I am a new landlord, the property was inspected at 3 months and was untidy but okay.
We re inspected at 8 months and the place was in a terrible state. Dirty, untidy, carpets ruined with dirt and furniture. Walls damaged, bi fold doors damaged and probably much more that we couldn’t see.
One bedroom we couldn’t even enter as was full of rubbish and furniture. Another had a huge work bench in there. They have 3 cats and a dog that we permitted, however, they were all over the place on kitchen work tops etc. they have also had a new internet connection box connected knocked through the wall, in the living room that they never asked for permission.
The garden is covered in sheds and what was grass is just mud.
We did serve them a section 21 in September to leave 31/03/25 as we plan to stop renting and move in ourselves.
Could someone advise me , do I write to them stressing our concerns via email or is there any other formal route I should take?
Cats on works tops is to be expected, however I would draw the line at dogs……i would expect a property to go down hill quickly if a tenant had that amount of pets.
Personally, initially I prefer a conversation rather than formal letters. It can be better at keeping them on-side and for agreeing on a way to resolve.
If no joy I would be sending a report highlighting the findings of the inspection and the need to remedy these. Also remind that contractors need to be appointed and approved by you. It sounds like getting things back before moving out may be unlikely based on the attitude of this tenant. A physical letter carries most weight.
I don’t imagine deposit would cover damage? Have they added the sheds without consent?
Everyone needs Internet, including tenants, so having a cable installed should be tolerated / expected. In the old days, you wouldn’t have denied a tenant having a phone line put in. In reality I doubt it has been ‘knocked’ through the wall. More likely the box will be fitted to the wall with a single hole in the wall for the cable to pass through. Likely, future tenants will need internet too, so probably not a long term problem.
In a situation like this your whole strategy is to not cheese them off as they can do 10x more harm to you than you can do to them . You have to be subtle and scheming and pretend you are their friend and the only reason you have issued a S21 is because you or your son/daughter is getting married and need to live there etc.
There is no point criticising they obnoxious lifestyle as if you do they will go on silent mode and dig their heels in .
Then when the section 21 kicks in and they should have left if they dont then its straight to a bribe to leave eg if they leave within 4 weeks and sign a surrender of tenancy you will give them 2 thousand pounds as they walk out the door . If they dont leave after 4 weeks ,then its the nightmare scenario of courts / bailiffs and in 12 to 18 months time you may get your wrecked house back and be 10 to 15k down in rent too.
All this advice about pointing out their shortcomings and claiming all the deposit ( insignificant amount in the great scheme of things ) doesnt work in the real world of nightmare tenants.
Serve them the S21 and send them the bill for the clean up / refurb.
I have tenants not dissimilar but installed a cat without permission and now lie about having it there. They turned our beautiful penthouse into a virtual squat inside 2 months, drilled through Ceder cladding to install Virgin, built a canopy on the roof terrace etc, all without permission.
On inspection with my old agent on my visit in May I asked if they had a vacuum cleaner to which they replied indignantly, “yes”, do you know how to switch it on was my next question…
I told my new agent I wanted them out, be pragmatic he said, they’re paying £1,000/m, when we got around to introducing the new agent to all our properties in August, his first words on exiting this flat was, “they’re gone”…
Mike l is spot on, keep them as sweet as possible and as colin3 says ensure paperwork is perfect. We will lose sect 21 soon enough
Its unlikely you will get a penny back when they move so dont bait them or you might get concrete in your drains. You have no idea what sweet tenants can do when they turn.
Do not criticize them now or risk consequences
In my opinion, is your responsibility too for allowing them have pets. If I was you, as far as they pay rent I will keep renting to them because the damage is already done and it will cost you more to find another tenant and evict the tenant.
Work with your tenant to keep the house clean and tidy in professional way.