You can give her notice but you won’t be able to enforce it until the courts are open for business again. The system has been designed to protect tenants in exactly this situation, so I think you are stuck with her. If I were her and you gave me notice, I’d stop paying any rent at all. Perhaps the least worst option is to accept what she can pay for now and issue a notice once it can be enforced if you can’t agree a repayment plan then. Some of the unpaid rent can be covered by the deposit. You have almost no control of the situation so I think you just have to make the best of a bad situation.
Hard times for Landlords. You have been a very responsible Landlord, well done.
Please watch how much you keep ‘giving’, it is human nature to want more and more.
As Mr T says housing benefit is included in the UC payment, so in theory your tenants is getting rent paid since he he/she lost their job, backdated. So you are into ‘risk management’ i.e. the arrears or risk you have to take, are paid now or in the future. Your tenant must agree to show you all their paperwork and bank statements would be good.
Managing arrears is not really rocket science; just simple logic. I have this spread sheet or just a piece of paper set up for all my tenants in arrears. Let me know if you want any clarification.:
I don’t think Malcolm1 has a clue as to what he writes. Fancy writing on a forum that Housing Benefit is not included in the UC payments.
It has always been paid as part of Universal Credit and the only time it is not is if the landlord manages to have it paid to him/her self. This is just basic knowledge that almost any landlord or tenant that has a tenant on UC knows.
The rental element is also payable up to the LHA rate so for example if the LHA rate is £500 and the rent is £600, only £500 will be paid as this is the maximum rent element allowed for that area.
If the rent is any lower than £500 say £400, UC will pay £400. The only other time the full LHA rate will not be paid is if the total income of the tenant is more than the total required for him/her to live on. It is only then that it is reduced. Hope this is of some help
Absolutely disgusting attitude. When the world is going through a pandemic, racist rows ruling the world, you come out and say something as backwards and as racist as that about addicts! Just because someone is dependant or has been on anything at all doesn’t mean that they are bad or would be a bad tenant, it means they are unhappy where they currently are and are scrambling for a way out of that unhappiness the wrong way, maybe through wrong advice and influence, and the reason that people are unhappy in the first place is often down to the attitudes of people like you’re bigoted self. Don’t act all high and mighty when anything could wreck your life at any moment. Use your emotional brain to access some sense before speaking. Ugh, your energy repels me! People with an addiction history, if they are trying to change for the better deserve chances and if people feel better off steering clear due ro someone’s past the how can anything ever change or progress, most people have some form of addiction anyway, they just lie to themselves, whether it be coffee, food or sex… DOES that mean they are going to be a bad tenant?
I do not know of ANY addicts who are good tenants. Whether alcoholic or drugs But I have seen many who are bad tenants. speaking about addicts cannot be racist as no one has spoken about skin colour So your high and mighty attitude says more about yourself than anyone else.
I might have used the term racist, but I was referring to the fact that you are judging people based on what they are, instead of thinking who they are and who they could be! It is backwards to judge people referred to as addicts as all the same as they are not, and I have let many who are intenteful to change for the better and would be good tenants. I’m not talking about ‘active addicts’ that are still using but recovering addicts! They are still addicts though, so do you detest them for having the wherewithal to make a difference? People need to stop being so judgemental and hypocritical. If jonny Depp, yes, the Hollywood actor, or Charlie sheen, for example knocked on your door and asked to rent a flat I bet you would be salavating and begging for their autographs before handing them the keys! Or are they just ‘good addicts’? Also if you have recovered from addiction then when do you think they should stop being detested and judged by people such as yourself, and treated normally and fairly again? After all, as the saying goes, once an addict always an addict’, which we now know through science and medicine is absolute rubbish!
I would not be salivating and asking for an autograph unless it was Rachel Welch. Being famous means nothing to me. I have a great friend who was a road sweeper and I rub shoulders with very well off people , they all get the same treatment( and each have had a few eggs from my chickens). Its not a question of detesting these people but of being cautious , after all its our track record that counts in life and thats how we are all judged rightly or wrongly
One experience i had: a tenant i used to like said he lost his job and was about to claim benefits. I said sure and i waited 3 months in all during which time he even sub let the property. At the end of 3 months i became more firm and when i started to chase he just left without notice, just disappeared. I contacted the benefits and they said he has left the property and the claim is now closed. the back door was broken and it was dirty with lots of inside jobs to do. it took me another month to re rent. it was a salutary lesson for me. Now if people miss a payment and they havent made most of it up in the next 4 weeks i give notice. The notice can always be withdrawn. I find that serving notice really focuses the mind of a tenant. i lost quite a bit earlier on renting being a bit soft until i realised many just saw that as an opportunity, a weakness to be exploited… not all of course but enough. I am not suggesting what you should do, your choice.
As an observation where the money comes from and how much is in a way academic, its the tenants commitment to pay and what you actually receive is important here.
One pointer for you is if the Tenant is pro active in coming to you with a plan, if you have to chase then i take that to show less commitment … good luck
Unfortunately, experience tells us a different story. And more often than not the stereotype fits, that’s why it’s a stereotype! Being a landlord is as much about managing risk as it is anything else. Would you lend your car for a trip to the pub to someone you knew had form for drink driving , I doubt it. So why would anyone give the keys to a property worth tens, if not hundreds of thousands of pounds to someone who is statistically a higher risk of defaulting or wrecking the place? I’d lay a pound to a penny any insurer would load them up on account of a drug addiction, if not refuse cover and that would be reasonable. As a landlord, are we not allowed to make the same judgments?
Once again, your response it typical of the leftist socialist view landlords in some way are responsible for others’ ills and should make concessions at our expense, well beyond those any other business would regard as reasonable.
Whilst I’m on my high-horse; This is what landlords are up against - the likes of James31, with his naive, ill-informed one-sided perspective multiplied by the thousands of dissatisfied tenants who expect a free lunch. And when I say dissatisfied, I do not mean dissatisfied in that their rental is not up to scratch, I mean dissatisfied because they resent their landlord and their success. These are the useful idiots pressure groups with their leftist socialist agenda take advantage of to advance their push for reforms that penalise the landlord.
I cannot be bothered to waste anymore time arguing about this, and I am. Not a leftist. I am simply a human being who seeks his own success but have also been in challenging positions in life that I have had to overcome. Nobody does it for you and I wouldn’t want them to as it would not be appreciated, but what I am saying is that people in a position of privelige, even slight, should do their very best to help someone else struggling to stand up. I’m not saying go and give all your property to people that are flat out on drugs and don’t know what day it is, no, that would be stupidity! But see the potential in the people that are changing and that are demonstrating their best to do so, help them up, and see what beautiful thing happens, worth more than any rental income. When you help someone blossom you are part of their existence and success, you are forever linked and guarenteed it would. Leave you feeling better as a human. You weren’t always successful, but I bet someone helped you at some stage. I have been judged on my past all my life but the people who wrote me off, are now to their detriment, not laughing so loudly. I just we could all put down the stereotypes, yes they make sense out of randomness but seek the individual in everything you do and you won’t go far wrong. Let’s all come together regardless of where we have been or where we are. I’m tired of typing about this now but I’m always open to solving problems or having a purposeful debate. Regards.
Fine sentiments, James, but most landlords at one stage or another end up getting well and truly shafted. And here’s the irony - we are expected to show compassion/flexibility but because of pressure from tenancy advocates and increased legislation in favour of the tenant, we are now less likely to do so simply because the risks are greater. And legislation, such as the abolition of section 21 (no fault eviction) which in 99% of cases is used to get rid of bad tenant, just makes us even less flexible (which is really the point Colin made that you were so offended by).
Being a landlord is a job, it’s not a ‘privilege’. This is what I would like to get across to tenants who feel we are somehow unfairly blessed with having to do this 24 hour thankless job.
These houses didn’t fall from the sky into position with our names on them. It’s been through hard work and going without. All the things our tenants, from my own experience, enjoy. i.e. extended exotic holidays, (I haven’t had a holiday for decades) technology I never knew existed until meeting them and again which I could never hope to own. More than one new car.
We have helped three sets of tenants now and have been badly let down by all of them who abused our trust and good nature.
As I have said before our tenants have more disposable income than us but expect ‘payment holidays’. You are unfairly assuming all landlords fall into the category of being able to immediately comply with any request whatsoever. We are affected by any pandemic too.
As regards addiction, yes I would agree most of us have some crutch. But would guess that the poster was referring to active addiction, which is tragic but that’s no reason why anyone should have their property destroyed surely. The landlord is also required to consider the neighbours well being and select tenants who are respectful to those around them.
I am sure everyone wants to help but it’s as much as they are able to. Landlords are people too and I really wish tenants would consider that and work with us instead of against us all the time.
Hi.
As a landlord you can apply to universal credit yourself to request that the rent goes straight to yourself. Obviously, the UC may refuse but I don’t see what you have to lose by asking. There is an online form.
If you could get this sanctioned firstly, then if you did decide to issue the eviction notice you wouldn’t have to worry about the tenant withholding all the rent, as someone on here astutely suggested could well possibly happen.
Have you seen the paperwork? You could send a form asking for incoming and details of outgoings but very hard if the tenant ignores. Guess when the time comes you will be seen as reasonable in terms of trying to negotiate fairly.
My problem is the tenant is refusing to communicate with the agent apart from a monthly email saying he can’t afford to pay the rent and he is prepared to represent himself in court if necessary. He is ignoring texts and emails in between. We have no idea whether he has applied for UC or not. We asked him to make some contribution but nothing, there seems to be no effort to try and pay any rent. Three months missed now and it’s my only income since I was made redundant last year. My husband is retiring in a couple of months time and this was part of our retirement plan. Add to that the neighbours are now complaining about antisocial behaviour and it looks like he has turned the garden into a rubbish tip since the agent did an inspection earlier this year. During this time we have done the GSC and replaced smoke detectors which he has removed. We are now stuffed with nowhere to go. When this is finally over there will be on less rental property on the market. Sorry it’s not advice, more a rant.
That sounds a nightmare. Sorry for your troubles. Have you served him notice?
I know you said you don’t know if he’s on UC.but you wouldn’t lose anything by applying to UC and asking for payments to be made to you. There is an online form and a phone number for landlords to apply directly.
If he’s not on it then obviously you can’t be paid but if he is by some chance, then at least you would get something until you can get rid.
From the government’s stand point, it’s a case of tough luck, certainly for the time being! There is little you can do other than serve notice because, as a landlord, your needs are trumped by those of your tenant and if you end up losing your shirt, again, tough luck!
I would, however, make it clear to the tenant you will pursue them for ALL costs/damages etc and the risk to their credit history and the impact of a CCJ on their record. Bottom-line - this comes back to the quality of your tenant. I make sure in all instances the tenant has at least some assets, such as a car or something worth losing or, as a minimum they should have a decent credit score, if not then a guarantor. This gives you some leverage in terms of consequences if they don’t play ball. If you have not done adequate due diligence then it’s going to be a lesson in how, despite what organisations such as Shelter may argue, the system favours tenants (especially bad ones) and in future only rent to A-grade applicants.