Hi All,
I would like to rent a property I own to a care company with a stay-in carer. Would anybody have any information on how I would go about finding this kind of company?
Many thanks!
I suggest you research the issues with rent-to-rent arrangements before you go ahead. They will get even more problematic once the Renters Rights Bill becomes law.
The care companies don’t sublet the property. They use it for their own clients who require there own place with a live-in carer. It would work on a commercial lease not an AST.
Yes a commercial tenancy with you, which usually means the additional expense of a specialist solicitor to look over the lease to protect your interests. What type of tenure between the agency and the occupant though? If it will be an AT under the Renters Rights Act, you may struggle to get your property back when the agreement expires. This is because only certain registered providers can use the new eviction ground to return a property to the superior landlord.
There is a care company along the road where i have a commercial unit .. 3bed with 3 “customers” and 3 staff all the time in shifts. Neighbours not happy with all the comings and goings
Are you implying that clauses like this would simply be ignored:
- Returning the Property to the Landlord
21.1 The Tenant must return the Property to the Landlord on the Termination Date with vacant possession and in the repair and condition required by this lease.
21.2 On or before the Termination Date, the Tenant must remove from the Property all chattels belonging to or used by it
I’m saying that come the RRA, they may have no power to deliver that clause. My understanding is that in an assured periodic tenancy, the new section 8 ground 5F is only available to registered providers of social housing. If the care company don’t qualify, then they would not be able to terminate the tenancy at the end of the contracted period and provided the tenant was paying their rent and not in breach of the tenancy, their tenancy could continue indefinitely.
I wouldn’t use an AST for this. I would opt for a commercial lease via solicitor. The company taking the lease would have a full repairing and insuring lease meaning they would have to carry out any repairs on the interior of the building and pay for the insurance too.
I think we may be comparing apples and oranges here. The lease I hold, for example, whereby a housing charity has leased one of our properties for 5 years, is based on the LTCA 1995 and that states that we can apply to a court for release of the property at the end of the contractural term should the tenant withhold it.
Are you sure that RRA will amend the LTCA 1995?
I know very little about the LTCA, but Im not sure that it ever over-rode a tenants rights under the Protection from Eviction Act or the Housing Act 1988. As far as Im aware, the RRB doesnt amend the LTCA, but Im pretty confident that a court would not end an Assured Periodic Tenancy based on the third part rights over covenants that the LTCA confers.
If you decide to follow up on this question with a solicitor or landlord association, please do post the answer here.
Well the lease was drawn up by a specialist solicitor and only signed about 6 months ago, well within the shadow of the RRB. I’d be surprised if they’d leave that loophole open (although old enough not to be too surprised!)
I also wonder whether you’re aware of sections 24 to 28 of the LTA 1954. These gave the right to continuity of tenancy at the end of the lease period. However, in a lease, you can specifically exclude these provisions which guarantee the absolute end of the tenancy on the date stipulated in the lease. My lease specifically excludes them thus:
17. Exclusion of sections 24 to 28 of the LTA 1954
17.1 The parties:
(a) confirm that:
The provisions of sections 24 to 28 of the LTA 1954 are excluded in relation to the
tenancy created by this lease.
If the lease is being drawn up as you do for a commercial property, then you have so many more powers in contrast to an AST. The RRB (as far as I am aware) has nothing to do with commercial leases. Please correct me if I am wrong on this.
if it is housing people then it will come under RRB surely? This is a guess.
The LTA 1954 is for commercial leases and gives an automatic right to renew under the Act. As you say, the parties can contract out of this right, but I dont see how that helps you. You would have the right to recover the property from the company on expiry of the term, but not necessarily with vacant possession. If the occupant has one of the new assured tenancies, they would not be bound by that legislation.
Most commercial leases have in the past focused on recovery from the company as the assumption has been that with s21, its easy to remove the occupant. That will no longer be the case.
The occupants are asylum seekers so they don’t have right to rent themselves. It’s dispersal accommodation. In reality, what would probably happen is that we’d agree another lease. The only situation we’d want the property back would be to sell up and I don’t see that being a problem. I’ve let alternative property through this housing charity for 10 years now so know them well and have to come to respect their business ethics.
Where the care companies clients can legitimately be non housing act tenants or licensees, the problem will not arise. However that won’t be the case for every type of care contract. Many will need to give the occupants assured tenancies. Establishing this in advance will be essential for any landlord considering letting to such a company.
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Yes I have had this, it is amazing how much council expenditure goes out on people with special needs if that is PC anymore. I never went again there as it gets more complicated. you can end up being responsible for things you have no control over plus you have no idea who will be in your property. dealing with companies who have no “skin” in the game can be elusive. personally I would walk away based on my experiences. One example : I had young man on meds, he would shout and scream in my block of 12 flats, he left water running that flooded 2 flats below I had to evict then I had to deal with a combative council, shelter and parents having a go from different angles. he went off his meds, usual story. he disturbed my other tenants and so I lost one. often when you try to help someone it blows up in your face and councils are really just farming out their problems to the private sector. up to you
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