I’ve just had new tenants move in with lots of issues raised by them, be useful to clarify if anyone can give guidance.
I have had new carpets fitted throughout the house, but the carpet fitters have left some carpet strips behind, (they had to go back and fit last room while tenants there) tenants are not happy to remove the rubbish (its about two bin liners contents) is it my responsibility to remove this?
Also front light by doorway which is normally activated by movement at night has stopped working should I get this seen to. If it is a fused bulb whose responsibility is it to replace?
They have been very picky about lots of other minor stuff but they came with loads of their own stuff in bin liners, no furniture yet (its unfurnished property) no washing machine but brought a cooker when there is already a lovely fitted kitchen with hob and oven etc. The fridge they brought was also not in the best of condition. They intend to buy new furniture and as they have no beds I think they are sleeping on the floor - but they maybe had to assemble theses first as removal van didn’t do.
I never had any issues with previous tenants who were there 3 years and I always immediately dealt with anything that did arise as wanted to keep the house in good repair and still do.
If things carry on like this although it is a 12 months tenancy, am i right in thinking I can cease the tenancy after 6 months if i give 2 months notice as can the tenants.
How long should I wait till I inspect the house, I don’t remember that being in OpenRent standard contract?
Thanks Colin I have agreed to do this and a number of other minor things they are asking about.
Anyone got views on the other issues, I’m just feeling uncomfortable about their general attitude and really want them to enjoy their new home as I use to live there myself.
It does sound like it would be the landlord’s responsibility to remove rubbish left by the carpet fitters, and also to replace the front security light.
With the rest of the items that they have moved in, it’s not really any of the landlord’s business what furniture the tenants choose to move in etc. Did you do an inventory report prior to them moving in? you will need the inventory report if you need to make a claim on the deposit afterwards. The tenants’ obligation is basically to return the place to you at the end of the tenancy in the same condition as at the start of the tenancy, less reasonable wear and tear. If that means they moved in their own cooker but moved it back out at the end and there is no other damage etc then I am not sure I see any problem and I can’t see why you would want to terminate the tenancy early based on this?
Openrent standard contract doesn’t say how long to wait to inspect, it just says that you have to give at least 24 hours notice to tenants beforehand.
It’s unfurnished but there are fixed items like blinds and bathroom cabinets, hob/oven so didn’t do a separate inventory as such of those.
I would repair the oven/hob as have cover and of course boiler, plumbing issues etc. The blinds are unlikely to break unless pulled too hard. I guess i should have done an inventory of some of theses fixed items?
So if a toilet holder fixed to the wall came off would landlords replace/fix that?
I said i had left the lawnmower for previous tenants which they are welcome to use but stated if it stopped working I would not repair.
I have even paid for annual Subscription of garden waste for them to use and stated when that ends they would have to ether dispose themselves or resubscribe, they are opting to dispose themselves but my previous tenant paid for it.
I’m very flexible in wanting to help so crossing my fingers, just got a gut feeling based on initial conversations.
Your gut feeling is probably correct. Some tenants lack the ability to think for themselves and see everything, even the daily little tasks, as not their responsibility
I think youre being a bit hard on the tenants. It could be a good sign, that they want to make it into a nice home. There is every reason to expect that things will settle down.
I rent all my properties out as unfurnished but I always do an inventory at the start of each and every tenancy. This covers walls, floors, window blinds, kitchen appliances etc. Lots of things can still get damaged even if the property is unfurnished. I suggest you start doing professional inventories. To answer your question, yes if the toilet roll holder fell off then you are obliged to fix it, unless you can prove this was malicious damage or neglect by the tenant (this is difficult to prove) in which case the tenant is responsible for the cost of repair.
It’s possible that they want to record all these issues so that you can’t make them responsible at the end of the tenancy. I’ve seen cases where something was damaged before the tenants moved in, the tenants thought it was not a big deal and didn’t complain, and after they moved out, the landlord tried to reduce the deposit for the repair.
That said, I don’t think your tenants are unreasonable. I think they can expect that there’s no rubbish in the flat and that security lights are working.
I’m also not sure what all of this has to do with the fact that they didn’t bring furniture or a washing machine yet or are sleeping on the floor. That’s their responsibility, they can sleep on the floor as much as they want to, it doesn’t change anything about your responsibilities as a landlord.
You can give them notice to move out after 6 months only if your contract has a break clause, otherwise you can’t.
Thank you for your comments, contract does have a break clause but really I don’t want it to come to that as I believe if its not mutually agreed it would require court action.
I think its a good point that they are perhaps keeping a record so they are not blamed for anything at end of tenancy.
For this reason, could I still do an inventory with them, even though they have just moved in.
That way both parties can agree on what the condition of everything is in house.
I did take pictures of all the rooms before carpet went down but could take ones of each and every item from inventory list.
I would have been happy to have delayed the move in date and get everything sorted but they were quite insistent on moving due to starting a new job and booking removal people and said were happy to leave belongings in garrage while carpet laid down.
If your tenancy agreement has a break clause, usually either party can enact it unilaterally without court action. Just check what exactly the break clause says. But hopefully you won’t need to do this, just see how it goes.
I have a very similar set of tenants I think and also thought the same as you, but i think as long as they pay the rent, which I think they will & look after the place then in the big scheme of things all their issues are minor. I fix them as soon as I can fit around their dog’s schedule of day care.
I have bit my tongue on a number of occasions and haven’t asked when they want their fresh bed linen and clean towels delivered.
They have settled down a bit and there are far worse tenants out there for sure!
I believe you could do an inventory now - however it’s a bit messy because obviously they’ve already moved in so you can’t prove what was there before and what wasn’t, a “he said she said” situation.
So I would certainly look into doing it as soon as possible, better than not having one at all, and just make peace with anything that isn’t covered to your satisfaction due to not doing it before they moved in. Use it as motivation to never make this mistake again.
You can certainly do an inspection and record what state the property is in right now, but if they’ve done any damage it’ll be hard to prove that they did it.
Evicting tenants isn’t easy even with a break clause, so I wouldn’t jump to that unless it’s a last resort.
It is reasonable to be irritated that your landlord has left rubbish for you to deal with - and they may be feeling worried themselves and need the reassurance that you will be doing your job and aren’t the kind of landlord who refuses to uphold their responsibilities.
Hopefully this will settle down and it won’t be a big deal.
I had tenants who just after moving in sent me a series of photos showing imperfections around the flat, some scuff marks on walls here and there, traces of cleaned up mould at the edges of the bathroom flooring, some paintwork damage around a door frame. All things that really only get sorted with a full redecoration, which the flat did not warrant. After this, they settled down just fine and the tenants got their full deposit back on leaving. I’d say my tenants were just being cautious, to cover themselves.
I never do a one year contract but stick to 6 months. If you get nasty tenants and you dont get on you wont have to wait a year to get them out. In multi flatted properties like some of mine it can affect others in the building.
It defaults to periodic anyway.
Some tenants can demand rather than ask for things to be repaired which can put your back up but like others have said just fix stuff and stay on good terms. Remember when any tenant is in possession they have great power both in maintaining possession and potential damage.
I once had an electrician who actually sabotaged the electrical installation in a flat, he stopped paying and was told he had to go so he left the wiring unsafe. He always used to carry a knife so i decided to let that one go. Lots of landlords focus just on the law but have no idea what some people are capable of.
With respect to the properties I manage personally, i feel a full inventory is invaluable. These days there are specialist companies who come round and take photos of absolutely everything and make notes of things such as whether or not lightbulbs work. In my area - Bath/Bristol, these companies are very good value.
That way, when you reach the end of the tenancy whether 6 months or 6 years later, you have evidence should there be a disagreement of how things were at the outset.
Where I use a managing agent, I let them sort out the deposit and inventory as I know they will be reasonable when the tenancy comes to an end.
Exactly. LLs won’t have a chance at making a deposit deduction, particularly if using dispute resolution, without a proper inventory. The inventory company we use (found via Openrent) are very good value.
Really not sure what the issue is. Just get the issues fixed the tenants have asked about (carpet, light, bathroom fittings) and who cares whether they’re sleeping on the floor or bring their own cooker. Being a landlord for many years and having recently rented somewhere off a terrible landlord who refused to get any work done that was 100% her responsibility, I feel for the tenants who probably just want a quiet life. At the end of the day, it doesn’t bode well if they’ve just moved in and things start going wrong and the landlord doesn’t get them fixed. In terms of inventory, as people have said above, get a professional one done, you won’t have a leg to stand on in the courts otherwise. Yes as someone said above they absolutely hold the power-they’re in your property and can cause a lot of damage if they wanted!
I have tenant who has moved in, and keep nagging for smallest things. They keep complaining for non essential things and interlink things and make it very complicated. I had incident where her partner switched off water supply and lady called to say cistern is not filling, and toilet blocked. The man dint knew that the water supply is switched off hence he wrote report that cistern also not filling and would need two man. When arrived at property the water was turned off and I turned on the lady was shocked again her partner switched it off. They keep blocking toilet by not flushing and blamed the toilet stack pipe fall is not correct. The boiler service happened and there has been a control flaw where radiator is getting warmed though the only hotwater is selected on boiler. I called the engineer to comeout and while waiting for engineer I came to know her partner has diverted the the parts in Boiler. This is just making me annoyed that his partner is interfering with my house stuff. This is health and safety issue where tenant is mucking around with boiler. Please advice .