UK Landlord Forum / Life

Dear all,
I hope someone might be able to offer me some useful advice. I purchased a lovely double height city centre property at auction March 23. I had seen the property the previous year when the property was on the sales market but hadn't sold. However, the flat had a sitting tenant and viewings were not possible prior to auction. The managing agent was the same company as that selling the flat via auction, William H Brown.

The agent was helpful, pally and I was naive to the point of being asked how much I was willing to pay and giving the agent a top limit figure. On the day of the sale nobody called to accept my auction phone bid even as the prior lot was being sold. I called them and somebody called me back as the lot was being auctioned. Funnily, the lot had already been bid unto the amount I had stated to the agent I would be willing to go up to. Rather stupidly I agreed to bid and it sold with no further bids for my maximum. I do believe it was still relatively good value. However, I suspect there was some shill biding and the price was knocked up against the wall. 

12/4/23 Completion date after purchase at auction.

I informed the managing agents that as there was already a tenant I might as well manage the property myself. They gave me very few details of the tenant but did email him with my details and to state I would be managing the property.

The tenant didn't reply. I finally managed to get in contact and he stated that his contract was with William H Brown and he wouldn't deal with me. I re-instructed WH Brown to manage the tenancy. First months rent wasn't paid but the following nine months were.

01/24 It was at this time that I discovered the flat was being sublet on Airbnb and in breach of the tenancy agreement. And, the first time I was able to gain access to the flat due to a failed gas safe inspection. Apparently the boiler had been tampered with by the Tennant according to the gas engineer. Up until this point WH Brown had maintained the stance that I could not enter the property and had no right to. Agents weren't available to meet me at the property and they couldn't get agreement from the tenant.

WH Brown claimed to not know anything about the subletting and sent a letter to insist on the properties removal from short term lettings websites. It was removed for a short time but then reappeared on Airbnb along with listings on booking.com.
The managing agents refused to do anything other than send an email/letter. And stated I would have to wait until the end of the tenancy.

11/24 The tenant did leave at the end of their contract. However, the flat was left in a bit of a state with his furniture still in situ. The tenant had claimed to the properties freeholder be the owner of the flat and had had the windows replaced. Speaking with the next door neighbour I discovered that the fire brigade had to break into the flat due to some airbnbers plugging all the sinks and leaving the taps running. This caused some damage to flooring and ceilings but nothing too major. He could not give an exact date but thought it to have been just prior to the auction listing.
The walk-in wardrobe off the mezzanine bedroom had been turned into a third bedroom containing a double bed. Profits well and truly maximised.

I suspect but cant prove that WH Brown were complicit in the flats subletting and knew all along of the issues and damage caused, even before my ownership.

I am owed £7075 in missed rent payments from the tenant.

I am considering taking the tenant to the small claims court. I would like to sue WH Brown but don't think this would be winnable. Can I proceed directly to court action to try to recover money from the tenant?

The flat has now been completely redecorated and let as of March 25 with a different agent and there have been no further issues to date.

Any advice would be gratefully welcomed.
Many thanks,

I think you've been completely tucked up by the tenant and the agent.

It went wrong at this point "I finally managed to get in contact and he stated that his contract was with William H Brown and he wouldn't deal with me. I re-instructed WH Brown to manage the tenancy."

If the tenant has not paid rent, it should be easy enough to win the claim. Does the tenant have any money to pay you what you win?

Quote from: TKP on June 25, 2025, 11:19:54 AMThe flat has now been completely redecorated and let as of March 25 with a different agent and there have been no further issues to date.

This is the line of your text I focused on, and the line I reckon you should focus on too. I am not an advocate of rolling-over to have your tummy tickled, but I suspect argent, anger and angst will be involved for quite some time down the other path. You could even consider it a, non-elective, expensive training course you've been on... and your tax return should look pretty good.

Even if you " win" your case and the other party has the means to pay the debt, it does not mean that they will do so. Nothing you say about this person makes me think they will give a toss about court action,  and even the threat of a CCJ will not bother them.  The small claims process is quite a  lengthy faff, and they can use delaying tactics. You will waste money and around a year at least. It is sickening, just hope that karma gets them in time.         

Thanks guys for the advice. Sorry for my slow reply. I think you are all correct it probably will be quite involved and take time. However, I feel I should do something if just to make his life difficult and potentially save others from a similar fate. I believe there will be money to pay any court judgment based on the amount the flat was renting for on airbnb. This may not be willingly paid but at least a CCJ will be attached to his name.
The flats lease forbids any short term letting. However, there are numerous flats with multiple key safes and my current tenants have confirmed Airbnb is rife in the block. Managing agents don't seem bothered.
Will a CCJ not hinder his prospect of future rentals? When you say lengthy faff how involved will it be? If it is a case of sending a warning letter followed by the small claims application and day in court. Fees of £455 court fee and £346 hearing fee. I feel it is probably worth the angst. 

I'd probably go for it. I have a lot of empathy with the view(s) that it's best to move on and put this behind you. But I am quite petty and small minded, and I'd want the person who did me wrong to suffer. I can't even claim that's good advice, but it's what I'd do.

My case was not against a tenant, it was a cowboy builder. From first letter to finish took 11 months. I had to return to court a second time because I had not included enough detail in all the information I took. I did get a CCJ against him, which was one of several others for his Ltd. company and he personally. He has acquired more since then.

For a few pounds you can check to see if your person already has some. If he does not, then I would go ahead. If he does then it is up to you if you want to proceed, knowing that he won't give a toss. It still sickens me, I lost a lot of money.
It was a huge mortifying lesson in what happens when you don' t do due diligence. In your case of course, that was not an option, they were in situ.

I have made three small claims and helped lots of people with their own claims. My overall feeling is that once you've done it once, it's a piece of cake - it's form filling and meeting deadlines (which aren't too bad).

The first time is stressful, but after that it's a great experience to have on your side and gives people a lot more confidence in their dealings with others.

But, it's hard to fault the view that you don't often win anything meaningful and it can obviously make things feel worse than walking away.

Don't get mad, get even.

Whilst the first question to ask is whether the person you are taking legal action against has the funds, I am of the belief that in cases like this it IS worth taking legal action, getting the CCJ and escalating to High Court Enforcement.

Inform HMRC that the property was sublet by the Tenant and give them an idea of the revenue.

Ideally you need to find a way to monetise your loss, the terms of the Tenancy Agreement may have something within depending on who wrote it (always get a Solicitor to draw up or review a Tenancy Agreement).  I have seen some Tenancy Agreements with Penalty clauses in the event of sub-letting and some that say all estimated profits above the rent amount within the contract are owed to you.

Getting a report to show the windows are not of the same standard as what was replaced could give rise to you claiming to restore them to windows of the same quality.  One wonders what an earth he was doing, I would also be putting the Glazing Company on notice that you hold them jointly culpable for not spending £7 on a Land Registry search as due diligence to determine he was indeed the freeholder or a leaseholder entitled to make such changes.

The limit for the Part 7 (Small Claims) track is £10k, with £7k of rent I think you could well go over £20k, you can use a Solicitor in a Part 8 claim and hold the former Tenant liable for those costs. 


If a CCJ is not settled within 28 days then it can make them fail referencing for other Landlords as well as affect their ability to get credit or mortgage.

However, this would assume you had an address for service of the claim, if you got hold of the referencing from the Agent you might be able to get a last known address and use that for service.  Find them on social media if they are dumb enough to use it and see if you can track down their family.  Also search LinkedIn and Companies House.

It might be worth checking the Land Registry for your own property too, if the person commits fraud so easily I would be wary of them taking out financial agreements and/or a charge on your property in your name.

Before going to Court you would need to send a Letter of Claim before Action in line with Practice Direction for Pre-Claim Action. They may of course settle so start off high with all of your losses.

If you know the Tenant has a car then providing the number plate to the HCEO's will determine if they are able to take it, but you can find the value online.

William H Brown are part of a national group of Estate Agents trading under different regional names, the parent company is Sequence (UK) Limited.  I think they would take you allegations seriously if you went to Head Office and asked for a full investigation.

Technically, I am not sure what they owe you if you did not use them, but it seems to me that if you bought the property through them they should be giving you the historical paperwork and information relating to the property.

I would also do a Subject Access Request to the company asking for copies of all paperwork relating to the property, including original Tenancy Agreements, payments, inspections, tenant referencing, everything.  Do a Land Registry search on the address given in the referencing and see if the Tenant or a family member owns it.  If so then that would definitely be the place to serve the Court Papers.

I am left wondering in what name was the Council Tax paid?  Same goes for the Energy and Water, there may be a surprise bills waiting there for you.

I would be asking the Council for guidance, at least to make sure that any liability to you for behaviour of the Tenant does not come back to haunt you.  You can ask that the Tenant is added to the Rogue Landlord database as you suspect fire risks in occupancy and interference with boiler which is illegal.  They may not do it but at least it puts him on their radar.

Contact the Health and Safety Executive regarding illegal gas works, give them his details.  I imagine any repairs to the boiler would be part of your claim.

Courts can award exemplary damages, they might be in line with the legislation on fines for breaching Gas Safety Regulations, also there are aggravated damages.

The Court will primarily be interested in your loss and any terms broken, but if you can show they broke the law and put people in danger some may decide to award such damages.  Suggesting that such damages would be paid to Shelter or Crisis charities may make make them more likely.
 
For a money only Judgement the CCJ can be escalated to the High Court relatively cheaply although check the small print on what happens if they fail to collect.

You will have six years to enforce the debt.