UK Landlord Forum / Life

My tenants have accused us (their landlord) of illegal entry.  In a nutshell we learned through a third party that they were moving to another rented property.  They would not answer our texts or calls so we sent a letter requesting they contact us, which they did not, until 3 days before they were moving to the new property.  They stated that they still wanted to rent my property however for another 2 months and would pay the rent according to their contact as they were obliged to give 2 months notice.

They notified the Council that they had moved out, and gave final utility readings to the supplier, but did not tell us they had moved out.  2 weeks later (after a prolonged cold spell of minus degrees) I had notice from the Council that the property was empty and unoccupied and that I was now responsible for the council tax, albeit at a reduced rate due to not being occupied.  Alarmed that the property was empty we went to check it.  It being completely empty apart from some rubbish we proceeded to do a check finding the heating not working and the place in a bad state of repair and neglect.  By coincidence the 'tenant' then arrived, having been alerted by a relative next door to say that we had illegally entered the property and thus voided the contact with them, and that no further rent was due, nor would they be liable to do the repairs.  Who is in the right here?

Sounds like both parties are making things up as they go along.  Were the T's in a fixed term AST i.e in month 4 of a tenancy or was it on a periodic basis?

I Have had a similar problem to this myself, what i can say is the tenant is responsible for the council tax until the tenancy is ended. Take your tenancy agreement to the council offices and they will sort that out for you. Are they still responsible for the rent? yes of course they are.

Quote from: Riptide on January 28, 2015, 02:47:06 PM
Sounds like both parties are making things up as they go along.  Were the T's in a fixed term AST i.e in month 4 of a tenancy or was it on a periodic basis?

Hi the ts had been in the property for a period of about 4yrs and after the first 12 months were in a two months notice on both parties agreement contract.

Question at what point can a landlord enter a property if he / she knows that the tenants are avoiding contact and every avenue of communication has been explored i.e. phone and letter.
And that the tenant has left the property vacant for over a week.
With landlords suspicions that the property is in a state of neglect and damage.
Does anyone know what is the legal position for us as landlords.

Quote from: pruthy100 on January 30, 2015, 12:11:25 PM

Hi the ts had been in the property for a period of about 4yrs and after the first 12 months were in a two months notice on both parties agreement contract.

In that case it's gone periodic and the tenant only has to give one months notice (from the rent payment date) - you could use this as a bargaining tool and say you'll accept 1 month to allow them to go.

Quote from: pruthy100 on January 30, 2015, 12:20:47 PM
Question at what point can a landlord enter a property if he / she knows that the tenants are avoiding contact and every avenue of communication has been explored i.e. phone and letter.
And that the tenant has left the property vacant for over a week.
With landlords suspicions that the property is in a state of neglect and damage.
Does anyone know what is the legal position for us as landlords.

As you thought you could smell gas through the letter box you were entitled to enter in this emergency situation.

I had a similar problem once, my tenants had left a window open when they walked away. I contacted the police to ask their advice, they told me I was duty bound to make the property secure and to get in and get it sorted. So you could say you have gone in on a security point of view.

Thank you very helpful advise

I should add, Do not change any locks or deny the tenant entry until the tenancy is formally ended.