Sorry to clarify, I’m only aware of this in terms of a landlord’s perspective. I think the requirements for a seller differ but I don’t know what they are.
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@Helen2023 as you say you can’t disclose info about the previous tenant if you don’t know it. All you or an agent can possibly say is what you actually know /have been told, I assume that there was an overdose and it was suspected a suicide.
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Would it be legal to ask the letting agent to carry out deep cleaning again and sanitisation after initial clean up(the letting agent said all the tenant’s belongs were removed and place was cleaned up) and claim these cost against the tenant’s estate and in this case his deposit?
The next of kins have told the letting agent to do whatever is needed to secure next tenancy.
Terrible terrible situation to be in.
You can get agent to do whatever you like re post tenancy cleaning.
If that is needed to return property to same state as at start of tenancy I think you could reasonably claim that from deposit but deposit scheme should be able to advise/confirm
Note if there are still needles around you may need specialist cleaners
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Thank you @David240 .
Will ask the letting agent.
I think you have to be careful here. Firstly, make sure that your AST explicitly states that you can use the deposit for that purpose. Secondly, I’m not sure that taking more than the deposit is worth would be justifiable. What kind of cleaning would be necessary after the “place was cleaned up”?
This forum is full of all sorts of advice, but in your situation, I’d be seeking proper legal advice from a solicitor who has experience with residential letting.
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If the property is in the same or similar condition as when he moved in and it has been cleaned up, I can’t see why you would need to do a deep clean/sanitation.
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Don’t think @Helen2023 has suggested claiming more than deposit is worth only whether a post tenancy deep clean can be claimed against deposit. So nothing to do with death per se (tho I guess a dead body may create lingering smells that need removing.. ugh).
As you say, so long as AST allows it and it can be justified (eg to return property to same state as at start of tenancy) should be ok but good idea to check AST as well as with deposit scheme
I would think IF not in same clean condition as at start, could be justified (under OR ast it would be
“to make good any damage to the Premises and fixtures and fi�ngs (except for fair wear and tear) caused by the Tenant”
)
and doesn’t sound like executors will object, again so long as reasonable.
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I agree that its likely to be unimportant to many people, but unfortunately it counts as information the applicant needs to know in order to make an informed decision. Its also up to the landlord/seller to declare anything in this category, not up to the applicant/buyer to ask.
@David122 Is there a legal requirement for a Landlord to declare such information? My understanding is there was not.
The snappily titled Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, which replaces the old Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, requires landlords to disclose a wide range of property matters to a prospective tenant. I’m not aware of a suicide in the property being included specifically, but there is something called The Material Information Test where “Information is considered material if its omission would cause the average consumer to make a different transactional decision”. It would be up to the landlord to judge this, but solicitors suggest erring on the side of caution. There are penalties for breaches.
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@David122 but LL won’t know there was a suicide in absence of a death certificate or information from next of kin, only that there was a death and that there are suggestions it may have been an overdose - which is speculation not definitive fact. So all they can really say for sure is that the previous tenant died and there is no suggestion from the authorities that it was connected to the property or its surroundings. We have no actual proof it was anything other than someone dying in their sleep due to a heart condition, for example.
If this was your property would you therefore tell everyone who viewed that the previous tenant died in the property but you have no information about the medical cause ? And would you tell the next tenants in a year’s time? And those in 10 years’ time? At what point does it cease to be material?
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yeah but when the neighbours start talking… the Ts won’t care about proof
@tatemono so if there was a rumour about the neighbours you’d share that with any potential tenants too?
If tenants find out more alleged details from neighbours LL can truthfully repeat that she didn’t know the cause of death and for all she knows the tenant died in his sleep peacefully and she told tenants everything she actually knew. They cant claim either the advert or any information provided was misleading. So there won’t be any fouls under the consumer legislation which @David122 has quoted legislation saying material info should be shared upfront. I doubt if the legislation says unsubstantiated rumours or speculation must be shared.
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ha… yeah, you did well to rewrite your post.
If Ts aren’t happy about the rumours they hear from the neighbours (which the OP has said they likely will) then they’re quite possibly not going to believe the LL has been telling them the whole truth. At that point, irrespective of whether there are “any fouls under the consumer legislation” you’ve undermined trust and fouled up the T-LL relationship… and with Ts soon to get the opportunity to leave at any point, that doesn’t seem a risk worth taking to me.
Yeesh… we LLs go on and on about how we need applicants to be completely up front with us about anything even marginally dodgy and yet, when the tables are turned, we want to stick to the bare minimum.
Be up front and honest. Tell them what you know happened and what you believe may have happened. If they’re OK with that, proceed. If they balk at it, you’ve saved yourself a potential tricky situation.
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@tatemono Well..if I don’t know I’m not going to guess what I believe ‘may’ have happened and share. I’ll tell them I don’t know but that they could ask the neighbours to find out if they know anything more. Without the results from a coroner we really have no idea if it was an overdose, (accidental, suicide or even murder), or something else entirely. Any of these ‘may’ have happened.
I’m also not entirely sure about the ethics or legality of revealing this sort of personal ‘information’ about a previous tenant. You could ask ICO for a view on this. There is a conflict here between potential tenants.’ need for information that may be material to their decision on whether to rent and the former tenant’s rights (and those of family) to privacy. Where in your ICO notice does it say you can share this sort of information?
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Third paragraph from the bottom. Does yours not?
I think many tenants would want to know that a death, especially a premature death had taken place in the property regardless of whether it was caused by suicide. Landlords withholding this information may later regret it if the tenant seeks to unwind the tenancy. Better to make it a factor in tenant selection.
Is there any timeline in the disclosure of such information? Does the landlord still have to disclose this information in the future say in 5 years time every time there is a viewing ?
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Sadly it seems a lot of people do really mind about past tenant passing away in the property.
There have been more than a dozen viewings and only one offer so far and the candidate profile is not ideal.
In the past the property would have been snapped up in a matter of 1-2 days after being on the market.
Also it is not just a matter of renting it out, the fact that as the owner of the property who is very keen on the property which was such a lovely property until recent event, the trauma itself will remain with me the landlord for a very long time if I could even be able to get over the thought of it. It is like repairing a precious jar and you know it could never be the same again.
Very very sad situation to be in.