Help needed

[Davemuk]

I started to rent out my property 4 years ago when I moved in with my partner, my tenant has never paid the full £500 a month rent only 365 which is provided by housing benefit.
Now my problem is the house need major work ie full re wiring And complete renovation which I can not afford, what ate my right to ask tenant to leave, can I be forced to complete the work as it is unsafe for them to continue to live there. I must stress its not s matter of won't do the work I just can't as the rent which has been paid has not even covered the £575 a month buy to let mortgage. I will be grateful for any advise.

[Snorkerz]

The tenants lack of rent does not relieve you of your repairing obligations.

Are you looking for a way to afford the repairs, or a way to evict the tenants? As this has been ongoing for 4 years, what actions have you taken to resolve the rent payment issue?

• When did the tenants last tenancy agreement begin?
• How long was it for / was there an end date specified?
• Did the tenant pay a deposit?
• Is the deposit in a government approved scheme? If so when was it protected and when did you give the tenant the 'prescribed information'.
• How much rent is currently unpaid?
• Have you (at any time) served a section 21 notice? If so, do you have proof of service?

Answer these and we'll get you on your way

[Davemuk]

Thank you for your reply...

No bond was ever paid, tenant was give 1 12 month contract, I have never chased the arrears as the tenant clearly could not afford to pay as she is on benefits. Given a choice I would prefer not to evict however I do not have the funds to carry out the repairs and my only option is to remortgage as a residential mortgage and move back in.However my tenant is not going to serve me with the good grace I have allowed her.

[Snorkerz]

So, if you can answer the questions above, we can tell you how to evict - lets face it, you are not going to get money from your tenant to do these repairs. Be warned, this is not a quick process.

How dramatic is the disrepair? Disrepair can throw all sorts of spanners into the eviction works!

Why would you feel the need to remortgage on a residential mortgage? Although BTL is usually a higher interest rate, the tax allowance usually means it costs less than a residential one.

[jta]

6480 pounds owed! Why on earth have you not evicted the tenant before this?

I don't mean to be patronising but you are running a business, do you think a credit card company would put up with you paying them short every month for four years?

Answer the questions from Snorkerz.

[Davemuk]

No bond paid.
I haven't started eviction proscess.
About 4.500 unpaid rent.
The house need re wiring urgently.
After going into the property for the first time in 3 years I was shocked to see the fairly new kitchen ruined. Bath room ruined. There have been leaks that have not been reported so ceilings ruined. Other fixtures been broken. There appears to be lots of damp.basically the whole house needs gutting.
Im really worried as I wouldn't want my dog to live there however to make it liveable will cost. Due to never making profit or even covering the mortgage with rent I can't do the work with her there

[Davemuk]

I understand what you are saying however it was not meant as a business just rather than selling a way to keep my house, and to be honest I feld sorry for her. Now my hand has been bitten so to speak.

[Snorkerz]

I understand what you are saying however it was not meant as a business just rather than selling a way to keep my house, and to be honest I feld sorry for her. Now my hand has been bitten so to speak.

It may not have been meant as a business, but you took money for a service - it WAS a business.
Do we assune your 'non business' has not reported its earnings to HMRC? Chances are you won't owe any tax, ut you have to declare. You need an accountant ASAP.

Lets get those answers so we can help you get rid of this tenant.

[Davemuk]

No I never reported it was not aware I needed to, however I did change the mortgage so I had correct mortgage. Looks like im in a muddle now.
What is it you need to know?

[Snorkerz]

Can you tell us the EXACT date the last tenancy agreement began?
Can you tell us if there was an end date specified?

Nothing to do with the eviction, but is there gas in the property, are the gas appliances checked annually?

Do you have landlord insurance? Sometimes these policies include legal help.

[Davemuk]

It was November 2007 12 months renewable but was never renewed.

Only have insurance for mortgage purposes.

Yes I have gas check a certificated every year.

[Snorkerz]

Sorry, I/we need the exact start date - once we have that we can give you the correct dates for the relevant s21 notice.

[Davemuk]

November 21st 2007. Agreed time 12 months £500pcm

[Snorkerz]

Although with the amount of rent arrears you could go for section 8 (grounds 8/10/11) which is slightly cheaper and comes with a judgement for the unpaid rent, there is a considerable chance that disrepair issues could turn such an eviction into an expensive circus for yourself.

Therefore, I suggest you serve a section 21(4)(a) notice on your tenant with an expiry date of "after 20th November 2011" (those exact words). You would need to serve this by 19th September. You may find this brief guide useful http://tenancyanswers.ucoz.com/index..._contract/0-37

If you feel that the tenant has the ability to pay the unpaid rent, you may want to consider a separate claim for the rent, either in parallel or after the event. You can do this online at http://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk

[mariner]

Do you have any photos or inspection report for start of tenancy condition? I would suggest a full post T inspection by rel professionals to show how much damage can be attributed to T lack of care.
Personally I would go for s21 repo.