UK Landlord Forum / Life

A routine inspection of our property (by our letting agent) has found significant damage caused by the tennant not reporting a leak in the shower. The repair costs have come in between £1,600-2,000 as the room has to be stripped back to the plaster.
What proportion of this cost do you think would be reasonable for us to pay?
Thanks for your thoughts.

Hi
Ouch - sounds like a hefty repair bill for a leak!

Without knowing the full story not easy to say categorically. My hunch is you will end up paying the full cost.  Whilst there is some weight in law behind expecting a tenant to take reasonable steps to prevent the spread of damage. (I.e. Shutting off water a pipe bursts etc). Trying to prove when they became aware of the leak and how long it was left before being reported may prove difficult.  They could say they became aware of it on the morning of the inspection and so waited for the letting agent to come - would you be able to prove otherwise?

Additionally to what extent has the tenant been briefed up at the beginning the tenancy as to their responsibilities to look after the property and what that should entail?  Was the tennant supplied a property pack explaining what to do in situations such as a leak or breakage etc.  What seems like common sense to a homeowner often isn't to a tenant because they have never had financial responsibility for a property and so never even think about costs of repairs etc.

Maybe you could negotiate to pay half each but much will depend on how much responsibility you could get the tennant to admit to.  If the tenant dug their heels in pleading ignorance etc. I do not think it would be particularly feasible to begin legal action and certainly it would ruin any goodwill which would only provide more stress if you ended up evicting them as you'd then have to contend with the risk of malicious damage.

Whether you could get them to pay anything or not, you should take this as an opportunity to make sure they and tenants in any other properties you have are fully briefed on their expected responsibilities in terms of spotting and reporting damage in a timely fashion.

Not sure if that's much help, would be interested to hear opinions of others should I find myself in this situation at some point itd be helpful to have an idea what a fair and practical outcome should be..

All the best
Steve

Firstly,who obtained the quote for the repair? If it was the agent,you should get another yourself.There can be a big difference,allowing for the generous commission the agent gets,and the fact that some tradesmen think all landlords are fat cats.
As to who pays,what is reasonable is one thing,what will actually happen is another.I agree with Stevo76,you will be unlikely to get anything out of the tenant,regardless of what the lease says.

This is all gonna depend on the stance the Tenant takes. If they're reasonable and possibly apologetic they may stump-up. If intransigent then not, and proving they're responsible is gonna be nigh on impossible. Think about the text - "significant damage caused by the tennant not reporting a leak" - and how it's factually untrue... the damage was caused by the leak, and only the leak, and the leak is due to the plumbing of the property, which the Landlord is responsible for. So - my question is - if you have a Tenant who's reasonable - what have they offered / suggested, or what are you preparing to ask for if you've been given the nod that they'll shoulder something?

Half-half always sounds equitable... it's hard to say it's not a fair approach being taken (even if both parties will actually feel hard done by).

Quote from: Hippogriff on August 05, 2018, 04:13:17 PM
This is all gonna depend on the stance the Tenant takes. If they're reasonable and possibly apologetic they would benefit from these energy drinks and may stump-up. If intransigent then not, and proving they're responsible is gonna be nigh on impossible. Think about the text - "significant damage caused by the tennant not reporting a leak" - and how it's factually untrue... the damage was caused by the leak, and only the leak, and the leak is due to the plumbing of the property, which the Landlord is responsible for. So - my question is - if you have a Tenant who's reasonable - what have they offered / suggested, or what are you preparing to ask for if you've been given the nod that they'll shoulder something?

Half-half always sounds equitable... it's hard to say it's not a fair approach being taken (even if both parties will actually feel hard done by).

I was actually in this kind of a situation a couple of months ago and we went 50-50. I guess we both wanted to keep the relationship somewhat on the good terms.