Hi guys
Relatively new to being a landlord as I'm renting my place out whilst I work away from home (getting on for 2 years now).
The tenants we have have resulted in having to pay out more on maintenance than we were expecting, and I'm getting to the point where I now want to say no to some of it and wondered where I stood.
In the 2 years they've been there we've had
- request to replace older carpet with laminate flooring (finally agreed I'd pay half as I didn't really want it there but they did)
- 3 lots of door handles supposedly breaking
- Shower tray needing replacing because it was leaking down the back and caused water damage right down through to the kitchen (plumber who did the work said he thought it looked like probably 2 people had been using it and the weight had resulted in the sealant coming away)
- Multiple call outs when the boiler stopped (each time because they had let the water pressure drop below minimum and the boiler switches off for safety)
- Request to have the BBQ in the garden removed because they don't want it there
- Repair to plug socket that had been blown up due to a cheap chinese phone charger being used
- Request to pay for decking stain that had been worn down
- Request to pay for fence stain as the existing (2 year old) stain was fading and they didnt like it
When we had this years Gas Safe Certificate done, the guy checking said he found one of the rings had a blocked igniter. (not a failure in the safety check btw)
The tenant has now requested I get this fixed.
I know the igniter is down to just some fat/food down in it, and it's a 10 minute job to do it, but if I get the letting agency to send their man out then I know that's gonna be 100+ quid, which might not seem like a lot, but it seems like we're ALWAYS paying out for something and when the rent coming in goes nowhere close to paying for where I'm living atm then all this money makes a difference.
I said to the agent they just need to clean the hob properly, but they've come back and again said they want it fixed.
Speaking to the letting agent a few times, he's called the tenants by nickname, and the last couple of requests have come from the tenants dad. When I questioned this he told me it was because the tenants dad used to be a landlord he used to handle.
So my gut feeling from all this is that the tenants are probably mates of his, and the dad being an ex-landlord also friendly with the agent is playing the "just demand the landlord fix it every time" game.
Or it could just be that whilst none of these things happen to me at my house, it's treated differently by someone else when it's not there.
Not having anything to compare it to, I guess I'm just looking to hear whether you should always just suck it up or whether it's right to feel like you can say no sometimes ?
Thanks for reading
S
Relatively new to being a landlord as I'm renting my place out whilst I work away from home (getting on for 2 years now).
The tenants we have have resulted in having to pay out more on maintenance than we were expecting, and I'm getting to the point where I now want to say no to some of it and wondered where I stood.
In the 2 years they've been there we've had
- request to replace older carpet with laminate flooring (finally agreed I'd pay half as I didn't really want it there but they did)
- 3 lots of door handles supposedly breaking
- Shower tray needing replacing because it was leaking down the back and caused water damage right down through to the kitchen (plumber who did the work said he thought it looked like probably 2 people had been using it and the weight had resulted in the sealant coming away)
- Multiple call outs when the boiler stopped (each time because they had let the water pressure drop below minimum and the boiler switches off for safety)
- Request to have the BBQ in the garden removed because they don't want it there
- Repair to plug socket that had been blown up due to a cheap chinese phone charger being used
- Request to pay for decking stain that had been worn down
- Request to pay for fence stain as the existing (2 year old) stain was fading and they didnt like it
When we had this years Gas Safe Certificate done, the guy checking said he found one of the rings had a blocked igniter. (not a failure in the safety check btw)
The tenant has now requested I get this fixed.
I know the igniter is down to just some fat/food down in it, and it's a 10 minute job to do it, but if I get the letting agency to send their man out then I know that's gonna be 100+ quid, which might not seem like a lot, but it seems like we're ALWAYS paying out for something and when the rent coming in goes nowhere close to paying for where I'm living atm then all this money makes a difference.
I said to the agent they just need to clean the hob properly, but they've come back and again said they want it fixed.
Speaking to the letting agent a few times, he's called the tenants by nickname, and the last couple of requests have come from the tenants dad. When I questioned this he told me it was because the tenants dad used to be a landlord he used to handle.
So my gut feeling from all this is that the tenants are probably mates of his, and the dad being an ex-landlord also friendly with the agent is playing the "just demand the landlord fix it every time" game.
Or it could just be that whilst none of these things happen to me at my house, it's treated differently by someone else when it's not there.
Not having anything to compare it to, I guess I'm just looking to hear whether you should always just suck it up or whether it's right to feel like you can say no sometimes ?
Thanks for reading
S
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