New tenant asks for maintenance work that is financially not viable

[Amadeaa]

My tenants moved in this week. They’ve asked me to undertake maintenance work which they believe are in my responsibility as a landlord, but these works are financially not viable. The costs would exceed the yield of a whole year’s rent with no guarantee that the problem might not reoccur within 6 months. I also don’t have this kind of money available right now. What are my options? They are at the start of a 1-year contract. I don’t think I can terminate the contract without any fault at the tenants side.
Should I offer them money if they agree to terminate the contract early?

Can you get a good dehumidifier for each room and reduce the rent to offset the cost of running them - this would be cheaper than the work they are proposing and still help with the situation ?

Maybe the damp problem is 'outing'

You are legally responsible to deal with damp. And if you don't deal with it your house will deteriorate and it will become more costly to remedy.

If they can show they have windows opened every day and are drying windows every morning and not drying loads of washing indoors then it's the OP problem but you do need to check their actions as tenants are not causing the problems

It's not normal to be having to dry the windows and cills every morning.

It is not normal to have to wipe windows sills in the morning because of moisture or to have to use a window vacuum because of the amount of moisture.

was it explicitly told to the people renting that they would need to do that every day?

Very fee people would agree to rent in that situation.

So you have rented out somewhere which is not normally habitable.

This should absolutely have been fixed before you rented it out.

The OP is obviously not up to running a business and the property is substandard.
The sensible course of action is sell.

I had a problem with condensation in a house. I got a small device, think they are called positive air pressure device, they fitted it from the loft onto the landing and it just moves the air and it solved the problem. I think all in it was under £500 to buy it and have it fitted but I can't remember the exact price. Can you see if that might work?

wouldnt their prove be the tenancy that is less than a week old and dates videos/pictures showing the issue isn’t down to them?

The op states that when they lived there windows were dealt with daily. Plus there’s the possibility the issue was know considering the op already knows how much it’s going to cost to sort.

No doubt the OP is a benevolent landlord charging below market rent.
However for the tenants to put up with damp it needs to be seriously below market rate.
What is it with all these landlords renting out damp houses?

The neighbour above me (flat with factoring) tried to claim he had damp coming in the main bedroom and that the walls had a boss cracks. No one else had an issue. Photos did show quite a bit of mould around windows and surrounding wall. However builders could find nothing wrong structurally.

turned out it was a ‘lifestyle problem’. Once the concept of ventilation was explained it seemed to be resolved.

So do get a proper expert in to evaluate it.

You Can suggest the idea of giving them everything back. But first get a damp trader in there and see how bad it is.
Say something like
Unfortunately as you're the first person who brought this up to me and none of the professionals who came in and signed off on my property noted the issue. I'm currently not ina positions where I can afford any large works on the house.

And if you really want:

As we both entered this contract in good faith and something out of both of our control has caused an issue, perhaps it would be best to
A. end or shorten the contract with no financial ramifications and a great review.
B. Find another place with no notice warning required
C. Reduced rent

But legally don't take any responsibility or recognise the Damp

We installed a PIV unit for less than £500 - including fitting by an electrician. It's completely solved our mould/damp issue.

OP had never had a problem before and didn't know it was damp. Don't be a twat.

I would be very careful about the £15k quote. There are an awful lot of cowboys selling ineffective damp treatment that doesn't work for silly amounts of money too. You really need to establish if it is water coming in from above, though the walls eg deteriorated pointing or windows, or coming up from below, or its normal human life moisture, not escaping because of under-ventilation.

It is unlikely that tenatns would be as meticulous as you were to manage condensation so you probably will need to spend money on the building to make it easier to occupy. But be as sure as you can that the money is being spent on the right thing. For example, a top-of-the range continuous-running ventilation system would still only cost around £2-£4k - not £15k!

I would definitely invest a day's time and wages in going to visit the property yourself accompanied by a builder (and a builder , not a "damp consultant" ie salesman/woman) and take it from there. That way the tenants know you are taking it seriously, but you are not being panicked into doing something unecessary.

This is why people need to treat being a LL as what it is: a residential lettings business where they can afford to do it properly. Not something as a 'nice to do' for a bit of extra cash, but in reality they can't afford anything more than the basics.

do not take this advice!

I purchased a BTL a couple of years ago, in the summer and the survey didn’t bring up any damp issues. Tenants moved in in Autumn and straight away damp issues started coming up. You can’t have tenants living with damp, it’s unacceptable. I straight away purchased dehumidifiers but it wasn’t enough. Ended up having to do damp course through the downstairs walls, outside of house was repointed, repairs to the roof. Then had to replaster and repaint inside, plus carpets had to be professionally cleaned again. I had to give the tenants 2 months free rent while all the work was being done, on top of the thousands it cost to have the work done. I couldn’t afford it, it cost me about 18 months worth of rent! I couldn’t afford that, but it had to be done. I was just grateful that the tenants were understanding while it caused huge upheaval to them. I own the property and there are laws to protect tenants (rightly so). If you want to be a Landlord then you have to face up to the consequences of that.
Do you know what - they are still happily in the property 3 years later and I’m sure they will be for some time to come. By treating them fairly I have gained their trust as long term tenants.

The landlord lived there and described issues with damp actually.

@HarrietStyles you sound like a really decent landlord!

How can you say that you didn't know that there were damp issues. When every day younlived there you had to wipe down window sills?

We noticed damp on an outside wall the first night we moved into our rented property over 2 years ago. We reported it straight away and the landlord got a damp specialist out. Funnily enough straight after they were told the whole wall needed stripping, re damp proofing and replastering they switched to a new letting agent who has brushed us off every time we report it. So we’re just doing what we can (running dehumidifiers) but it’s rising damp so only going to get worse. We just keep reporting so we can’t be held liable when we eventually leave. It’s really frustrating

Was about to suggest OP that you get this post moved to the Property board as you'll get more helpful advice... and then realised it's already on here!

Ignore the negative posts. You need a surveyor to look at it. Ideally chartered and/or specialising in damp but what's most important is they don't have a product/solution to sell, such as damp proofing/tanking/chemical dpcs/Wall tubes or even extractor fans.

The money spent on that surveyor will be miniscule compared to the £15k quote you've had. I'm a surveyor and £15k for most damp work is absolutely obscene. A surveyor will find the actual cause and help you rectify it, rather than clueless people on forum speculate when they've not seen the property or the problem.

They said they had to use a window vac and wipe down cills every morning.

Thats not normal behaviour in a non damp house.

"Hi, I deliberately rented out a property unfit for human habitation for financial gain, hoping that my tenants would be so desperate that they'd just put up with it. How can I evict them and rent it out to someone less savvy/confident without getting into trouble?"

Ftfy

I think most people are missing that the tenants have only been in a week - it isn't down to them.
OP had posted that she had to use a window vacuum and dry the windows each morning - that isn't normal.
Also OP has stater that they lived there until recently. If the condensation and water hasn't been cleaned up each morning as the property has been empty, it will cause an issue quickly.

Not only will damp and water affect the structure of the building it will affect the tenants furniture, clothing, health and possible mental health.