UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi All

We have a tenant who is not well (critically vulnerable) and living in a flat that is not good for his health due to the lack of care and maintenance, plus it's just been flooded with sewage (he's walking around the flat in wellington boots). The smell from his flat is impacting other tenants. However he won't move out to allow us to clear and repair the flat. We are concerned on the impact it's having on his health. He is on a regulated tenancy agreement so we can't simply evict him. Any help or advice would be greatly received as we are getting really stressed and worried about the impact on his health.

You should immediately contact the environmental health dept. at your council. Also social services. They may be able to get him temporarily sectioned, depending on his medical history.  Does he have any relatives you can speak to?  I would also be speaking to an eviction solicitor. You really do need to take some decisive action,  this is not fair to his neighbours, and your property is being ruined.  He is clearly not capable of living without considerable support,  so you are doing him no favours by allowing this state of affairs to continue a moment longer.   

 Since you can't just evict him, it might be worth contacting social services or health authorities to see if they can help convince him to move out temporarily. Getting legal advice would also be a good idea to understand your options for making the necessary repairs.