UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi

I will try to cut this story short!

We have a tenant who was set to be evicted in April this year, the tenant appealed at the last moment and put in a counter claim stating various reasons which are simply not true but hey ho.

The main reason for her eviction was quite simply the state of the house, fly infestations, used toilet roll that never went down the toilet etc etc.  This was not found out until a plumber had entered the property and walked back out, stating that because of all the rubbish in the property, infestation of flies etc etc it was simply not safe to work in. 

I believe the client's boiler is no longer working and has not been since October 2015 and also part of the ceiling may have collapsed, I am not a 100% sure as I am unable to get anyone to go into the property and also the tenant will not allow access.

Before we know it winter will be upon us, I am concerned regarding the boiler, I don't believe anyone should be without heat and hot water, even this tenant!  I'm also concerned regarding Smoke Alarms, I dare say they will not be working.

Now the advice I am looking for!  I obviously want to contact the tenant, (although the tenants solicitor has said that all contact must go to her) regarding boiler and smoke alarms, but am worried that this will go against me during the trial, i.e. the only reason the boiler is being fixed is to make us look better to the judge, which isn't the case.  Am I best to leave this until after the trial or do you think I should contact the solicitor, requesting a property inspection so I can actually see what needs fixed?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

How long is the tenancy agreement for? Would it not be easier to go down the Section 21 route?

As a landlord you're responsible for maintaining the hot water system so, if you're aware that it's not working, it's more likely to count against you if you don't make an attempt to get it fixed promptly. At least if you contact the tenant's solicitor the attempt will be on record.

You really need to get the boiler looked at. Have you been doing annual legionella assements?  What temperature is the water coming out of the taps ?

Hi Simon & Martha

Thank you both for your reply.

We have been down the section 21 route, an eviction was granted, but then a counterclaim was put in stating that this was a revenge eviction i.e she had called to let the old management company about the boiler and a few other things.  We have all this on record and also emails from tradesman saying she would refuse access and when they did eventually get it, they refused to work in the house until it was fumigated and cleaned up.

Are lease was originally signed in 2007 for a 6 month short assured tenancy, she then signed another in 2011 again for another 6 month short assured tenancy.  In the counterclaim she states that she has a lifetime tenancy, which she does not.

I will contact the solicitor regarding boiler, my fear is that the boiler is totally knackered because of whatever problem there was with it in the first place has been left and slowly but surely got worse.

I was under the impression that S.33 of the Deregulation Act 2015 preventing retaliatory eviction only applied to tenancy agreements commencing after 1 October 2015 and, in any case, the local housing authority would need to have served you with a notice in order for such a counterclaim to be valid so, as long as you can be seen to be taking reasonable steps to address any maintenance issues, I don't think it would count against you.

Bear in mind we're not lawyers though! What does your solicitor say about it?

Hi Simon

Thank you again for your reply.

The tenant keeps changing her counterclaim adding something else in each time.  The solicitor we are using, we have inherited from the last management agency.  He doesn't specify in this type of thing and so really has not been much help.

But I shall now send a letter through the tenants solicitor, saying we would like to inspect the property and go from there.  I just wasn't sure if it were advisable to do so while all this is going on.

Thanks again for your help.