Hello,
I am going to tenant my flat with a business Ukrainian student, coming from what seems is an affluent family. Due to limitations on bank transfers (imposed by Ukraine) the student cannot pay 12 months upfront, not even 6 months upfront, but has agreed to pay 1 month deposit, 4 months upfront and then the remainder 7 months (to complete full year) before 15 Dec.
I also have a Ukrainian family friend of his who is willing to be is guarantor as she owns two properties in the UK and has right to live in UK. Only problem is she is on maternity leave, has 4 kids and does not have a salary. The student has 2 years left to his program and would like a 2 year contract. The guarantor only wants to guarantee him for first year, which makes me a little nervous.
My question: If I give him still a 2-year contract --and in worse-case scenario-- he were to stop paying begining the second year, what rights as a landlord do I have to kicking him out of the flat? Could it take lots of time?
Would it be more prudent of me therefore to only give him a one year contract and then renew again if turst has been established? It’s so tricky, I like him, I feel I can trust him, but coming from Ukraine, what if something changes and all of a sudden they dont have the funds. My biggest fear is the tenant remaining in flat, not paying and my not being able to evacuate him. I wanted to understand more how I can get a tenant out if need-be.
Thank you in advance for your time and help.
if you feel this is tricky then do not do it
1 Like
Of course, you have rights to evict a tenant who fails to pay rent, but it’s whether you are willing to go through the laborious and costly process of doing so.
I’m not clear on why the guarantor doesn’t have a salary. You’ve said she’s on maternity leave. The point of maternity leave is to provide a salary while you adjust to life with a child. It should also mean she has a guaranteed job to return to. If I had a guarantor on maternity, I’d be contacting their HR and getting written confirmation of their current salary and that they have a job to return to. Of course, she doesn’t have to return to work at all so that’s something to bear in mind.
It sounds like you have no clear understanding about your rights and the process of eviction. As this would apply no matter who you let to, I would recommend a good read of Shelter’s website to see things from a tenant’s point of view and also that you get some training (paid) from a landlords’ association. That’s how I did it and I consider it essential.
With the renters rights bill which will presumably come into force at some point this year fixed term tenancies will automatically be converted to monthly periodic tenancies so the term is largely irrelevant.
It would be time consuming and costly to evict. You cant do anything until they are 3 months behind andvthen a long time to enforce in courts.
Not only that, but the RRB will also introduce a cap on rent in advance to one month, meaning any balance the landlord still holds over and above that will have to be refunded to the tenant.