Inherited Company Letting Agreement - Urgent Advice Needed

I need advice regarding a house that I purchased in an auction in November 2024. The house was purchased with a Company Letting Agreement in place with Housing Association who in turn rent the house to someone with a AST.

Since I purchased the house, The Housing Association have paid the rent directly to me. The Company Letting Agreement officially expired on 21/12/2024 but we agreed to let the agreement roll on, and I have received 3 rent payments.

However, until last week, I have not had access to the property. The Housing Association showed no interest in the property or their obligations and when I requested they arranged access to the property for inspection, they did not arrange anything. After my persistence, they gave me the tenants mobile number which did not work.

Eventually, The Housing Association gave the tenant my contact details as he had issues with the house. I have no direct agreement with the tenant and, furthermore, The Housing Association had previously told me there were no issues with property apart from some minor repairs.
When the tenant contacted my wife, he said the property needed repair and the front door was smashed in. We arranged to do a site visit on 28/01/2025 and took our builder with us. Again, The Housing Association had no interest/involvement in this.

When we visited the property, we were astonished. The property had been trashed. Amongst many things, the shower was blocked and unreported making the kitchen ceiling unsafe, the front door has been severely damaged, the lounge door single pain of glass is smashed with loose glass shards hanging down and extension leads in most rooms but what was most concerning was the extension lead at the back of the hob which had melted and is in a dangerous condition. Furthermore, cigarette stubs had been put out on the bathroom sink and just left. The Company Letter Agreement prohibits smoking within the property.

On 29th January 2025, I received an email from The Housing Association giving notice that they will be handing back the property on 29th February 2025 (which I later clarified as 1st March 2025). The Housing Association claimed the tenant had not paid rent for 2 months.

I had a few email exchanges with The Housing Association and the upshot of these exchanges is that The Housing Association intend to just walk away on 1st March, leaving their tenant in-situ for me to sort out with no mention of the severe damage that has been caused by their tenant. They are in breach of a number of conditions of the Company Let Agreement.

I have done my own online research, and my understanding is I (the landlord) has no legal contract with the subtenant. I am not a legal expert, but I do not believe The Housing Association should be putting their tenant in direct contact with us. I also understand the subtenant is bound by all the terms and conditions of the original agreement. However, I would like advice on this.

I have discussed this with an eviction specialist who has given me contradictory advice within the space of a day and now £450 just to clarified his advice. I believe his expertise is in the residential sector and I need advice in the commercial sector.

I think it will be very difficult for anyone to comment, without understanding the wording of the letting agreement you & the Housing Association are committed to.

I would have expected most of the answers to your questions to be contained in that agreement.

You did not view the house before purchase?

I made a serious mistake.

I bought a house off a Housing association but it was empty and in good repair . If you did not see it when you bought it, then it could have been like that when you paid ? Thus that is difficult for you. Just because it is a H/A does not mean they are good guys or have good tenants

It makes no difference if it was like that when he bought it. What matters is what the tenancy says with the HA, and whether they are responsible for dilapidation against any start of tenancy inventory or similar, and what their obligations are at the end of the contract re returning it empty of tenants etc. The contracts presumably / hopefully stipulate all of this.

I too also bought a HA house without viewing some years back (albeit I had viewed similar properties owned by the same Landlord), and that tenant did not pay rent for many months and even had his door bashed in by the drugs squad. The HA was fully responsible for maintaining their rent payments to me, the damage as well as the lengthy eviction process, eventually returning the property to me with a financial settlement to cover any damage against the move-in inventory.

I’m in exactly the same position with the house being trashed. The agreement seems to suggest the HA are responsible for repairs although I don’t have the expertise to be certain.

Could I post a redacted copy of the CLA?

Its a residential tenancy not a commercial one, although the law around company lets is a bit different to individual.

You are going to need an eviction specialist, no matter how expensive it is. You bought a business without doing due diligence and that comes with a cost. You should also be prepared for a long haul as if they manage to evict the housing association, the occupant will become your direct tenant if they remain and you would then have to evict them. You would also at that point take over all liability for the disrepair, so the first step will likely be enforcing performance of the contract with the HA.

I would also keep a copy of all interaction with the HA and report it to the housing ombudsman, but you should speak to the solicitor about this.