UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi, my tenant has disappeared. According to his employers who acted as a reference he has suddenly left his job without telling them. They managed to get hold of him and he says he has gone back to Africa and will not be returning.
He had paid his rent up to the end of November and I have his deposit. So I'm not out of pocket.
I cannot get hold of him. I've rung, texted and emailed.
He has not paid any utility bills or council tax.  Everything is in his name. He has clearly gone.
My previous tenant who was a work colleague of his confirms this, she actually recommended him as her replacement and left a lot of housewares for him to use.
He only moved in September 1 2022.

I would be very grateful for advice on how to proceed.

Technically the belt and braces way of ending a tenancy is via a court possession order which is money and time.  You could down the abandonment route if you truly believe he won't be back (which from what you've said seems likely) but read what Shelter say on the matter. https://england.shelter.org.uk/professional_resources/legal/renting/how_a_tenant_can_end_a_tenancy/surrender_of_a_tenancy#:~:text=Abandonment%20is%20a%20term%20used,has%20no%20specific%20legal%20meaning.

If you can get confirmation via a message from the tenant then I'd say you'd be good to go. Maybe entice him with a promise to return the deposit if he can confirm he is surrendering the tenancy, would be cheaper and quicker than serving notice and going to court. 

Do you have access to the property? Send an inspection notice and go in in 24 hours.

Thank you for your speedy reply.
I have just emailed him again asking for confirmation that he has left. The mobile number he last contacted work with has been shut down. His Facebook page can't be messaged. From facebook his life is clearly in Africa.
If he doesn't reply to the email there is no way to contact him.
I'm presuming an inspection notice is just me putting a notice through the letterbox and waiting 24 hours, not hearing anything and then going in - I have the keys.

Yes, that will do it for the inspection notice.
This is how a landlord dealt with one of his rentals
https://fb.watch/hSk5n785H1/

I issued a notice of Inspection as suggested and have now viewed the property.
He has left no personal belongings other than his mail which appears to be unpaid bills.
Although untidy there is no damage and I think he barely lived there.  There was quite a lot of rotten food.  No bedding  - no clothing.
Neighbours had complained of damp so unblocked outside drains, and worried about rats so removed rotten food.

When he moved in he was only there a few weeks when he said he had to go back to Africa because his father had died and he wouldn't be coming back as he was too upset, and to consider the deposit as him having paid all his rent, which seemed fair enough.  He then decided he wanted to come back as he was needed at work and he had belongings in the house anyway paid the rent for November and have not heard from him since. Not sure how long he stayed.

He does appear to have gone with absolutely no way of contacting him - would this be classed as abandonment?

Can I just take back possession?
What do I do with his bills? They are in his name. Including Council Tax
I will be putting it with an agent once this is sorted.

I have now found out that in Wales you can repossess a property without going to court if you believe it has been abandoned and send out notices to the tenant and other relevent persons (if Any) and display one in the property for 4 weeks.  This is as per the Government website.

Quote from: Goatgirl on January 10, 2023, 04:18:33 PM
I will be putting it with an agent once this is sorted.

You may want to do that but it unlikely that an agent would have handled things any differently to what you have done.

I'd urge you to consider the pros and cons before engaging an agent. Some are good - but if they are not, they can be very difficult to get rid of; normally you just can't tell them that you want to stop using them if you have opted for a managed service and a tenant that they found is still living in the property. So pick your agent very carefully. Ask here (start a new topic) if you want some for and against views.

Is the property a long way from where you live? That may be a good reason for using an agent. However, using an agent doesn't shield you from (most) tenant problems and you are (generally) still responsible for checking that the agent is doing the right thing.

I do live very close to it and have had quite a lot of pleasure from looking after it myself. It is actually a rather lovely but tiny cottage in a very nice village, easy to let, usually to locals.

Thinking I might have got off lightly just with an abandonment! and may be time to throw in the towel. I do have another town centre property that is managed by an agent which I would never look after myself.

I have recently completed the compulsory (in Wales) Landlord's course to allow me to manage  my own property in Wales for the next 5 years (i think).  The consensus amongst the other trainees and the trainer was that the Govt. is desperately trying to get rid of private landlords by making everything as complicated and awkward as possible.  Not sure what all the new regs are in Wales now as it all changed in December 2022 and because my course had to be in November we only looked at the old regs. -madness.! They did say we would have to use a 30 page contract instead of a tenancy agreement and no such thing as a tenant only a contract holder.

Anyway I'll see how I get on with my abandonment first before i decide on the agent route.

If you enjoy it, keep doing it, no one will care as much about your property or tenant as much as you do.