Landlord's personal stuff inside rental property

[crazyfrog89]

Hi guys,

I'm a tenant but can't find useful information about my question elsewhere, so if you could spare a second replying I would appreciate it. Long story short, I've been renting in the UK for more than 10 years. In my past tenancy, I discovered lots of my Landlord's personal items in the closets and the kitchen cupboards (which wouldn't be seen during the visit as I didn't open those but also I'd expect the -then- current tenants to have their own stuff in the flat, so would look normal for the cupboards to be full). When I asked for those to be removed I was told that it can't be done, as I saw the flat with the items inside, so can't request this after I've moved in.

Next property I rented, I made sure to include in my offer that all the items from all cupboards and closets will be removed. The offer was accepted with my conditions, however when I moved into the property pretty much half of the storage space was taken by the landlord's stuff (full kitchen, a few items in the closet and stuff under the sofas). When I asked for those to be removed I was also told that it can't happen.

Why is this happening? What am I supposed to do in such situations? I have so many things that I now need to pay to throw away as I can't just bin them, and landlords just don't care. Is this even allowed legally?

Thanks!

[ash72]

Are you dealing with the LL directly or an Agent? if you have agreement that the property should be empty of previous T's belongings or the LL's, then I would write and tell them to remove it withing 7 days, otherwise you would remove the items and charge for the disposal of the items.

[theartfullodger]

What does the move inventory and photos show? All these things or none of them?

[DPT57]

Are you saying that the landlord left a load of stuff for you to dispose of at your own cost? If so, then it might be a breach of the Tenant Fees Act. Even if its not, I would be inclined to send the bill to the landlord/agent. Alternatively, you could follow the process on the Shelter website for deducting the costs from the rent.

[gnvqsos]

Bag up the items and take to a charity shop ,if not collected by a set date. As they are not yours they are not covered by your contents insurance, and are at risk. Similarly you could bill for storage costs.

[IParsons]

Are you saying that the landlord left a load of stuff for you to dispose of at your own cost? If so, then it might be a breach of the Tenant Fees Act. Even if its not, I would be inclined to send the bill to the landlord/agent. Alternatively, you could follow the process on the Shelter website for deducting the costs from the rent.

This seems very reasonable.

[Another Fine Mess]

I ran a business which involved renting out units, one tenant left owing hundreds of pounds in rent. But left hundreds of pounds worth of possessions. I would not release the possessions unless the rent was paid.
This was in 2016. Since then the place has been sold twice and rented out, these possessions from my previous tenant are still there.
Where in the first post it says that the items belong to the landlord, it could be that they belong to a previous tenant.

[jpkeates]

Why is this happening? What am I supposed to do in such situations? I have so many things that I now need to pay to throw away as I can't just bin them, and landlords just don't care. Is this even allowed legally?!

There are two positions, one general and one specific to your latest let.

The general point is that if you move into somewhere and there are things left behind that are not yours, unless there's a specific agreement with you to keep them, you have to make reasonable efforts to contact the owner and allow them to collect them. After that they can be disposed of. The reasonable costs of the disposal are owed by the original owner.

As a tenant, you could reasonably keep a record of the costs in case the landlord wants to try and charge you something at the end of the tenancy for something else. If you receive anything in exchange for the stuff, that's the property of the original owner.

Generally speaking, when you move into somewhere there's often bits of crap left behind and it's just something to bin.

In your specific last case, the landlord is probably in breach of the agreement that you made (although it's not as certain as it might be, because responses to offers with additional conditions are quite fiddly when it comes to determining what exactly was agreed). If the landlord is in breach of contract, you could ask for compensation for the cost of removing the items, otherwise you are in the general position as above.

[crazyfrog89]

Thanks a lot guys. Couldn't ask for more informative responses. Basically in my case I think it's just stuff the landlord wants to provide with the flat, supposedly to make it easier for someone to move if they don't have stuff (but realistiaclly is anyone going to use someone else's kitchenware and cutlery? I wouldn't). So I decided to throw away my stuff instead, as I didn't want to be difficult and get off on the wrong foot with the landlord. I guess the question now is, would it be reasonable to ask them to reimburse me for the removal of my stuff? As in, the company who'll come and collect my stuff (not the value of the stuff).

Thanks!

[jpkeates]

I guess the question now is, would it be reasonable to ask them to reimburse me for the removal of my stuff? As in, the company who'll come and collect my stuff (not the value of the stuff).!

I don't think so.

[DoricPixie]

crazyfrog89,

That doesn’t sound like the landlord’s personal stuff that has been left in the property. What you’re describing are normal items left in furnished properties for tenants to use. I’ve rented places like this before and I stored the property’s cutlery etc in a box and used my own during the tenancy. It sounds like what you want is an unfurnished rental property otherwise you’re nearly always going to get kitchenware and cutlery.

[crazyfrog89]

Thanks DoricPixie. I'm not sure what counts as furnished as I've rented 3 furnished properties in the past and none of them had anything else inside apart from the furniture and the kitchen appliances.

In any case, what I'm describing above is the fact that I specifically requested for all the storage spaces to be emptied as a condition to my offer, which was accepted, so I don't see how a landlord would accept a condition and then backtrack on it. To me it's unfair. And if it all could fit in a box I would be more than happy to store it somewhere and then move the stuff back when I move out of the property, however there are a lot of things in my case, not just a few spoons and dishes. And it's a small flat <40m2 without any additional storage space.

[DoricPixie]

If you can prove it was a condition of the tenancy then you could always attempt to have it unwound.

[crazyfrog89]

So you're suggesting going through the whole process of looking and finding a new place to live, with all the stress of bidding and costs of moving, and time off work and everything that entails simply because the landlord doesn't honour their part of the deal? How is this fair on the tenant? How are tenants protected in such situations? I'm sorry, not trying to start an argument here but it honestly doesn't seem reasonable at all to me.

[DoricPixie]

So you're suggesting going through the whole process of looking and finding a new place to live, with all the stress of bidding and costs of moving, and time off work and everything that entails simply because the landlord doesn't honour their part of the deal? How is this fair on the tenant? How are tenants protected in such situations? I'm sorry, not trying to start an argument here but it honestly doesn't seem reasonable at all to me.

You haven't answered Artful's question about whether these items are on the check-in inventory. If they are then the legal recourse open to you would be to attempt to unwind the tenancy. I agree with jpkeates that your request to be reimbursed for removing your own items doesn't sound reasonable.

How much kitchenware and cutlery are we talking about in a 40m2 flat that would require someone to come and pick it up from you?

Other options would be to donate your items to charity or try selling them on Gumtree or similar.