Anyone know my rights as a landlord

[SanDiegoSunshine]

Hoping for some advice here as I’m so upset. I’m a new landlord. I owned my house and lived in it for 6 years until a month ago when I rented it out to a young professional couple through an approved agency.

Over the past 3 weeks they’ve been in contact with the agent managing it almost daily reporting faults and problems. Some genuine- which is fine as I know it’s my responsibility to ensure the house is maintained and satisfactory repairs carried out- to the down right ridiculous. I’ve even been round there myself to take them through what’s-what to save time. Worth noting they even asked for a rent reduction on their first day for something ridiculous!!!

Now they are claiming the blind in the spare room is broken. It’s a small pull type blind which is fitted to a velux window. When I lived there it was stiff but fully functional and when I was cleaning the day before they moved it it was working as I lowered it to clean it. The stiffness wasn’t picked up by the inventory clerk, infact his description of the blind is wrong. However the agents have contacted him and he’s said it was stiff. This wasn’t recorded however and I have no idea why. My only assumption is this item has been broken by the tenants possibly in their attempt to use it.

Where do I stand here? The estate agents think that I’ll likely have to pay if it’s damaged. I don’t feel this is right…1. It was working when i left it and 2. Any stiffness or possible wear and tear for example that could contribute to it breaking wasn’t recorded.

The tenants are now challenging the inventory and its looking like I’ll have to pay for a bespoke blind to be made as a replacement.

Please can anyone advise me?

It doesn't matter it was missed off the inventory as being stiff unfortunately, if it doesn't work freely and easily and you knew that then it's not fit for purpose. It was obviously going to break at some point. I'm assuming you also signed off the inventory?

From your original post - Issue range from windows don’t open (they were stiff as it is a Victorian terrace) - not good enough - you shoul d have had them in full working order..

Heating doesn’t work (it does they’d just messed about with the boiler and pressed something) - were there instructions left ? Even if there were these things happen.

Leaky radiator which I’m happy to fix however when we try to arrange the plumber to come they say it’s inconvenient. Make them say when it is convenient or action a repair clause on your TA.

I’ve also paid to have a shower bracket fitted to the wall on their request. Previously I had a hand held shower over the bath. Personal choice but that suited me fine so I feel I’ve been very accommodating to them. Great, but you didn't have to.

They’re now asking to have blinds fitted over the patio doors in the dining room. I’m really reluctant to allow this as it’s more work and modifications. The patio doors look onto an enclosed private garden with no passing traffic or prying eyes. Say no but tell them if they can / can't put curtians/blinds up themselves.

I've been lucky with most of my tenants (3 houses) but the last lot just made it impossible and left we with a dirty, vermin infested house and I didn't make that much money out of it (it was my pension pot). As such, it ended up that two households were left gutted that I was selling what they felt was their home. All in all it is a business, not a hobby and it can be way more work that profit.

Hand held shower in a bath is frankly highly unusual and not normal in tbf majority of homes. That's your preference, not a standard I'd expect in a rented home.

A leaky radiator - had it leaked before?

Instructions for the boiler - I assume you'd left an printed copy of them?

No window coverings in a room is also weird - from a warmth and heating the home perspective as much as privacy. You might be OK with it, but again I wouldn't be and have never had that in my home either.

Unfortunately, at the moment you're projecting your style of living on other people, and it's not compatible with their expectations or needs.

Agree that letting a house with curtain poles / rails and lettings tenants put up what they want is much easier.

Just fix the blind. It does not have to be stressful if you have means to resolve it.

For those asking-

Leaking radiator- nope had no issue with them prior to them moving in. I’ve since had it repaired only after they were difficult in letting a plumber round.

Hand held shower- that was my personal choice yes and I agree it’s not the norm. The point I was making was they rented the house as seen and I went out of my way to have one fitted etc to make them more comfortable.

Boiler- yes instructions were left. Despite this they claimed it was broken. I went over it was working. Had I not done that I would’ve been the one paying the call out fee for a contractors for them claiming something was broken when they’d fiddled with it themselves.

Windows- yes stiff but functional. Okay I should’ve maybe greased them prior but I went round and they opened fine.

Blinds- not an issue except again they rented the property as seen. They can’t rent somewhere then after signing except a whole set of amendments. If they don’t like it just don’t rent it and find somewhere that suits them better. Worth noting, blinds are an essential aspect of privacy. All rooms have blinds this was for a patio door that looks onto a private enclosed garden with no passing traffic or prying eyes.

Incidentally, we once viewed a house where all the windows had been painted shut!

It was only by chance that I tried to open one to look at something in the garden but before that it would never have occurred to me to check something so basic as whether the windows open properly as I couldn’t imagine a LL or agent being so cheeky/lazy/unaware as to advertise it like that. (I was so young and naive!)

There were more issues as well and the agent couldn’t give any fucks and so funnily enough we didn’t take the house and it comes up to rent every 6 or so months.. I wonder why.

@RedCarsGoFaster

Unfortunately, at the moment you're projecting your style of living on other people, and it's not compatible with their expectations or needs…..

Perhaps but then why did they rent my house if it’s not suitable or compatible to their needs?!?!

I have to admit I'm surprised about the blind - having rented for many years before buying my flat, I would never have complained about a blind being stiff. They sound like nightmare tenants and you have my sympathies!

Presumably you are not paying the agent to manage the property. You need to stop taking it so personally, things go wrong.

This is why you have landlord insurance. Honestly you are making a mountain out of a molehill. And I say that as a LL of several properties. You seriously do not want to let things get out of hand and end up with non paying tenants with no incentive to be careful with your house because you have antagonised them over something minor. Yes push back on the inventory issue as they are out of time. Yes push back on the new curtains (they knew there were no curtains when they viewed the property) but do consider allowing them to put up a rail themselves. And try not to be over invested - it’s not your home any more!

I hear your frustration OP but it is partly due to the fact that buy to let mortgages exist for people in your situation allowing people to own multiple homes, that means the housing market is distorted.

It’s not so simple as saying tenants should have chosen somewhere else, the market is broken. There is a housing crisis. Competition for even the most rubbish properties is high in many places.

In my experience the trouble is often that LLs expect tenants to have the highest standards when it comes to taking care of a property, but then expect them to live with shoddy and shitty fixtures and grim decoration.

But decent people with high standards of behaviour most often don’t want to live in a shit hole so they complain or quickly move out, or you only get crap tenants in the first place. Not saying that’s the case here but in my experience that is what many LLs expect and create.

It generally works better if LLs want tenants to be happy, allow a few sensible modifications and decoration, so the tenants are more likely to stay for a number of years meaning less void periods. And yes for the best outcome, LLs should meet tenants personally and ask for personal references, otherwise if you go through an agency then you have to expect them to do a crap job and likely get a crappier outcome.

We are landlords. Have long term tenants in our properties. If a tenant said there was an issue with a blind we would offer a goodwill payment of say £40 so they could replace it with a working one. Have done this for cookers, fridges, dishwashers etc. They order and sort the installation and we pay.

It all depends on what it is. If the inventory report said 'no light in hallway' and they ask if there could be a light put in, then it's up to you whether you want to do this - if it was a deal breaker then before they signed the agreement was the time to mention it. If however there was a functioning light and it becomes faulty, then you have to fix it.
It is often hard to ascertain whether something breaks due to their negligence or that it was going to happen anyway.
I'd say the blinds were not really fit for purpose in the first place.

Velux sell blinds to fit their windows, you don’t need a bespoke replacement.

They ought to be grateful to have found somewhere to rent. We can't find anything in England at all within our budget because we have pets. We're good tenants, look after the property and keep our pets under control but, due to other people being not so considerate, we don't stand a chance. Hope you can get sorted as it sounds like they're taking the mick.

@SanDiegoSunshine I don't know where you are in the UK, but in my area there are up to 150 applicants per house that's up for rent - people are desperate not to end up on the streets. Many will be taking any property they can get then dealing sun things they perhaps didn't notice like a shower rail, lack of a blind etc.

Many things won't become clear as a problem until you've lived with it for a bit.

@SprayedWithDettol

Velux sell blinds to fit their windows, you don’t need a bespoke replacement.

All Velux style windows, Velux or other makes have blinds you can simply order on line. You just need to know the manufacturer, which should be on the window, and the measurements. They are not expensive.

So: stiff windows, stiff (now broken) blinds, some rooms without blinds, leaky radiator, no shower bracket… I think you needed to have fixed up your house properly for rental before trying to charge money for it.

@ImJustNotMeAnymore

They ought to be grateful to have found somewhere to rent. We can't find anything in England at all within our budget because we have pets. We're good tenants, look after the property and keep our pets under control but, due to other people being not so considerate, we don't stand a chance. Hope you can get sorted as it sounds like they're taking the mick.

In leasehold properties the head lease may prevent pets in the building so even the most animal loving landlords have their hands tied in that respect. It’s not always their fault!

They ought to be grateful to have found somewhere to rent.
Well, no, people don’t have to be grateful for a roof over their head. It’s shit for you that it’s hard to rent with pets but let’s not race to the bottom and expect tenants to shut up and put up our if servile gratitude for their feudal masters.

I remember your other thread, and tbh you sound like hard work. The issue is you lived in the house before you rented it out so can't see the quirks with the eye of an outsider. If you continue to rent it you are going to have to become a lot more detached.

It may be that next time you rent it you update everything with new, cheap fittings, and get someone else with a neutral eye and come round and point out what a tenant would expect to be done (the hand held shower is a good point - that's entirely basic but you had to be asked to install a mount.

Maybe charge a bit more rent to cover the fact that you've invested in updating the fixtures, and to cover what you now know are standard expenses - i.e. call-outs when the boiler screws up or they fiddle with it but you can't get around to look at it. These are all costs of being a landlord.

@TheEconomista thanks for calling me hard work. I’m really doing my best and trying to be patient and accomdating with them.

I can assure you I’m not attached to the house at all. Yes I enjoyed living there and want it looked after but I’m no means precious. I just don’t have time for nonsense. I’m more than happy to fulfil my side of the contract and my landlord obligations but I’m not a property developer, this situation has arisen purely due to personal circumstances. You mention the hand held shower and you’re right it’s basic but equally they didn’t have to rent the property if they didn’t like it as it was presented. A fellow poster above has stated that the current housing crisis means people are renting any property they can find and expecting modifications afterwards to suit their needs. Unfortunately that’s not how renting works. You mention me charging more rent to cover things. I don’t agree either. The tenants were left with a book of instructions for things including the boiler. If they fiddle with it and don’t know what to do, despite being provided with instructions where does the personal responsibility lie? I’m not their mum who needs to pop round and oversee things. Equally an agency acting as a management company are not a 24 hour hotel concierge and maintenance service.

At the end of the day maybe my expectations are wrong but I was a renter myself many moons ago. My MIL also is a LL and I’ve never come across a situation like this that’s all

"A fellow poster above has stated that the current housing crisis means people are renting any property they can find and expecting modifications afterwards to suit their needs".

I said no such thing. I suggested a reason they may have not spotted the weird- shower or an absent blind.

I hardly think asking for a single blind or a way to hold a shower head up is unreasonable.

I also think that getting a boiler wrong in the first week is just human nature, not deliberate action. The damaged blind is tough luck as it needed a knack which they didn't have. Window's shouldn't be hard to open in any house.

Your expectations as a landlord are possibly a bit skewed, but you need to be realistic.

@RedCarsGoFaster I wasn’t meaning you. I was referring to @MossRock comment further up

As I said upthread, they do sound like mildly PITA tenants. There aren't many on here disputing that. Equally you seem overly stressed out by managing what is essentially a commercial transaction.

You realise this is your job now, you're getting an income here?

If you worked in a shop and you had a hugely demanding customer one day, you'd mutter under your breath but still just crack on with it and get the job done. Then take your pay home at the end of the month.

I hope that doesn't sound harsh. I am a LL. Sometimes shit is really annoying and you're banging your head against the wall about people's stupidity! But in the end the tenants are my customers and it's in my interests to have happy customers because I want the rent at the end of the month!

@Xanaduyourenotthatfar thank you and I do know what you’re saying. I’m just not of that view. I’m not in this for the money. I’m not a LL for the income it was purely circumstantial and outwith my control. Unfortunately so far I’ve made no money from this either. Once I paid all the fees I wasn’t left with much this month. All the repairs and costs have amounted to more than their rent too. Obviously I have some savings but it’s not really been the point. I’d be more sympathetic I think had I entered into this with a business mind but again my circumstances weren’t that. I think I’ll see how things go this month and maybe just sell. I’m having a baby soon and I don’t have the time (or energy) for the daily contact