Council tenants leaving property thousands in damages

[Khan1210]

Hi Guys, 

 

Need urgent advice please. 

 

We bought our first home four years ago and due to not getting admission in the school we wanted, we decided to put it on rent for a year.

As no one was interested for a short term contract, we contacted the local council who said they will take the property onboard for occupancy of their tenants.

We were guaranteed the rent will be paid to us directly from the council.

 

As soon as the tenants moved in we started experiencing issues including breach of contract due to parrots being kept as pets.

As the school admission issue continued we had no choice but to keep the tenants in there.

 

We carried out regular inspections of the property which ended up in a dispute with the tenants when they broke into the outdoor cabin which was not permitted to be used by them. We had items damaged and missing but of course they did not admit to anything and we had no proof. From there on we were advised from the council they will carry out the inspections and we were to stay away to avoid conflict.

 

Now we have given notice which is Due to expire on 27 Aug 2020.

The council asked us to carry out an inspection so that the tenants can fix damages before move out as the council would want to recover as much of the deposit back as possible. 

 

The house is in a very poor state.

Most of the damages are not gradual wear and tear.

The smoke alarms have been taken out,

the front garden has been destroyed with parked cars on the grass area despite several warnings,

very bad paint and wallpaper jobs all around the House and colours like fuschia and Royal blue which should have been neutral.

Glass windows broken, drawing on walls, doors and wardrobes.

Outdoor cabin Glass panels removed  from brand new wardrobes and drawers removed....The list is endless.

 

I gave the list to the council and they are saying it will go into a dispute and I need to be reasonable in what could be wear and tear.

The council have agree on previous occasions that the tenants have kept the property in a very bad condition but have not fine anything about it.

 

The cost of damages is around £8000.

The deposit is £2250 which was paid by the council.

I feel really pressurised by the council and extremely disappointed.

 

As a landlord I am getting penalised by not just the tenant but the council too.

They are dying it will be lengthy process to recover my money and firstly told me to avoid going to court as the tenants will say they cannot afford repayments etc.

not wanting the stress I just wanted to get my property back and take the deposit which will not even pay for half the costs.

 

Please can you advise what rights I have as a Landlord to get my deposit back?

I have lived in rentals myself and always treated the property like I would my own.

 

I am really stressed out because I feel the council is turning against me just to get their costs back.

I will be carrying out the checkout inventory, I am presuming the tenants will refuse to sign it.

I have asked the council to be present but they have refused.

Would it be in my favour if I were to hire a third party professional to carry out the check out inventory? 

 

The contract is with the tenant.

The deposit is secured with DPS and the council is the lead tenant on that and the tenant is additional. 

 

Happy to share photos of damages if it would help. 

 

Many thanks in advance.

 

Mo

 

 

[stu007]

Hi

 

Sorry to hear of your terrible experience with not just the Tenant but the Council as well.

 

The main thing you need to remember here is the Council will do and say whatever to try to reduce cost to themselves.

 

To be able to assist you we would really need to see a redacted copy of the Agreement that was signed between yourself and the Council in PDF format please.

 

Specifically to above what does it state about 'Damages'? 

 

With the Agreement between yourself and the Council, did you produce the agreement for the Council to sign or vice versa? 

 

Is the Deposit protected in a Tenancy Deposit Scheme and the Tenants were provided with the prescribed terms of that Scheme?

 

With your dealings with the Council have they in there correspondence referred to any  Policies / Terms / Clauses etc? (If they have then you write and ask not just for clarification but for copies of that document, you need to know if they have followed it)
 

[Khan1210]

Hi Stu007,

 

Many thanks for your reply,  There was never a agreement made in writing between us and the council it was all done

Verbally, The Agreement given to the tenant was a standard short hold tenancy

 

The  deposit is covered by DPS since the start of the tenancy and the lead tenant on DPS is the council as they supplied the deposit

 

The council have never referred to any policy with us, the current update is that the tenant is due to get there keys for another place today

 

i have also received a email from the council to say they have sent over a list for damages to the tenant, also the tenant has mentioned to council that they had

 

a new boiler fitted, which was not the case when the boiler broke down a few years ago i was advised by the company that a grant may be available as the tenants are

 

on benefits, so with agreement of the tenant i got this done, they are now telling the council that they got it fitted and are trying to put that towards cost.

 

any more feedback  will be much appreciated