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Original poster

Tenant has changed locks, gone away and left lights on.

263 replies

Brightonhome · 08/02/2017 12:59

New tenant is two months in to a six month let (to be extended after 6 months) No issues before, although he does have a weird habit of leaving all the lights on all the time (the property we let to him is visible from our house). He has a regular job, and it's his electricity bill, but I still find it a bit odd. He has been away for at least a couple of weeks now with all the lights still on. I sent him a nice text asking him if he would mind me going in and turning the lights off (concerned about overheating / electrical problem) I waited for two days with no answer. I then went over there, thinking he may be ill, to discover he has changed the locks (as is his right) but without telling me. As the owner of the property, I feel a bit uneasy about this. Don't I have the right to a set of keys? I would never enter the property without the tenant's consent, but in the case of an emergency, there is nothing I can do without keys. Not sure what to do now re lights. Am I being overly cautious and worried over nothing? I've been letting this property for six years (two different tenants in that time) with absolutely no problems whatsoever. I have always had keys.

OP posts:
GallivantingWildebeest · 08/02/2017 14:06

OP, I think you're being unfairly criticised on here. I can see why you're worried.

Does your rental agreement say he can change the locks/that you have to have a key if he does?

If he has really been away for weeks and left all the lights on, that is really odd. In those circumtances I don't think you're being unreasonable to text him then to go over and have a look. If he's not responding to texts, though, I'm not sure there's much you can do until he comes back.

Would the police go round to check on him?

lubeybooby · 08/02/2017 14:08

my old landlord lived miles away and had no idea if my lights were on or not. It's nothing to do with you. Get a job or a hobby. Keep getting jobs and hobbies til you don't have time to spy on tenants.

I used to leave lights on, I was paranoid about being burgled. Now I have them on timers.

cuphat · 08/02/2017 14:08

Hirple, one of our neighbours has had his blinds completely shut on every window (front and back) 24/7 for years! This has crossed my mind but my DH thinks I have an overactive imagination. I would love to know why but I can't really ask!

AliceThrewTheFookingGlass · 08/02/2017 14:08

I was going to write exactly what Hirples said.

specialsubject · 08/02/2017 14:10

BTW if it is a drug den you won't get him out any quicker, I'm afraid. The eviction process does not relate to tenant actions.

If your concerns look justified by month four, issue the section 21 which is no fault and so no defence if your paperwork is all good.

I really hope it isnt a drug den.

MovingOnUpMovingOnOut · 08/02/2017 14:10

Can you call none emergency Police and ask advice

Yeah because let's imagine how that would go:

Op: Hello police please.
101: Hello police, what is the nature of the complaint
Op: I want you to go round and check on my tenant. I think they may be up to no good. Maybe even running a cannabis farm!
101: Ok... and the reason for your suspicion please caller?
Op: He's left his lights on and appears to have gone away for a fortnight.
101: you mean on holiday?
Op: well I don't know where. I can't get hold of him!
101: But he could be on holiday?
Op: well yes, I suppose.
101: do you have any other reasons to be concerned for his welfare?
Op: He's changed the locks so I can't get in!
101: Hmm Confused So to summarise, you want us to send an officer round to investigate some lights that have been left on?

HirplesWithHaggis · 08/02/2017 14:12

OP, it may be that a large boarded loft was exactly what my former neighbour used to grow - only ever a couple of plants, we're not talking sea of green here. Does your loft have an electricity supply/window(s)?

Still don't think it's a farm, leaving all the lights on would be daft - and if he were using all of the rooms rather than just the loft, he'd actually need blackouts at the windows and lights on timers or he'd risk buggering up the photoperiod for his plants to flower and lose, or not maximise, his crop.

PartyPolitics · 08/02/2017 14:13

Cannabis plants need 12 hours darkness in a 24 hour period to mimic photosynthesis afaik and yes you would be able to smell it outside. He's probably just on holiday.

NarkyMcDinkyChops · 08/02/2017 14:17

They will send round sniffer dogs who can smell the stuff a mile away

They'll send no such thing! Anyone running a cannabis farm would have blackouts on the windows, oddly enough they don't like to advertise that they are running a cannabis farm by leaving all the lights on and visible knowing that their landlord can see the house from theirs!

Use some logic, fgs, and don't call the cops because someone has some lights on in their own home.

HirplesWithHaggis · 08/02/2017 14:19

cuphat, if they're just regular blinds on your neighbours windows he's probably just a bit antisocial rather than a cannabis farmer. For farming you need total blackout, though I suppose he could have that inside his blinds... Shock

OnceUponATimeInLondon · 08/02/2017 14:19

I think you are getting a lot of unnecessary stick here.

I find the fact that he has changed the locks completely unreasonable, but don't know where you stand legally. I have rented (and would never have done this!) and been a landlord (and would be pissed off if someone did!)

I'm also not sure about legality of entering house and notice (tenants have always got back to me when required). But to me you've given (more than) 24 hours notice, otherwise tenants could just never reply and you'd never be able to gain access (sometimes it is essential).

I very much appreciate that this is someone's home, and I wouldn't want to interfere. But I agree that the lights being on for so long is very odd, and I would notice if I lived nearby too.

toptoe · 08/02/2017 14:20

What legally can you do? When is the next inspection due - in 4 months?

Original poster
Brightonhome · 08/02/2017 14:20

Loft has no windows. Curtains upstairs are never open. Oh dear. Mind you, saying all that, he'll probably be back tomorrow, knock on my door (sporting a deep tan) giving me the spare set of new keys with a big smile, telling me all about his holiday. How easy it is to suspect the worst when you don't know what's going on.

OP posts:
MarklahMarklah · 08/02/2017 14:21

Moving - some years ago DH and I went on holiday. We lived in a flat next door to a nosy elderly couple. We told them we were going away, a week before we went. We gave them contact numbers in case of an emergency. We reminded them we were going away the day before we went and they stood outside and watched us drive off the day we went.
We left some lights on a timer switch so that the hallway light and bedroom light (visible from the road) came on and off during the evening at intervals. We also had a timer switch on our lounge light.

When we got back from holiday the flat was in darkness and the door double-locked. We then got a call from our neighbours to say they'd noticed the lights were on whilst we were away so they called the police as they thought someone had broken in. They gave the police our spare key. The police came in, looked around, and switched off all the lights.

I would imagine that if OP has tried and failed several times to contact her tenant, she would not be out of line to call 101 for advice. Not to ask if the police will go and investigate, but just that she'd noticed all the lights on for a significant period and had been unable to get a response to her texts.

needmoregin · 08/02/2017 14:23

What's he growing in there ? Very dodgy

aginghippy · 08/02/2017 14:23

How easy it is to suspect the worst when you don't know what's going on.

That's what MN is best at Grin

Marcipex · 08/02/2017 14:24

Incompetent cannabis farmer, maybe?

SillyMoomin · 08/02/2017 14:25

tbh op, sounds like a cannabits farm to me too

NarkyMcDinkyChops · 08/02/2017 14:28

'm also not sure about legality of entering house and notice (tenants have always got back to me when required). But to me you've given (more than) 24 hours notice, otherwise tenants could just never reply and you'd never be able to gain access (sometimes it is essential)

It doesn't matter what notice you give unless you get agreement from the tenant. You can't go in without agreement unless it is an actual emergency. Completely illegal otherwise.

tbh op, sounds like a cannabits farm to me too

Did you not understand the the several posts explaining why this is not the case?

Marcipex · 08/02/2017 14:29

Who explained?

HirplesWithHaggis · 08/02/2017 14:30

The loft having no windows would make it a good candidate for growing, if there's an electricity supply up there. Upstairs curtains being shut 24/7 isn't an issue for concern if he's growing in the loft, only if he's using upstairs rooms too, and then you'd probably notice the brighter (much, much brighter) lights. And, as others have said, the smell. You might not notice a plant or two in the loft, but if he were using other rooms he wouldn't be able to cover it up.

Good to see you're not panicking about the possibility, OP. I do think it's quite small - he could have been interested in the loft as a dark room for photography, for example. (Yes, people do still use film!)

NarkyMcDinkyChops · 08/02/2017 14:31

HirplesWithHaggis Wed 08-Feb-17 13:56:13
The lights used in cannabis farming are considerably brighter and whiter than ordinary household bulbs. Also a cannabis farm (run by anyone with half a brain) would have the windows tightly curtained/blacked out 24/7 to prevent light leakage. And someone would need to tend the plants daily, you can't just disappear for a fortnight.

PartyPolitics Wed 08-Feb-17 14:13:43 Cannabis plants need 12 hours darkness in a 24 hour period to mimic photosynthesis afaik and yes you would be able to smell it outside. He's probably just on holiday

cdtaylornats · 08/02/2017 14:32

My conversation with the police would be

"Hello, I am a bit worried about the man at number X, his light have been on continually for 2 weeks, I can't raise him on the phone or by knocking. I even tried e-mail but no response".

He could be ill, unconscious or dead.

Notwhatiexpected · 08/02/2017 14:32

Second the growing pot suggestion.

I have a clause which allows me to access to my property in our rental contact. I also have a great relationship with my tenant so don't think I will ever need to use it. That's fairly standard and perfectly normal. As does my tenant.

user1478860582 · 08/02/2017 14:32

I'm not sure why the cannabis plants would need all the lights on. Plant growing lights are very different from your standard Tesco bulb encased in a Laura Ashley shade.

However. If the plants are Triffids, then with all the moving about they would need the light. You wouldn't want them falling down the stairs. They might get the right hump then......