I have had a tenant in my rental for nearly 8 years (a large family).
They pay about 15% below today’s market rent, because of affordability plus my rent increases over the years being modest. Nice to deal with, and always pay on time.
BUT…they keep the house badly…even when I replace/re-paint something, within a few months it’s scuffed/marked. Several tradesmen have commented on the lack of care by the tenants.
There are things that are getting so worn, that I fear replacement in the next year or so (especially carpets/flooring). But I don’t want to spend thousands with these same tenants in situ!
My initail gut reaction (and my usual caveat that im NOT and never have been a ll) is to serve notice on them being completely blunt you can get new tenants you cant get another house easily and if you will be throwing good money after bad if you just replace things for then to ruin later if they cant show the respect to look after SOMEONE ELSES HOUSE (which is what it is) they dont deserve to rent
The experienced ll on the forum may have conflicting views but thats my opinion
The trouble is that eventually if it gets too bad, you will be forced to do work to keep them living in reasonable conditions. So do you do that and keep them staying there, or evict, refurb and get better behaved tenants in?
You have to judge each case on it’s own merit.
I had one group I evicted last year.
It was a new refurb and he put sellotape on the humidity sensor and PiV units. Needless to say I had mould in the bathroom.
Joinery damage , tampering with electrics etc etc . They were rude and I dreaded dealing with them.
Late rent was the nail in the coffin
I served a s21 because I thought it would be removed and it was time to clean house after the pandemic (I took different demographics compared to my norm).
I have a really tired house which I haven’t decorated since purchase
He was supposed to do work for a discount which he never did
I’ve kept him
He pays the rent , sometimes late, and he makes a mess but I don’t care .
Most importantly he’s polite.
I will say that threat of removal of s21 made me pro active about cleaning house
I probably would have been more tolerant if it was not going to be removed
Make a list of pros and cons
List damages and cost and see what the numbers are and then decide
Consider the void period, the cost of finding a new tenant , council tax etc etc
The biggest factor is do I like dealing with the tenant. I want to enjoy work. If I dread going to the house it’s a s21 .
I don’t regret my s21 . It was costly but I have better tenants I hope…
A very common situation. I’d suggest when housing market recovers as interest rates falls you evict then sell house into a tight market to avoid the refurb costs. The refurb could be £20k or more which a new buyer won’t mind as they will refurb anyway.
How do you change a carpet or decorate when it’s not visible for stuff
You physically can’t get to the walls
In some houses you literally can’t move for stuff
I’ve been there!
Lovely person, self managed, very helpful, Paid on time.
BUT the level of rent got outdated and I allowed a deterioration of the property (well the T was content etc)
One day I wanted to sell. Impossible for the T to find another place so large and cheap. HB demand a bailiff eviction or the T has voluntarily made self homeless.
I made a lump-sum gift. (12 month rent) They left.
All history now. I’m glad I could buy myself out.
The lessons are:
Keep the rent at today’s level.
Don’t tolerate anything that might make rerrnting difficult or costly.
Been there - I did some refurb mid tenancy- bad move! would not do it again. We have another place where we are waiting on Bailiffs because we need to sell. He’s not kept it in good condition - we’ve never raised his rent too - so it was do we get him out then pay for refurb or just leave him in to keep it in the condition that your tenants do. If they are not keeping things in good condition I would not replace anything unless it comes to legal obligations. Amazing how we live in our homes for 10-20 years and carpets dont get wrecked, showers dont constantly break, walls arent scuffed…