Hi everyone. I’ve been forced into the situation to help my elderly uncle; the first I heard of all of this was on Boxing Day. I wonder if anyone can offer any advice. The back-story:
In 1995, my uncle moved in with his now-wife, and after a brief conversation, he agreed to rent his old flat to a colleague for £40/week. My uncle is old-school - meaning there was no written agreement. It was many years before he knew what an Assured Tenancy was.
All was fine until 2006 when an attempt to raise the rent by handshake resulted in a letter quoting Section 13 and rejecting the attempted rental increase. My uncle gave up with the increase and pushed it to the back of his mind. The tenant, it transpired, had moved from employment to ill-health benefits and had learned his rights - he has become a ‘professional tenant’, growing progressively more bitter and nasty to boot.
In 2008 my uncle met a solicitor and filed Section 13 to increase the rent to £80, which was agreed by subsequent tribunal. There have been no increases since. Tenant has history of arrears, currently £500 (this is the highest proveable amount – the records get too murky before 2011)
My uncle is now 72 and can't cope. My goal is vacant possession – but I think I need to get things tidier before putting anything to a judge. I also plan to issue a Section 13 to get the rent to a market level; this should see arrears climb.
Immediate questions (first of many I expect as I delve deeper into this):
- Rent is £80/week, but tenant pays £346.66, in arrears, on the 1st of each calendar month. Is this OK, or an impediment to potential Ground 8 possession? In this situation, what would the arrears figure need to be for Ground 8 purposes – 2 months rent of £693.32, or 8 weeks rent of £640.00? Is there an alternative payment schedule that would be more appropriate?
- What is the implication of the above situation for the effective date of the rent increase on the Section 13 Notice? For what it’s worth, the Midland Rent Assessment Panel noted in 2008 a tenancy start date of 14-August-1995; this was a Monday.
- Is there an obligation to remind/inform tenant that he is in arrears, before serving Section 8 notice? I fear that as the arrears to date have not been properly pursued, tenant will claim they have been de-facto written off.
- Tenant has a habit of arranging his own minor repairs (e.g. leaky gutters, dripping taps, etc) and then deducting the cost from rent due. Any advice on how to stop this? It’s been tolerated for years, but I’m sure the tenant gets a backhander from the blokes he gets in, and it generally offends me.
- Can I pay the tenant off, and be sure of vacant possession? As much as it stings I would gladly give him a few grand on the condition he surrendered the tenancy.
Hopefully some issues here that have captured your interest; any input appreciated!
In 1995, my uncle moved in with his now-wife, and after a brief conversation, he agreed to rent his old flat to a colleague for £40/week. My uncle is old-school - meaning there was no written agreement. It was many years before he knew what an Assured Tenancy was.
All was fine until 2006 when an attempt to raise the rent by handshake resulted in a letter quoting Section 13 and rejecting the attempted rental increase. My uncle gave up with the increase and pushed it to the back of his mind. The tenant, it transpired, had moved from employment to ill-health benefits and had learned his rights - he has become a ‘professional tenant’, growing progressively more bitter and nasty to boot.
In 2008 my uncle met a solicitor and filed Section 13 to increase the rent to £80, which was agreed by subsequent tribunal. There have been no increases since. Tenant has history of arrears, currently £500 (this is the highest proveable amount – the records get too murky before 2011)
My uncle is now 72 and can't cope. My goal is vacant possession – but I think I need to get things tidier before putting anything to a judge. I also plan to issue a Section 13 to get the rent to a market level; this should see arrears climb.
Immediate questions (first of many I expect as I delve deeper into this):
- Rent is £80/week, but tenant pays £346.66, in arrears, on the 1st of each calendar month. Is this OK, or an impediment to potential Ground 8 possession? In this situation, what would the arrears figure need to be for Ground 8 purposes – 2 months rent of £693.32, or 8 weeks rent of £640.00? Is there an alternative payment schedule that would be more appropriate?
- What is the implication of the above situation for the effective date of the rent increase on the Section 13 Notice? For what it’s worth, the Midland Rent Assessment Panel noted in 2008 a tenancy start date of 14-August-1995; this was a Monday.
- Is there an obligation to remind/inform tenant that he is in arrears, before serving Section 8 notice? I fear that as the arrears to date have not been properly pursued, tenant will claim they have been de-facto written off.
- Tenant has a habit of arranging his own minor repairs (e.g. leaky gutters, dripping taps, etc) and then deducting the cost from rent due. Any advice on how to stop this? It’s been tolerated for years, but I’m sure the tenant gets a backhander from the blokes he gets in, and it generally offends me.
- Can I pay the tenant off, and be sure of vacant possession? As much as it stings I would gladly give him a few grand on the condition he surrendered the tenancy.
Hopefully some issues here that have captured your interest; any input appreciated!