UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi,

I recently bought a 3 bedroom property and put it on the rent to a lady who was already living in the house since last seven years. However being her new LL i signed a new AST for one year (BIG MISTAKE SHOULD HAVE SIGNED SIX MONTHS). She is on benefits and rent paid by council is 530 and she top it up 95 to make it 625 as agrees on AST. Her 500 pounds deposit is protected under mydeposit scheme and I gave her copy of this certificate, gas safety certificate and other required documents. After letting property to her I went on to holidays for 5 weeks and in my third week I received a text from my cousin who lives two doors away that ceiling of her kitchen is has signs of damp and there is leakage in the waste pipe in the toilet. However I cancelled my holidays and came back. After arriving back to UK i went there with a builder. The day we were suppose to visit her she informed me that ceiling has fallen down. When we went there my builder told me that ceiling damage is deliberate damage however there is sign of damp but this much damp shouldn't bring the ceiling down. He carried out the work over two days period by installing flashing lead on roof and by cleaning the guttering pipes and replacing the seals to stop leakage. The whole kitchen ceiling has been replaced and new toilet has also been installed. T showed me there are signs of damp in third bedroom which builder believe was because of condensation. However we left after completion of the work and just after a week yesterday she informed me that a hole has appeared in the third bedroom in the roof and you can see through the sky which is unbelievable. My cousin inspected it and he informed me that hole has been created deliberately as it is not possible without damaging/slip of the tile on the roof. Tenant has threatened to take me the court several times. She is on FB and my cousin is also her friend and he informed me that she puts up the pics of the damage she has caused and accused me that I am a lazy LL. He told me that her intentions are to take me the court as she is looking for an easy money. I do have LL insurance in place. She recently asked me to provide her a letter to allow her to leave early. I do want to get rid of her ASAP too. My question is:

1 - Can I her give her such a letter to allow her to leave early? ( I don't want to fall into any legal obligations and if that letter can be used as case of harassment to evict her early? )

2 - Today property is again inspected by another builder and he too confirmed that hole is a deliberate damage however we do not have a proof that she did it so can I report this to police as criminal damage to the property?

3 - AST is expiring on 12/12/2014 and is it possible to evict her asap as I am not able to spend huge amount of this deliberate damage as I have already spent £4000 in two months.

Many thanks for the suggestions.

regards

She's a pain, she wants to leave, let her go.
Negotiate a date provided she pays her dues.
Personally I wouldn't give her anything in writing that isn't the Truth, and don't lie on her reference.