman didn't have a clue re bills, paying council tax, basic maintenance (lock broke to front door, she went out leaving it wide open luckily my brother replaced it!) etc. I wouldn't have minded if she was really young but she was 35 years old!

Get a new more savvy tenant, you don't want to mollycoddle them.

The switch is just a switch above the worktop with a little red light that says washing machine and one next to it saying hob.

Yeah so that was mega stupid of them to have a call out for that.

Get a new more savvy tenant, you don't want to mollycoddle them.
Agreed.

The tenant is a lazy git. I rent abroad and one of the fortnightly jobs I do here is degunk the shower drain. I hoick all the hair out, and then pour some special degunking stuff down the shower drain and leave for the recommended time, then rinse. It's not difficult, and as someone who rents their UK house out, I would tell the tenant in the most polite manner to do one. I'd refuse the rent reduction, but donate a bottle of shower drain degunker to get her started off, and give her a lesson in how to clean a shower drain.

My tenants called to say the vacuum cleaner was broken... I went round and they had hoovered up an unwound wire coat hanger which was now stuck inside. I shit you not. Once removed the hoover worked fine thank god!

My tenants called to say the vacuum cleaner was broken
Another reason why a lot of LLs nowadays do not provide appliances for tenants.

If they had paid for that vacuum cleaner themselves they would not have treated it like that.

I think a polite but firmly worded letter is in order, reminding them that basic care and maintenance (e.g. Unblocking sinks and shower drains) is their responsibility. You've paid out twice for things that were not your responsibility and won't do it again.

You do have to be firm because they're taking the piss by trying to get money off.

But, good lines of communication with tenants are really important. Generally, I would far rather be called about silly little things, than not be called about things that might become bigger problems. If they're clueless they won't be able to tell the difference and could easily ignore serious issues that don't have an immediate impact on them.

You can do an amount of diagnosis on the phone by asking sensible questions and asking them to try x,y,z before coming back to you.

Personally, I'd go found myself in the first instance (is that possible?) to identity whether and what the problem is, before calling an expert if needed.

I think that's a great idea about going round in future.

I fully read the contract and it does state of they are responsible for the issue/s like clogged shower toilet due to non maintence and it does state hair blocking shower then they will be liable for the call out fee.

I have emailed and said nicely that next time they will be billed according to try and make them engage brain but I did say don't hesitate to contact me.

The set up was, originally two guys were sharing the property. The lead tennant moved and wanted references I obliged and he was "your the best landlady ever" on check out I did notice major damage on the hallway carpet (it was ruined) so tried to diduct the new carpet cost of £75 from the bond and then I became the shit of the earth and I didn't do X, y & z despite knowing nothing about it as was never told.

I got the minor issues sorted, tenant 2s girlfriend moved in and now she's the one constantly complaining to me.

Blimey what an irritating thread. Talk about 1st world problems. An inheritance property, OP? So in other words, you've inherited a whole house for free and your tenants are still paying you rent. So you are quids in. Frankly you sound appallingly entitled and grasping.

Oh look, someone woke the troll up

As usual, playground jealousy time.

However op I'm afraid you don't get the full cost of a replacement carpet - that would be betterment. You only get a proportion of the cost related to loss of use, and carpets in rentals are only expected to last a short time. So even if the the carpet has been used as a toilet there are limits to what you can recover.

Is girlfriend on the lease? I would think hard about renewal when the time comes.

I am going to ignore that post.

Yes to a proportion of the cost, the full carpet cost with fitting was £150 so wanted to recoup £75, ended up just replacing it.

I've had a response from my email and more "issues" have appeared 1 a pluming issue that they didn't think to mention when he was at the property, and as the "issues have been ongoing for weeks" they want a rent reduction the calculation that she is asking for is rent free for 3 weeks.

Can anyone tell me if they underpay on rent what can I do? When the tenancy expires can I deduct that amount for rent arrears?

And yes GF is on the lease.

I would pay this time but make it very very clear that this sort of thing is their responsibility. This needs to be done in a letter with an email acceptance. Good relations between tenant and landlords in essential but you need boundaries.

My tenants blocked the loo, they had put blue hand drying paper down the loo. My contract with them clearly states nothing but loo roll is to go down the loo (previous experience). The tenants paid for the plumber - they offered. I would obvs have paid for it should it have been a problem not of their causing. My tenants are fab and I want to keep them happy but I won't pay for their poor practice - I make a marginal profit as it is.

They had a problem with the boiler and I moved heaven and earth to get it fixed asap, it still took a week. They were very understanding and I didn't offer them a rent reduction then either. I did keep them updated and thankfully it wasn't cold but the parts took 3 days to order.

I am local and will have see if I can fix things before sending a professional in. I luckily know a whole load of tradesmen who will come out when requested.