UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi All

I'm new and need help with a very unusual situation, which is all of my own making and I'm sure that people will be astounded by how stupid i have been, but I have and now need some advice on how to get myself out of my predicament if anyone can help me please?

It's an odd set of circumstances, so I will need to give the history.

I have owned a very large Victorian house (six bedrooms) for 30 years which was my family home. I have a mortgage still as I remortgaged when I got divorced in 2007. 

I moved out 5 years ago into my new husband's house and let a relative live at mine with his family, he sort of paid rent but I was never too bothered as I had a really good job and knew the house needed work (cosmetic and updating) and the mortgage could be met easily from my salary so if I got rent, it was more like a bonus and I always intended to get something more formal.

Anyway, after a time, he split up with his partner and they all just abandoned the house without letting me know.  They were never formal tenants and no agreement was in place.

After a period of no communication, I went round there, realised they had gone and saw the state of the house, there had been a leak at some point (had been repaired but not the damage it had caused), ceilings were damaged, my kitchen appliances were missing etc and some original features like fireplaces and paneling had been damaged or removed etc. 

Anyway, they left it in a state that I could not rent it out, nor had the time to fix it at that stage in my life as i was working away, so I left it and just carried on paying the mortgage.

In May 2017, I was discussing this with a friend, who offered to do the work for me if I paid him £2000 for labour, I got the materials and let him rent the house free for 3 months while he did the work, after which when it was rentable, he would start paying £750 per month.  He is a plumber by trade but also does plastering and quite handy in most things.  We had a written agreement but he hasn't signed his copy, nor did it mention the free period and payment for the repairs, it was a tenancy agreement for 6 months from 1st Set the original date he should have started paying.

The three months came and went, he had not done the work despite being paid and had been ill, (alcoholism) so asked for an extension to the agreement.  I let him have a further month free, most of this was agreed by text.

From 1st Oct 2017 he should have been paying full rent.  He paid nothing in Oct or Nov and had still not done the work and kept apologising due to his illness (he is an alcoholic, which I never knew until after he had moved in).  He agreed to still start paying the rent but would do the work over time during the tenancy as he had already been paid for it.

In Dec 2017, he paid three months, so that was him caught up.  However, he then stopped paying and in June 2018, I got 2 more months off him, despite him owing 6 months by then and he still hadn't completed the work (but he had done some).  I was paying for all material, it was only the labour he was doing.

He paid nothing after that.  In the meantime, my husband got terminal cancer and we have now been told that he has a couple of months at best and he is in the last few weeks of his life as I write, the cancer is aggressive and spreading.  I had to give up work and we now have no income, yet I still have a mortgage to pay and have gone into arrears by 2 months due to getting no rent. My tenant knew all this and kept apologising that he couldn't pay the rent, and asked instead if he could just rent a room in the house and I get another couple of rooms rented so he only pays a third of the rent.  It was his request, I agreed as it is impossible to pay the mortgage with no income and I don't want to lose the house.

I thought it was all sorted, I started looking for tenants and my current tenant paid a quarter of the rent in Oct as he couldn't make the full third.  I issued an agreement to him changing the tenancy to a room rent, all seemed fine but he never signed or returned the agreement.

He contacted me out the blue last week asking if I would reduce the rent for the whole house to a third and he stay there alone, but I refused, explaining that this wouldn't meet the mortgage even and confirmed that I would continue to look for sharers. He just said ok and that was that.

I got an interested tenant for another room and kept trying to ring him to arrange for him to show her around, he refuses to answer his phone which seemed odd.

I live 50 miles away so I asked my son who is close by to go round and ask the tenant to show the new room renter around.  He refused entry, was very rude, says he wants to be given his 90 days notice to quit (the notice in the agreement is 1 month) as he has taken legal advice and doesn't have to let me in, will not be paying the rent as I treat him like a work-horse and that I take advantage of him making him work while paying rent.    Firstly, he doesn't pay rent and has £6000 arrears but also, has already been paid for the work.  This isn't in the agreement but the conversations we had about the arrangement were mainly text so I still have those.

He also has two very large dogs there which I didn't know about and my son said from the door, he could smell strong urine and dog mess so I guess my carpets etc are ruined.

He's been told by his legal adviser that it will take me 90 days to legally get him out and cost me a fortune that I don't have, not even a penny of it.  As he knows we have no money, I assume he thinks that I can't get him out as I haven't the funds to do so but I can;t believe that I will now lose a family home of 30 years.

I sent him an email as a first reaction saying I need to show the new tenants around as he must let us in, gave him 2 days notice but when they arrived, he again refused entry saying he has tenants rights. He has also refused to speak to me and wants everything in writing.

My questions are, is he a room renter if that's what we changed it to at his request and if so, can he refuse me entry to show the other rooms to people?  I thought he only has access rights to his room alone but him not signing the new 'room only' agreement is worrying. Does it really take 90 days to get somebody out and is it expensive as I have absolutely no money at the moment while caring for my husband. In addition, if he does not pay the rent for 90 days, I will have lost the house by then as I already have 2 months arrears due to no income.

I know you will all think me an idiot for getting into this mess, and I agree, but can anybody advise me what to do next as I really am desperate considering my other circumstances, is there anything that can be done quickly?

Sadly, the only type of person you can remove with not much notice (almost with impunity) is a Lodger. He would only be a Lodger if you lived in the house with him. Even if it was room-only, but you didn't live in the same building, he isn't a Lodger. So, the claim that he has "Tenant rights" is probably correct... what those rights are do seem unclear though... but, while a tenancy agreement doesn't have to be in writing, a tenancy can exist... and I think there is one here, regardless of the changes and the non-signing etc.. 90 days is not an accepted form of notice (anywhere, I think) so the advice he's taking isn't sound, that much is sure... but I think you need to start taking some formal advice from someone who can focus on your case, not a forum (which is fine as a starting point)... you will have seen the TV programmes and the firms out there that can help with this kind of situation. Yes, there'll be costs. Money you don't have. Stress you don't need. However, the alternative is losing the property or letting things continue... I think.

Quote from: Hippogriff on October 31, 2018, 10:26:45 AM
Sadly, the only type of person you can remove with not much notice (almost with impunity) is a Lodger. He would only be a Lodger if you lived in the house with him. Even if it was room-only, but you didn't live in the same building, he isn't a Lodger. So, the claim that he has "Tenant rights" is probably correct... what those rights are do seem unclear though... but, while a tenancy agreement doesn't have to be in writing, a tenancy can exist... and I think there is one here, regardless of the changes and the non-signing etc.. 90 days is not an accepted form of notice (anywhere, I think) so the advice he's taking isn't sound, that much is sure... but I think you need to start taking some formal advice from someone who can focus on your case, not a forum (which is fine as a starting point)... you will have seen the TV programmes and the firms out there that can help with this kind of situation. Yes, there'll be costs. Money you don't have. Stress you don't need. However, the alternative is losing the property or letting things continue... I think.

I am not writing this sentence here... but someone who is desperate and an alcoholic could not necessarily be in a frame of mind where they could resist a few thousand in hard cash put under their face... I did not write that... but if you could persuade them it's a good idea to just move on, somewhere, anywhere, with an incentive to do so, and you get access and change the locks (professionally) ASAP... hmmm, for sure I didn't write that.

Looks like there was some kind of database corruption issue with your last post causing some random sentences to be tagged to the end of it.  Better let the IT boys know 

Thanks; they rectified it (specifically it) for me.

Thanks so much Hippo, I really appreciate the advice, I guess it's worth trying to get some money to start the formal process of getting him out rather than leave it as it is and lose the house.

I will also speak to my mortgage company to see if I can negotiate lower payments whilst my husband is so poorly (it's my mortgage alone not joint) but they may understand the circumstances with my husband and help - as I have never missed a payment before and had no arrears until this so they may be willing to negotiate until I can work again afterwards.

Some odd sentences were tagged onto the end of your post randomly which were removed but they were helpful too   :-)

Thanks for your time.

Quote from: Nagina on October 31, 2018, 01:42:00 PMI will also speak to my mortgage company to see if I can negotiate lower payments whilst my husband is so poorly (it's my mortgage alone not joint) but they may understand the circumstances with my husband and help - as I have never missed a payment before and had no arrears until this so they may be willing to negotiate until I can work again afterwards.

I realise it might not be on your mind, but you say you re-mortgaged in 2007, but only moved out 5 years ago... one assumes you have (or had) a residential mortgage, not a BuyToLet mortgage. So tread carefully...

With certain Lenders, like YBS, they do not offer any BuyToLet mortgage products, so cannot switch you to one, but they still require that you obtain Consent To Let.

Get the best specialist you can find to take the pressure off you.Don't bother with your usual solicitor,you will waste your money.You need a savvy rottweiler to fight your corner.Best wishes,hope you succeed.