Hi, I have new tenants and suspect they are letting family members live in my property rather than themselves. A neighbour is keeping me informed of who is coming and going currently and they don’t fit the description of the people i interviewed. Whoever is living there are beginning to annoy the neighbours with noise etc. Have you had this issue and how have you dealt with it?
How do i go about getting solid proof should i need it further down the road as evidence? Can i use contacting their employer as leverage?
Give 24hrs notice of inspection and seat out side and watch , but do not contact the employer as they have privacy rights and could all be legit !
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Write to you tenants and ask them for a list of all current residents and how long they will stay there.
Remind them that any guests that stay more than week need to be with the permission of the landlord and need to be added to the tenancy agreement .
If you think they are not being honest or they don’t reply issue notice on Ground 12 , or Ground 14 - with a section 8 notice or a section 21 notice or both. - do not wait for evidence - issue notice and wait for an explanation from your official tenants.
If you want to do something else first send a letter to the property giving at least 48 hours notice of a property inspection. If you don’t get an answer knock on the door and see who answers -if is isn’t the tenant ask to speak MR or MRS NAME (your tenant) and if they are not there ask what time they will be home . Its amazing what you can find out just by asking nicely.
Remember you have a right to be told the names of everyone living in your property - and hopefully your tenancy agreement has a clause saying something like you should be told if the tenant is absent from the property for more than 14 days
and you should be informed if any guests stay become permanent or semi permanent .(generally reckoned to be over 7-14 days )
Don’t rely on neighbours too much - neighbours told me my tenant had left the property - when they were on holiday and came back (unfortunately for me as a I had a possession order so had to go on to a bailiff eviction) - they meant well but - curtain twitchers often get things wrong - and if they are annyed by behaviour or noise this can colour what they say - it can be nearly right but wrong enough to cause problems if you act on it as hearsay.
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Thanks for your reply Mark, much appreciated, I will give it a go.