I received a press release recently from Direct Line about some recent research showing that one in seven tenants breach tenancy rules. I have to say that I don’t find that very surprising!
A small paragraph at the end of the press release told me that the research was conducted between 19 and 22 August 2016 by Opinium Research amongst a nationally representative sample of 2,000 UK adults, of which 938 (47%) rent their properties from a private landlord.
As the number of tenants is less than 1,000 the research may or may not be statistically significant – I am not a mathematician so cannot say. The actual breaches look likely to me, though.
Landlords will be pleased to know that (according to the research) 65% of tenants are honourable and stick to the terms of the tenancy agreement. But what of the others?
Here is the list of the 10 most common rules broken by tenants:
- Failing to pay rent on time (or at all) – 25%
- Smoking in the property – 21%
- Keeping a pet in the property – 18%
- Damaging or making alterations to the premises – 17%
- Changing the locks – 16%
- Caused disturbances or a nuisance to neighbouring properties – 14%
- Sublet a room without notifying the landlord – 14%
- Failed to clean accessible windows – 13%
- Redecorated without permission – 12%
- Failed to check smoke or carbon monoxide alarm – 10%
This seems like a good opportunity to take a look at these breaches in a bit more detail. So over the next few weeks, I will be publishing 10 posts, each one looking at one of the breaches above.
For example, I will be considering the penalties that the tenants might occur and why the rules are there in the first place.
The series will be primarily addressed to tenants but will, of course, be of interest to their landlords!
The first post will be on the top breach, failing to pay rent. Watch out for it!
Oh dear most of my DSS tenants breach all the rules listed above and threaten violence if I dare to do anything about it.
Failing to pay rent on time (or at all) – 25%
All rely on Housing Benefit which is paid in arrears so all are constantly in arrears [Councils job to pay my rent, nothing to do with me]. We only accept tenants with direct payment, Universal credit – no tenancy.
Smoking in the property – 21%
Nearly all smoke and or drink
Keeping a pet in the property – 18%
50% have a dog [on benefits!] and certainly think more of the dog than their landlord.
Damaging or making alterations to the premises – 17%
100% damage the property and often make substantial alterations.
Changing the locks – 16%
90% at some stage change the locks and then complain that we do not have a spare key when they lose theirs. Never mind a boot will gain access, pity about the damage but we can report that to the council who will chase the landlord.
Caused disturbances or a nuisance to neighbouring properties – 14%
They all annoy each other, just let them get on with it, but I let in a block with all DSS tenants.
Sublet a room without notifying the landlord – 14%
Impossible to estimate but some have friends to stay on a much too regular basis.
Failed to clean accessible windows – 13%
Clean should be a four letter word, whatever it is not in their vocabulary.
Redecorated without permission – 12%
Usually with jam and Marmite, smeared tastefully (pun intended) over he walls
Failed to check smoke or carbon monoxide alarm – 10%
“kudn’t chek it gov ‘cos someone (not me) stole the battery”, and smashed the alarm in the process.
Tessa you forgot to add bypassed the electricity meter.
Latest excuse, someone came into my corridor [through two electronically locked doors] and randomly bypassed my meter [for the second time]. The tenant no longer has a supply.
How many businesses actively slander their customers I wonder?
The landlord sector has a long way to go until they really see renters as their customers.
I can tell you that I’ve never had a landlord that’s fully kept to their side of the tenancy agreement either.
Slander involves a spoken untruth. My statements are true and written.
You do sound like you strongly dislike being a landlord…
However that is an excellent comeback!
I neither like nor dislike being a landlord, it is a job like any other, one I have had for some 30 years. I merely reported facts relating to my tenants, many of whom were homeless before I gave them a roof over their heads.
A few are grateful, many settle down well and some are antagonistic and abusive. They all have the same landlord.
Thank you for your complementary remarks about my comeback.
It is shocking that tenants drink!
90% changing the locks. If that is the case there may well be a problem with the landlord
There has not been such a thing as a ‘DSS’ tenant for a couple of decades.
They may be entitled to Housing Benefit paid by the council
It is shocking that tenants drink!
No, drinking is not shocking, what is shocking is being paralytic half an hour after the ‘White Lightning’ shop opens in the morning, covered in Urine and faeces, unconscious on the floor.
90% changing the locks. If that is the case there may well be a problem with the landlord.
Please do not make unsubstantiated assumptions, there may also be a problem with the tenant who is the one who wrecked the lock in the first instance.
There has not been such a thing as a ‘DSS’ tenant for a couple of decades.
They may be entitled to Housing Benefit paid by the council
I am well aware of the situation, however colloquially people receiving Social Security payments of any kind are still referred to as “DSS”.
@David Thanks for the feedback – I’ll use them in my other posts.
Re the bypassed meter – the list is from Direct Line’s research not mine. But I may do some extra posts about other issues later.
Aren’t many of these things tenants aren’t entitled to do? Wouldn’t the oft consider them unfair contract terms?
I don’t believe that ONLY 10% failed to check the smoke alarms very week! Most home owners don’t check their every week.
Does “Redecorated without permission” include repainting a wall in the same colour when you have damaged the paint, so that the agent does not notice on the checkout? (Done it when we rented.)
“Failed to clean accessible windows” When we rented a property for 1 year, we only had the windows cleaned when we moved out, if the agent had given us the details of a good window cleaner when we moved it, they would have been cleaned more often.
“Caused disturbances or a nuisance to neighbouring properties”, this could just be parking a car outside of the neighbouring property or it could be all night parties EVERY night.
“making alterations to the premises” – done it we put up some coat hooks in two different properties we rented, and left them up when we moved out, the agents did not notice it on checkout.
Therefore I question if this research tells us anything useful without a lot more detail of what the tenants are admitting to doing.
Yes, these things are only as good as the survey – which is why I reproduced the details about what they did.
Still, it gives me a good excuse to do a nice little series on tenant default …
Thanks Tessa. What do you think about:
a) Fines for tenants ‘caught’ smoking (I have seen such clauses in tenancy agreements, particularly for HMOs). Would you consider these clauses to be considered valid/enforceable?
b) The landlord’s chances of regaining possession under Section 8 (Grounds 12? or perhaps 13?) for a ‘persistent’ smoker who may be in a long fixed term for example where Section 21 isn’t possible. I’m guessing it’s slim?
Can comments on smoking go on the smoking post please http://www.landlordlawblog.co.uk/2016/09/27/tenant-penalties-breaching-tenancy-rules-smoking/
Oops, sorry, I meant to but I obviously clicked away from it, my mistake…done!