UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi,
Was hoping to pick some brains that might've been in this situation previously; have had a look back through the archives and cant see a definitive answer, but apologies if its there somewhere!

Here's the lay of the land;

• We bought and lived in a property in the UK for about ten years
• We then got the opportunity to move to Guernsey and decided to take a punt and  over but rent the house out in the UK till we got the lay of the land in Guernsey and either took the fiull plunge or returned.
• It turns out Guernsey is akin to London with regards to property and rental costs so we've not bought anything and rely on the rent from the UK property to keep our heads above water; We're not in the landlord game to make money; we take the rent from that house, pay the mortgage and whats left, accounts for about a third of the rent we pay here in Guernsey (about £3k a month)
• All was going swimmingly with the rental; our first tenant was fine, but after two years they moved out.
• We then had a new tenant on a 12 month contract (via a letting agent who manages the property)
• Their partner, not listed on the tenancy agreement, began to be a bit of a nuisance; swearing, shouting at all hours of the night and day and generally being a bit of a yob and according to the neighbours, living full time at the property.
• The letting agent subsequently started getting complaints from the neighbours as did we.
• We tried to resolve it as best we could from afar and it'd all go well for a few weeks, and then it'd kick off again, causing us stress.
• As per the letting agreement, we gave them two months notice that we wouldn't be renewing their tenancy at the end of their 12 month stay.
• We asked the letting agent to start marketing the property for the next tennanacy, as we couldn't afford too long a break in rent payments but that's when the issues occurred; the tennants declared that they would not be leaving the property as they wanted us to evict them so they could join the local councils housing ladder. they fully admitted to "playing the system" at our expense
• Never having had this issue before, we got legal advice and filed a section 21, which went through the courts and the tenant was evicted after the 42 day notice period; It was over Christmas so they were granted the maximum allowable stay.
• It since transpired, since they left the house that, its been left in quite a poor state;  Their full deposit was retained legally via the deposit protection scheme and covers some of the costs but there's a significant shortfall; The whole house needs repairing and decorating, a carpet most probably needs replacing and the house was left full of junk we needed to pay to get rid of) They have also shortfall on rent that the letting agents informed us of (about three weeks).

So two questions;  (possibly with the same answer)

a)   How do we go about claiming back the £404 awarded to us by the original Section 21 hearing?

b)   Is it worth pursuing them for the unpaid rent and/or damage to the property? And if so how do we go about it?

The cynical side of me says that even though we'll probably never see the money for either of the above, the sheer lack of respect for someone else's property, especially when fully admitting to playing the system; they need to be held accountable makes us at least want to try.

We're already spending most of our savings getting the house back to a rentable standard...so we should at least try;

There are a number of different routes. But there are two more basic issues. First, if you win, can the tenant pay? And one of you would almost certainly have to travel to England if there's a hearing about a claim.

If the tenant can't or won't pay, you'll get a CCJ onto their credit record for six years. So you need to decide if that's worth it or not.

Any money claim you win, you'll then have another process to enforce collection, which is a bit of a pain, even if the tenants are working and you can attach their earnings.

And while it may not help you, tenants not leaving if you serve notice isn't "playing the system" (despite any self aggrandising claims by the tenants). It is the system. That's pretty much how it's designed to operate. The government is just about to abolish section 21 notices so that it's even more baked into the system.

Unless you're remarkably lucky, most decent properties will need at least a freshen up redecoration after three or four years and two tenants. There's no excusing damage and junk being left, but both do happen.

I have a feeling that your overall budget is too tight. I used to plan for 10 month's income per annum. One month for gaps between tenants and one month for the routine repairs and maintenance. I usually did better than that, but not always (a slightly poor tenant or a replacement boiler makes a heck of a difference). If you're as dependent on the rent as you seem to be, the odd, fairly routine hiccup feels likely to be stressful.

I know you didn't ask to be lectured by some random bloke about your life choices, so sorry about that!

The likelihood of you getting back any financial loss is very remote. You would be spending several hundreds by doing an online small- claims ( the limit is around 10k I think) and expected to attend court. The other side can employ delaying tactics, and they are not penalised if they fail  to show up.It could take at least a year, maybe much longer, to get a judgement. You would need to send a letter before action to them before you even start. 

If you " win"  they can evade payment very easily. A CCJ of course can affect their credit rating and references. If they have been rehoused by now by the council they may not be bothered. It is still good to know you have struck a blow, but much depends on their status and circumstances.
I do hope your agents have found you someone much better this time.