Landlord Legal Obligations/Issues

My Tenant Has Changed The Door Locks, Can He Do that?

4 Comments Comments / Article written on 16 Feb 2010, and filed in the Landlord Legal Obligations/Issues section

Just a quick answer to an ever increasingly asked question: can tenants legally change the door locks? In short, yes.
If the tenant changes the lock, landlords are not entitled to a key unless it says so in the contract. However, the tenant should not unreasonably withhold access, and if he or she does, the landlord [...]

What Landlords Should Know About ‘White Goods’

4 Comments Comments / Article written on 14 Dec 2009, and filed in the Landlord Legal Obligations/Issues section

I’ve been getting a few emails from folks regarding the details of “White goods”, so I thought I’d quickly jot down what I know about the issue. It’s not exactly the most exciting topic, but it’s an area worth knowing about if you’re a landlord.
What are “white goods”?
White goods refer to large electrical home appliances [...]

The Penalties For Breaking Landlord Laws

1 Comment Comments / Article written on 08 Dec 2009, and filed in the Landlord Legal Obligations/Issues section

Landlord law is a pretty gray area from what I’ve noticed over the years, as in, penalties always seem to differ, even if the crimes being committed are similar to one another. But it does make sense, because in almost every legal battle, the circumstances between tenant and landlord or landlord and property are pretty [...]

Is Your Letting Agent Holding Deposits Or Failing To Pass On Rent?

16 Comments Comments / Article written on 30 Nov 2009, and filed in the Landlord Legal Obligations/Issues section

Before you get bent out of shape and start raging at your tenant for failing to pass on rent, it’s probably best to make sure your tenant is the actual cock-face that is breaking the chain of making rental payments.
Recently a pompous-arse rogue letting agent in Oxfordshire was raided after several dozen landlords and tenants [...]

Idiot Tenant Sets Fire To Property- What To Do?

12 Comments Comments / Article written on 26 Oct 2009, and filed in the Landlord Legal Obligations/Issues section

I came across an interesting thread on the Property Tribes forum earlier. A landlord had her property accidently set on fire by her tenant, to the point where it became uninhabitable. Here’s how the landlord explained it:

Yesterday one of my tenants ran out of electric on her meter and rather than topping up the card, [...]

I Haven’t Protected My Tenants Deposit Into A Scheme With In 14 Days

1 Comment Comments / Article written on 02 Oct 2009, and filed in the Landlord Legal Obligations/Issues section

I received this email earlier today. It’s an interesting question, with a rather ropey answer (which works in the favour of the landlord):

I have one property. My tenant has been with me for the last 2 years. Initially via an agent. Agents were charging a fortune and were no good, so I took it on [...]

Tenant’s Right To Live In Quiet Enjoyment

5 Comments Comments / Article written on 12 Aug 2009, and filed in the Landlord Legal Obligations/Issues section

A few days ago there was a little debate on Twitter about whether a landlord or letting agent had the right to enter his/her property during the last month of the fixed term to take viewings, without giving notice to the tenant.
To me that seemed pretty ridiculous; I was pretty adamant that the Landlord [...]

Letting Agent Or Landlord Responsible For Securing Deposit Into A Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme?

1 Comment Comments / Article written on 16 Jul 2009, and filed in the Landlord Legal Obligations/Issues section

Is it the Landlord’s responsibility to put the security deposit into a Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme, or the Letting Agents?
For those Landlords out there that are using Letting Agents, are you certain that your agent has deposited your tenant’s deposit into a legally required tenancy protection scheme? What happens if your agent receives the deposit, [...]

How Much Should Landlords Pay For An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)?

14 Comments Comments / Article written on 16 Apr 2009, and filed in the Landlord Legal Obligations/Issues section

I had to get an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for the first time recently. It was made a legal requirement for all landlords back in October 2008. Booo!
Meh, waste of time and money as far as I’m concerned. From my experience, tenants don’t give a shit about how energy efficient a property is. In fact, [...]

Tenant Wants To Vacate Early, Before Agreed Term In Tenancy Agreement

47 Comments Comments / Article written on 09 Apr 2009, and filed in the Landlord Legal Obligations/Issues section

So, what happens when a tenant wants to ignore the lawfully binding Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement they agreed to and signed, by abandoning your property before due date? It happens all the time. Until recently, I wasn’t actually sure what rights the Landlord had in this situation. I only bothered to investigate further when a [...]

Electrical Safety For Landlords In Rental Property

36 Comments Comments / Article written on 26 Mar 2009, and filed in the Landlord Legal Obligations/Issues section

As it stands, unlike gas regulations, there is no law that says you must have a landlord electrical safety certificate. However, Landlords are obligated to ensure that all electrical appliances and fittings within the property are safe and in good working order. Failure to comply with the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994 and the The [...]

Tenant Completely Trashes Property

3 Comments Comments / Article written on 18 Mar 2009, and filed in the Landlord Legal Obligations/Issues section

Errr…I found this clip on the Property Hawk website. It’s footage of what a landlord was welcomed to after a tenant had checked out. I can’t seem to find more details about the case, but have a look at the visuals…

I’m assuming the previous tenant has yet to grasp the concept of being “human”. I [...]

Gas Safe Register Has Replaced CORGI Gas Registration

17 Comments Comments / Article written on 17 Mar 2009, and filed in the Landlord Legal Obligations/Issues section

Thanks to a reader I was informed about an extremely vital change regarding gas safety legal obligations, which concerns ALL landlords.
On 8 September 2008, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) awarded a new 10 year contract to Capita Group plc to provide a new registration scheme for gas installers. This will begin on 1 April [...]

Landlord Changes Locks To keep Scumbag Tenants Out

13 Comments Comments / Article written on 04 Dec 2008, and filed in the Landlord Legal Obligations/Issues section

One of the most active and interesting articles (in my opinion) on this website is the I’m evicting my tenants post. The post is basically about me throwing my toys out of the pram and having a gutless whinge about my tenant, and how I want to evict her stupid ass. For the record, if [...]

Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)

7 Comments Comments / Article written on 18 Aug 2008, and filed in the Landlord Legal Obligations/Issues section

Oh great, being a landlord just got even more expensive. Apparently the tenancy deposit scheme wasn’t draining enough money out of landlords, so now they’ve decided to throw in another mandatory pile of shit- an Energy performance certificate.
From the 1st of October 2008, Landlords must provide an Energy Performance Certificate to all new and prospective [...]

Letting Agent Won’t Cough Up Payment

9 Comments Comments / Article written on 11 Feb 2008, and filed in the Landlord Legal Obligations/Issues section

I received an email earlier that virtually got my blood boiling. While reading the email I started to grit my teeth and develop mental images of certain snakes in cheap suits being stoned…
I have a property currently let by a local agent over 2 months ago. As far as I am aware the tenant is [...]

My Tenant Left Without Paying Bills

2 Comments Comments / Article written on 12 Nov 2007, and filed in the Landlord Legal Obligations/Issues section

One of my “problem” tenant’s vacated one of my properties after being evicted, but she left behind unpaid gas and electricity bills. The bills totalled to approximately £200. This particular tenant had already cost me money (eviction fees, the rent she failed to pay..etc), so there was no way I was going to part with [...]

Increasing Your Tenants Rent

0 Comments Comments / Article written on 04 Oct 2007, and filed in the Landlord Legal Obligations/Issues section

Trying to increase the rent with an existing tenant is always a tough issue to tackle.
Here are the common problems that a landlord faces when considering the subject of an increase in rent:

Fear of confrontation
The suggestion may force the tenant to vacate
May cause future tension in the tenant/landlord relationship

Is the increase needed?
Before making any quick [...]

Landlord’s Right Of Entry

27 Comments Comments / Article written on 28 Jul 2007, and filed in the Landlord Legal Obligations/Issues section

It is in fact illegal for a landlord to enter his or her property without agreement from the tenant. The office of fair trading document oft356 reads as follows:

3.32 We would object to a provision giving the landlord an excessive right to enter the rented property. Under any kind of lease or tenancy, a landlord [...]

Tenants Without A Written Contract

14 Comments Comments / Article written on 24 Jul 2007, and filed in the Landlord Legal Obligations/Issues section

I got a call earlier from a friend of mine; she explained to me that her landlord has requested for her to vacate his property by Saturday (4 days away). They had a dispute over the payment of rent.
She was in a panic because finding a reasonably priced place to rent in London with in [...]

Tenancy Deposit Scheme Easy Guide

30 Comments Comments / Article written on 30 Mar 2007, and filed in the Landlord Legal Obligations/Issues section

Here’s a quick and easy guide to the MANIDTORY (for all landlords and letting agents that hold deposits) tenancy deposit scheme introduced on April the 6th 2007.
Who does it apply to?
The scheme applies to EVERY landlord and letting agent in England and Wales where a deposit has been taken from a tenant under an Assured [...]

Tax On Rental Income

0 Comments Comments / Article written on 05 Mar 2007, and filed in the Landlord Legal Obligations/Issues section

I think this is a really important issue which a lot of landlords don’t know the answer to. In fact, I think a lot of landlords just neglect the issue, but are aware that there are some tax implications. So, the question is, do you have to pay tax on your rental income as a [...]

Landlord Obligations / Regulations – The Law

90 Comments Comments / Article written on 19 Feb 2007, and filed in the Landlord Legal Obligations/Issues section

As a landlord there are a number of legal obligations you MUST (and should) abide by. These are all necessary obligations; failing to comply with these could result in prosecution.
Gas safety appliances
The Gas Safety Regulations 1998 place a statutory duty on all landlords of residential property to ensure that all gas appliances, pipe work and [...]