We had a tenant for a year and half, She was paying £X rent regularly and we were very responsive to her requests. She gave us a two months notice and was supposed to leave on the 25th Sept. However, during the viewings we were doing she approached us and asked if we would be willing to let her stay until 1st Oct when her new tenancy starts. Though we had a lot of interested tenants we negotiated with one of them to start on the 1st Oct rather than 25th Sept. So far so good. The rent has been increased for the new tenancy and we calculated the additional 6 days according to the new rent £Y ; Y/30x6= Now she is challenging this saying that she never agreed to that. She is expecting the additional 6 days to be priced as her rent £X/30x6= … What to do? We were kind enough to work around her wishes and she is not willing to compromise back. And we will be losing the money which is the difference between the current and the new rent (6 days). It will be really petty to tell her, if she does not agree let’s go back to the originally agreed date 25th Sept, but also a bit unfair that she is messing with us. What do you think?
charge old rent rate, atleast she is willing to pay that, mine left 10 days later without paying rent, but was glad he left. Renters do mischief with landlords directly but with agents they don’t seem to mess about much.
If it were me i would expect the additional days to be at the old rate… 6 days difference between old and new rent is not going to hurt you.
That sounds grabby. Charge her the additional days at her old rate. Sheesh !
You should be aware that if her notice was valid or you agreed to accept an invalid notice, then her tenancy will end on 25 Sept and there is nothing that either of you can do about that. If you allow her to stay until 1 Oct, then this is not without some risk. You would be creating a new undocumented periodic tenancy and you would not easily be able to evict her if she doesn’t leave as stated. If you have promised this in writing then you may not now be able to go back on it.
I would suggest you drop the requirement for the 6 days at the new rate as the sums involved are trivial and not worth the hassle. Never expect tenants to be grateful when you do them a favour.
thank you David, very helpfull. yes we have emailed her that she can stay until 1st and in the same email informed her about the cost of these 6 days. Her reply is to dispute the cost and but to assume she can stay. Well we never agreed the about hte full impact of these 6 days. So, to make things stright forward without going to periodic tennacy, we might need to go back to original notice 25th Sept. No sure what you mean if we promissed in writting we may not be able to go back. In the same email we informed her about that she can stay additional 6 days and how much this might cost her. cheers
thank for your comments Steve. Well you dont know our position so why judging us as grabby. If you mortgage was increased for £170 would you call a bank grabby? hmmm. Reading some of the posts/comments on Open Rent I sometimes feel those responding are creating narratives which protect more tenants than landlords…
To give us more of an idea of the figures involved, can you tell us what the difference in cost would be over the 6 days? As surely it cannot be that much to even create a arguable situation over?
For example, a 20% increase of rent on £1000, would only work out at £40 difference over 6 days.
So unless you’re renting a mansion at a considerable rate, is it really worth your hassle and stress? Especially as you’ll be having no rent free days between tenancies as well.
I’d also like to add that no one here is attempting to protect the tenant, just make your life easier, based on a cost v worth analysis.
I am surprised you even asked the question. Surely the response from LANDLORDS was no surprise. just because we do not know your circumstances , does not mean we cannot have an opinion
thank you Alan14 for your respectful reply . cheers
Its possible that she could claim she has a contract with you for the 6 days due to the email you sent. Contracts dont need to be signed or even written, but its sounds like your email had all the hallmarks of a contract.
Yes I would call a bank grabby.
If she hasn’t given you notice you’d still be getting rate X every month. It’s ridiculous to upcharge those days at the new rate. Given the nightmare an angry tenant can cause, pissing her off at the 11th hour is just cutting off your nose to spite your face. Especially since you have someone else lined up to move in straight away.
Take the perfectly reasonable rate based on the rent she was paying. End that tenancy with minimal difficulty or headache. Enjoy the future at Y/month.
banks are grabby by nature
I am guessing here regarding the David122 comment that you did not understand: I believe if you take any money off her for those days or put it in writing that she can stay those days then you have committed yourself and her if she wrote back accepting your offer, especially if it included a fee, to another six month tenancy! I hope that makes it clear.
However, as she has not agreed the charge that you wish to make, then no contract is in place. On that basis, be a kind soul and let her stay for free. Otherwise, you may agree to surrender the contract by mutual agreement on the sixth day.
If I were in your shoes trying to maximise income, I would let her stay for free, providing I had proof that she has a new agreement to go elsewhere, subject to her promising to leave your place in good condition, as you have someone else lined up to start on the 1st October.
However, I would put income maximisation aside, and take the advice often given elsewhere: have it vacant for a few days for clean up, necessary repairs, etc. before re-letting it!
I guess you are looking at this as you just both agreed a different notice period, which i think is perfectly OK. It has to be at least 2 months not exactly 2 months. No legal problem there.
But there is a legal process for increasing rent and you haven’t followed it, so the tenant is right to expect to pay the same rent.
Just take the original rent and part on good terms.
no wonder landlords are accused of being greedy . I can remember 50 years ago my landlady helped me out> now I am able to do the same for my tenants What goes around…
If she has been a good tenant and respected your property for the time living there then really being a decent LL you should keep the rent the same. Yes you are doing her a favour allowing her to stay on. BUT it could have been off the market having major repairs done out of your pocket.
Always appreciate a good tenant and support them thats what i have learned
@David122 I saw it. Just pointing out they can agree a longer notice period, but LL can’t just increase the rent. If they just do that there’s no new contract
In fairness it still can be off the market. While most people aren’t that petty, some people can be nasty and you don’t want a tenant retaliating when you expect to be able to move someone in the next day.
Sure you can fight to get the deposit back and maybe take them to court - but you’re out of pocket now plus up the creek because you’ve got an agreement with the tenant moving in.