Tessa Shepperson

Landlords can always sell with the tenant in situ. So, it's not true to say that landlords can't sell at all.

There is also the mandatory ground 1 if you need the property back to live in yourself. It's not mandatory to have lived there previously in that case.... Read More

These are policy issues which I can't help with!

For information, I am doing a series of posts on my Landlord Law Blog about housing and the election which may be of interest: https://www.landlordlawblog.co.uk/category/election-2024/... Read More

I hope you enjoyed watching my interview. It was, of course, recorded before the General Election was called!

You may notice that in some places there is a Landlord Tax picture on the screen. Please note that this is a Property118 service, and Landlord Law does not provide tax advice.

So, if you have a tax issue, either use your existing accounts or the Property118 service. If you have a legal issue, we may be able to help. See this page: https://landlordlaw.co.uk/what-is-your-problem/

If you have any questions about the issues raised in my interview, feel free to post them here, and I will try to answer if I can.... Read More

I would not recommend putting a notice on the door as that will encourage squatters.

The items belong to the tenant, so they are not yours to sell or throw away. You are in the position, legally, or an 'involuntary bailee'. There is a procedure you can use which will allow you to deal wth the items, which is set out in the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977.

This provides for you to send a letter by registered post (they did not have email or texts in 1977!) giving the tenants a deadline to remove their possessions and information about how to collect them.

We have further details and draft letter for my Landlord Law members to use on Landlord Law https://landlordlaw.co.uk/.

In the meantime, if you want to relet the property, you can move the items out as long as you store them safely elsewhere.... Read More

I wrote quite a detailed article about this here https://www.landlordlawblog.co.uk/2023/07/30/landlord-warning-your-tenants-e-bike-batteries-can-cause-serious-fires/ which sets out the things you need to watch out for, and gives advice for good practice.... Read More

You also need to consider managing the property when it has been purchased. Will you be managing it yourself or using an agent?

If you are not sure, this guide https://landlordlaw.co.uk/openaccess_trails/saving-money-with-landlord-law/ may help you make up your mind.

Whether or not you self-manage, it is a good idea to do some training on the legal issues you need to know about.

We have an online 'legal update' training day with housing barrister Justin Bates on 25 March, which you may want to consider attending. Find out more about this here: https://landlordlaw.co.uk/sales-legal-update-2024/... Read More

I agree. I wrote about this here https://www.landlordlawblog.co.uk/2023/09/18/abolishing-section-21-is-not-the-solution-to-tenants-problems/... Read More

If you are in Wales, you need to be licensed to self-manage. But as people have said here, not if you are in England.

My Landlord Law site was set up over 20 years ago specifically to help landlords self-manage and covers, in particular, legal issues (I am a solicitor). We also provide documentation, including tenancy agreements, notices, various receipts and forms for recording details and draft letters.

Many landlords have self-managed their properties for years with our help. If you want legal support, you may want to try it. Membership starts at £25 pcm and you can cancel at any time. https://landlordlaw.co.uk/... Read More

If you obtain a possession order against the named tenants, then if they fail to vacate, you can instruct the bailiffs who will evict everyone they find at the property.

They are not going to stop and check occupiers' identity!

Find out more about eviction here: https://landlordlaw.co.uk/eviction... Read More

The Tenant Fees legislation in 2019 limited the fees that landlords and agents could charge to tenants.

As Easy Rider correctly states, you now cannot charge more than 3% above bank base rate on unpaid rent (other types of penalty are now illegal). This can be charged on unpaid rent if it is unpaid for a period of 14 days or more. If the rent is unpaid for 14 days, then the interest is chargeable from the day the rent fell due until payment.

However, this has to be in your tenancy agreement, so if the agents did not include it, it cannot be charged.

In the past, the interest rate was so low that there was little point in collecting it. The interest rate has now risen, and so the interest chargeable is no longer negligible, particularly for high arrears.

I think your agents should have included this in the tenancy agreement (you might want to just check to make sure it is actually missing) even when interest rates were low, and it is arguably negligent of them not to have done so.

You may have a claim against your agents for the lost interest. However, they may be able to defend on the basis that the chances of you actually being paid the interest is remote, as if the tenants cannot afford the rent, they would not be able to pay any interest either. There is also the point that the cost of collection could exceed the interest money gained (if any).

I think it is also questionable to blame your tenants failure to pay rent on the fact that they were not charged interest on arrears. It's more likely to be because they are in financial difficulties.

The most important thing with rent arrears is to action it immediately the tenant stops paying. There are a number of steps you can take to help tenants. I have a guide for this on my Landlord Law site which you can read about here: https://landlordlaw.co.uk/the-landlord-law-rent-arrears-action-plan/... Read More

This does not sound good. You may have grounds to cancel the agency agreement. But it depends on what the agency agreement you have (presumably) signed actually says!
We have a guide for landlords here https://landlordlaw.co.uk/openaccess_trails/dealing-with-problem-letting-agents-a-guide-for-landlords/ which is available to members of Landlord Law. The guide takes you through all the things you need to check when you have a dispute with your agents, and advises on your legal remedies.
However, landlords have very limited rights to set aside agreements that have been made on their behalf with tenants - as you can't expect the tenants to know that your agent was exceeding their authority. This is all part of 'agency law' (a specific area of contract law), which is also explained in some detail on Landlord Law, for members. https://landlordlaw.co.uk/the-landlord-law-legal-basics-courses/.

Complaining to their Property Redress Scheme is a good idea, but they will expect you to have tried to resolve things with the agents direct first.... Read More

If you do decide to allow a pet, make sure your tenancy agreement is amended accordingly. This is essential to protect your position.

We have a form for this: https://landlordlaw.co.uk/sales-the-landlord-law-pets-form/... Read More

Pet rents are probably the only way a landlord can recover any extra costs involved in allowing tenants to keep a pet. They are not illegal but are unpopular.

I wrote about this on my Landlord Law Blog here: https://www.landlordlawblog.co.uk/2019/10/08/pet-rents-monstrous-greed-justified-precaution/... Read More

Remember that if you transfer your properties to a limited company, you will no longer be able to benefit from the consumer law rules, for example if you use a letting agent. In a landlord / letting agent relationship the landlord is normally treated as a 'consumer' - unless they are a limited company!

For example if there are 'unfair' terms in the agency agreement, they are usually unenforceable against consumers but are valid against businesses (and a limited company is, by definition, a business).

So, if you do this, you need to be extra careful about checking any legal agreements you sign. And if you are worried about anything, get legal advice before you sign.... Read More

This can't be an assured shorthold tenancy (whatever it says on the piece of paper signed) as ASTs are limited to situations where the tenant occupies the property as their only or principal home (Housing Act 1988 s1).

I think you had better get some legal advice from a solicitor. Whether and how you can recover possession will depend on the terms of your agreement. It sounds to me as if this is a 'rent to rent' situation where the occupiers are holiday makers.

Note that we have a tenancy agreement that people can buy, for rent-to-rent situations. We include a version adapted for use where the property is to be sublet as a holiday let. Find it here: https://landlordlaw.co.uk/sales-the-landlord-law-r2r-tenancy-agreement/

If you want telephone advice, we have a special solicitors advice service here: https://landlordlaw.co.uk/openaccess_content/the-landlord-law-telephone-advice-service/ I would recommend JMW Solicitors - their David Smith drafted our agreement.... Read More

In this situation, your tenant is unlikely to move out until you obtain a Court order for possession (and there is no way you can force them to move other than by instructing bailiffs for which you need a possession order).
You should move to start proceedings asap as the courts are very slow, and it could take up to a year or more.
If you are unfamiliar with this work, you should use solicitors - Landlord Action are a good option. My Landlord Law service has a step-by-step guide for members for those who are willing to give it a go acting in person. https://landlordlaw.co.uk/what-is-your-problem/. We have a free preliminary guide at https://landlordlaw.co.uk/openaccess_trails/which-possession-proceedings..
If you are desperate to sell, you may be able to sell the property with her as a sitting tenant. There are companies who specialise in this but you may not be able to achieve the full market value.... Read More

If the terms of the tenancy have changed, for example, if the rent has gone up or a new tenant has been added, then your guarantee will no longer be enforceable as the tenancy will not be the same tenancy you guaranteed.

Otherwise, the guarantee may still be enforceable, it will depend on the terms of the guarantee document - so you need to check what it says.

I have an article here which explains how it works https://landlordlaw.co.uk/when-are-guarantees-invalid/... Read More

Hi, Tessa here. This is the article referred to by Freda: https://www.landlordlawblog.co.uk/2023/07/30/landlord-warning-your-tenants-e-bike-batteries-can-cause-serious-fires/
Battery explosions and fires are a real problem and they can be uncontrollable.
If you want to prohibit e-bikes and e-scooters this will have to be done in the tenancy agreement. We now have this in the Landlord Law tenancy agreements along with a letter members can use granting permission which sets out the various safety rules they should follow (these rules can be found in the blog article).

Or, if you use 'house rules', you can put these safety rules there - although to be enforceable, again, tenants should agree to them at the time of signing their tenancy agreement so they become part of the contract.
Make sure you check your insurance to see whether you are covered for this. Your insurers may have guidance they will want you to follow.
This is another reason why property inspections are so important - you will be able to find out if your tenants have these vehicles, and if so will be able to speak to them about safety. Presumably, the tenants will not want to be injured in a battery explosion or have all their possessions burned, so hopefully, they will comply.
If you feel awkward about doing inspections (and many landlords do), our Property Inspection Kit https://landlordlaw.co.uk/sales-property-inspection-kit/ will help.... Read More

Sorry that should read "The rules about how many people will form an HMO are different if they are lodgers who live with the property owner." I didn't pick it up in time to amend!... Read More

The rules about how many people will form a household are different if they are lodgers who live with the property owner. As has been stated above, the number is two - which is set by The Licensing and Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation and Other Houses (Miscellaneous Provisions) (England) Regulations 2006 section 6(2) which provides the number omitted from the Housing Act 2004 Schedule 14 section (6)(1)(c).

It says 'persons' rather than 'households' so that probably means that if you rent to three sisters as lodgers that would make an HMO. However Schedule 14 section (6)(1)(b) says that any member of the household of the property owner won't count towards an HMO, so if you take in three of your own sisters, that will be OK!

Note that the fact that a property is an HMO does not mean that it is a licensable HMO. The mandatory licensing limit is five persons in two households but this can be changed by individual councils.

You may be interested in this website which has free legal and other information for lodger landlords https://www.lodgerlandlord.co.uk/... Read More