r/uklandlords

I moved into my property in November of last year,y my flatmate has at that point been living at the property for over a year. She lived with another girl who I replaced. In Jan of this year I noticed that the sink has a foul smell and keeps constantly getting blocked. When the dishwasher is on the dirty drain water flows up to the sink and leaves the place smelling awful. My current flatmate and I have bought everything to try and fix the issue.

My flatmate told me this has been an ongoing issue since before I moved into the flat and they have informed the landlord about it multiple times and each time he messages back saying “I’m happy to cover a a callout for a plumber however, if it turns out to be grease/food blockage the tenants are liable for the charge” I challenged it and told him “since this has been an ongoing issue since before I moved in I won’t be covering the plumber call out” my flatmate has interactions with him from last year discussing this issue so there’s proof this has been ongoing. He messaged me saying he’ll check with the building manager to see if this has been an ongoing issue and will get back to me. Am I in the wrong for not wanting to cover the charge for the call out?

Just to preface, my flatmate and I I don’t put grease or food down the sink. We have a food catcher. So it definitely isn’t blocked due to food/grease.

A bad tenant + bad policy cost me over £100K.

I'm not here to moan too much. I'm fortunate. I worked hard all my life and was able to buy a flat in my late 20s. No help from parents, just us.

A few years ago, I became an accidental landlord after some difficulties selling the property — COVID slowdown etc. etc. You know the story.

This is where it went wrong. I let the property to a young mother of two. I thought I was doing a good thing — giving her children a safe place to live. Never raised the rent, never let a maintenance issue fester. But the clock was ticking. I only had so much time to sell to claim back higher rate SDLT on my primary home. Issued a S21 — nothing. Council called and told me they're advising the tenant to ignore it.

This was a trend. Stalled with the council, stalled with the court. Felt like the system was stacked against us — and honestly, against her too. She was stuck in limbo waiting for a council house while I bled money I didn't have.

4 years after the initial let, the tenant finally upped and left in the middle of the night after being given a council house up north. Left the place in a mess. Smashed the fixtures, smashed the fittings, smashed the appliances.

The cherry on top? HMRC refused an exception for the SDLT refund because everything that happened is "foreseeable". Let that sink in.

What kind of broken system is this?!?

Two things happened:

• I learned something. The system is rigged against landlords. Between the additional taxes, lost rent, damage, and higher SDLT, I'm down over £100K, and was operating at a loss the whole time. The stress of it all almost broke us.
• I decided something. I'm going to solve this problem. I'm a darn good Engineer and I'm going to use my skills and modern technology to help landlords avoid rewarding years of bad government policy with punitive fines. I'm going to make things better for landlords AND tenants. And maybe Agents too… if there's time.

( it will be mortgage BTL )

where should I focus on ?

1: studios/flat rent out to students near university town? ( cheaper for morgage)

2: rent out a 3 bed house to a family , so families?

3: HMOs

4: anything else I may not know? Air bnb perhaps?

i am newbie and I like to keep it simple

appreciated

Thanks

Hi-I have been living in a property for two years, paying rent always on time, and recently I had to take a job with accommodation. I explained to the landlord I was putting my stuff in storage and would like to keep the tenancy for a couple of extra months until I settled in or in case the new job fell through. When I vacated, I asked the landlord not to enter the property until I had cleaned it, to which she agreed. The day I moved out, she came to help with something and said, 'I will not be getting my deposit back until it is cleaned,' which I agreed to. Fast forward a week; she has been into the property and taken videos and is calling the place a death trap. It is not a death trap at all, and I am threatening to contact my employer unless I have it cleaned. I must give her a month's rent, and I must release my deposit for repairs to be done (there is a radiator hanging off the wall, which she knew about). I have not put my notice in, and she is threatening repossession and contacting my new employer. What rights do I have here? Any ideas how to proceed? At this point I would never go back. Any suggestions much appreciated.

Hi everyone. Wonder if someone could sense check my maths for renting out my flat in Scotland. I have just remortgaged recently and struggling to work out if im in a hole or not!

Repayment Mortgage: 25 years, 2 years fixed at 5.62%. Borrowed 103k. Deal ends SEP27.

Rent: £900

Mortgage: £637

Profit after 20% tax and expenses: -£130

Ive previously looked at it as instead of paying £637 towards a mortgage its "only" £130 but im struggling to work out if when you weight in all that interest if its even worth keeping the rental as an investment.

I am tempted to increase the rent up to £950, that brings up net profit to about -£90. Anything more would be well over average in my area.

Any advice would be appreciated. TIA.

Lodger agreement turned into an accidental periodic tenancy as we were away from the property for a few months and allowed 2 lodgers to overlap by mutual agreement.

Troublesome second lodger has now discovered that she can pursue us for compensation for not protecting her deposit in a deposit protection scheme and wants £2,000 (deposit was £800, we had asked for bank details to return that).

I told her we are both in breach of contract as she did not give us proper notice, she paid half rent for April and left in the middle of April, giving her moving date 1 week before she left . I think that under the terms of a periodic tenancy agreement we are entitled to notice of a month ending on a payment day, which is £1,200, so we should just return her £800 deposit and call it quits. She refuses and intends to take action.

How do we pursue her for withholding rent and failure to give notice? Is there a standard form?

Thanks for any experience people on here can share.

My neighbour, who lives below me and who I have never met, emailed me saying she would like to rent my flat for three months. She said that her flat was being decorated/refurbished and she wants to move out but remain close to supervise the builders. My flat, being above hers, seems perfect to her. She would like to move in on 8 May. I know she owns the flat below me and has lived there for several years.

The flat is empty and I plan to sell it in August(ish). Any thoughts on risks? WHat to look out for? Where can I get a template for a rental agreement?

ANY TIPS ADVICE GRATEFULLY RECEIVED!

Me and my partner are looking to rent.

I have a credit score of 479 and his is 519.

We’re currently on benefits (I’m on maternity awaiting maternity allowance and he clams PIP) however still get enough to cover the rent.

How likely are we to be accepted to rent?

Thanks

Hey, bit of a weird one and not sure if I’m overreacting.

I live in a flat and one of my neighbours has a camera pointing out of their window towards the communal entrance.

There’s no CCTV signs anywhere in the building, this all started because we had a row because my dog did one wee outside the main door while I was talking to another neighbour (accidents happen I cleaned it with hot water and soap straight after this was outside on the street not indoors) and now he’s put up a slightly hidden camera in the corner of his window facing towards the communal door.

I’ve emailed the estate agents because surely you need a sign to let people know you are recording the shared entrance. Am I overreacting.

Hi

First time landlord, i know the income/expenditure over the last tax year and wondering if any LL use an accountant or DIY?

If DIY - are there any free spreadsheets/resources about to plug figures in to generate profit/loss? Thanks.

I have a first floor flat property in Newport South Wales that has 61 years remaining on a leasehold and a fixed ground rent of 40GBP per annum. The freeholder quoted me 5950GBP inclusive of his legals for an extension in 2021, and has quoted me 12581GBP in 2025/2026 for the same extension. Property is valued at approx 110-130k, and I am wondering whether the increase is reasonable or opportunistic. I’m also wondering whether I should negotiate with him on an informal basis or commission a RICS survey and formal process. Any thoughts gratefully received.

Hi

I have a tenant who is causing issues and would appreciate guidance on if the below examples would be classed as antisocial behavior and therefore eligible reasons for potential section 8 action. I am also unsure what evidence needs to be provided if section 8 processes were to take place.

Does anyone have experience/knowledge they could share based on the examples below please?

1. They left a pan on the hob unattended, so much so that another tenant found it smoking at close risk of catching fire.

2. A few days ago a neighbour reported the same tenant shooting an air rifle at bottles on our property around 6 am in the morning. No damage or abuse was recorded.

3. The same neighbour also reported drug use on the property both from the same tenant as well as guests of his.

My thoughts are:

- example 1 put other tenants and the property at risk through ignorance, and could be antisocial while not directly causing aggression against others.

- example 2 could just be more 'nuissance' given the tenant was asked to stop, obliged and apologized

- example 3 is the strongest case, as per clear reasons

All examples are from the same tenant. If pursuing section 8 action what evidence would be required (I have no prior experience of this)? I have a comprehensive record of all communication but no photos or further evidence.

Many thanks for any guidance on these matters!

I'm not in the mandatory MTD reporting bracket yet, but I can feel it's cold fingers reaching towards my soul, like one of those nightmares where you just cannot run away...

Anyway, I need to get ready and my aging GnuCash accounting package does not look like it's going to have upgrades it in time, so I'd like to know what software you use, and if you think it's worth using.

My requirements are : it needs to handle a partnership (a problem for some MTD software as costs need split), and I'd like it to support multiple independent businesses as I'm starting something new that needs to be kept separate. Oh, and needs to handle PAYE for MTD too.

I've had a look at some of the ones recommended by HMRC and they seem to largely be unsuitable for landlords, or massive overkill - I only have a handful of invoices a year, plus income and finance costs.

What are you using?

I have a new tenancy starting on 4 May, so will come under the new legislation from the start.

I've been looking for an online template for an Assured Periodic Tenancy which will be RRA compliant, but so far the only people that seem to have one ready are NRLA, which I left a while ago and not particularly keen to rejoin.

If anyone can point me to another RRA compliant rental agreement template it would be much appreciated.

I don't even really know where to start. An estranged family member passed away at the start of the year, with no next of kin, apart from me and my sibling.

She lived in a house that has been split in to flats (one now vacant, 3 with tenants).

It looks like we will inherit this property (according to the will, it will need to be sold once probate has been granted) and we know nothing about being landlords.

It doesn't look like the correct things have been done, no deposits taken/recorded, no recent tenancy agreements, no epc, no eicr (gas certificates run out next month) but the tenants have all been there for many, many years.

What should our first steps be? I have contacted the tenants to let them know and tried to arrange a survey (needed for IHT) but they aren't responding, what are the laws regarding access. I understand there have been recent changes. TIA for any advice

Our landlord is selling and we have to move out after 8 years of renting from him.

Our estate agent has lost our check in inventory report and the file they have uploaded to deposit scheme website was some interim report from the year after we moved in and made the house look nice.

It was absolute sh*thole when we moved in - previous tenants didn’t clean up, carpets were already dated and never changed, stained etc, house wasn’t repainted and it was so dirty we refused to moved in until they got cleaners in, which they did. Garden and wooden patio had holes dug by the dog. We, originally, made all the comments on the check in report they gave us to sign and also sent an email to them stating all the faults. Some of them were rectified later on, but most wasn’t.

I emailed the agent about the file and that they need to use the one they did when we moved in and they asked if we can send it to them if we have a copy. I might have it, I might not 🤪 we did care for the house but ultimately it’s very dated and landlord never did anything inside and all our interim reports were saying ‘clean and tidy, consistent with age’.

How do we proceed now? (Just to add agent has asked if we going to get professional clean done lol).

Edit. Agent never came back to do another report after we had cleaners in.

My dad owns a property that is rented and my dad said the rent comes from social security.

We are now in a position where he wants to sell and he's asked me to do some research.

I understand the laws are changing but either after this change it shouldn't be difficult to evict for reason of selling.

My big thing is I feel awful, I think the people have lived there multiple years and I don't want them to end up wirh nowhere to live, yet I need somewhere to live. With their rent being paid for by social security, would it be easier/the council help them with somewhere?

How would you navigate this situation?

Edit to add: Do you think landlords would be interested if we sold it tenants in situ? With rent being garunteed? Or would it put landlords off?

Thank you

Became an accidental landlord recently- property is in Scotland and

The property consists of flats above shops owned by landlords - shops all owned by the same landlord. There’s title deeds state each property of the 10 covers 10%.

There’s been ongoing issues with the roof which I’ve been fixing myself to keep my flat water tight but it’s come to the stage of replacing the roof. A couple other landlord are in agreement but not the owner of the shops.

What is the correct way to handle this. How can the roof be fixed and maintain the property if others are refusing to cover their share?

I'm due to move out with some outstanding work needing doing (landlord is aware and had okayed the work) I have started to deep clean the house was filthy when I moved in should I just do the work the landlord said he would do whilst deep cleaning ?

Nearly missed my gas safety renewal deadline recently, and only from this I realised how much the fine can be if caught out. (Still quite new to the game)

I only have a portfolio of 2 properties and manage them myself, but I’m considering going fully managed as I’m a lot busier with work and other things lately.

I’m usually quite organised, but interested if people have suggestions for keeping on top of renewals as I’ve not had great experience when I did start off with a fully managed property