UK Landlord Forum / Life

I have an awkward tenant that is due to vacate in next couple of weeks. Property is managed by a letting agency. I asked agency to challenge tenant about dog but tenant denied dog's presence. Neighbours have confirmed dog's presence as well as additional adult when tenant is claiming single adult with children occupancy. Am I allowed to charge tenant for presence of dog & deduct it from deposit as she is in breech of agreement? Any advice welcome.

Hello Myballou,

I think you will find it difficult to charge a rent based in the "no pets" clause in the contract.  A breach of a clause in your contract usually leads to an attempt to void the contract early (section 8 notice) but see the blog on this as breaking a no pet clause is no guarantee of success.

I feel as you are near the end of the tenancy, you should use the deposit for what is meant for: To reserve against damages the tenant has not rectified.  So any damage done by the dog can be claimed for.  If their claws have spoilt carpets at a far greater rate then normal wear and tear, then get photographic evidence and charge for that.  The pats might have left fleas, so reserve some of the deposit for later release only when (say) six months have passed and there has been no flea infestation.  Most importantly, get evidence on check out that is most likely that a dog has been living at the premises.

Hope this helps.

Thank you for taking time to post advice. I have found it very useful & has saved me a lot if time working out how to tackle the issue. Hopefully the tenant will leave when they said that they will: their lease has already expired but they are refusing to leave for 2 further weeks as they've said the property that they are moving into has not been decorated yet. Once they have left & the letting agency has done their inspection, I'll have a good look round too.
Also, as their lease has expired, I've been advised not to take any further rent off them (from friend, not letting agency) as that potentially negates the section 21. Is this right? The letting agency is holding a reasonable deposit & so far on inspections, agency has said the house is well kept apart from possibly a broken fence slat. I don't want to end up out of pocket on missed payments.
Thanks again.

Hello Myballou,

I would ask your agent to tell you want to do.  And supply the case law which backs up their opinion.  This is why they charge you a fee, to be an expert and help you with difficult questions.  Ignore your friend unless he's a londlord, too.  I must admin I don't know the answer, but my gut feling says you are due rent if they overstay their welcome.  It would be a crazy world where flouting the law (Section 21 notice) resulted in being allowed to live somewhere rent free.  What an incentive to break the law!!

Also, I'd be asing for eviction proceedings to start.  Not that you necessarily intend to go through with it but if you don't start then you can't force reposession.  And if your "overdue guests" have no incentive to leave, then just watch them as they have one convenient "delay" after another as the new landlord's renovation project hits snags.

At the moment you are carying the downside of the other landlord's project being delayed.  Serving an eviction notice shifts the risk to the tenant and new landlord.  The tenant knows they're being evicted, they'll pressure the landlord to have the new place ready on time.

Hope this helps.