Liability For Conduct

As the tenant, you are also liable for the conduct of anyone else you invite into your landlord’s property. Damage during parties is a classic example. If there is damage caused, the costs will be down to you. Additionally, you are expected to behave ‘in a tenant-like manner’, and you must take sensible precautions against damage.

Some landlords may ask you to sign an additional list of terms, or may have a very comprehensive lease drawn up with specific requirements and responsibilities for their tenants. These might include things like ‘to play music, TV, etc with due consideration for other residents’, or ‘to leave heating on during any winter periods when the tenant is absent from the building for more than 24 hours’.

If you can’t satisfy the terms, don’t sign it. Never sign and then assume that ignoring terms will work. It won’t. And legal grounds exist for landlords to ask for very rapid eviction if you:

• persistently invite troublemakers to your home
• allow it to be used to deal drugs or for any illegal activity.

 

The old school of absent landlord who didn’t give a damn has thankfully been replaced by a huge number of very interested investors who have paid vast sums of money for rental property. And believe me – they do give a damn! Heaven be praised for progress.

On The Other Hand

There are some circumstances in which the condition of the building adversely affects tenants. Lots of cheaper housing has a condensation problem, and condensation is a major cause of mould. This can grow on one’s clothes, which are ruined, and destroy your personal possessions. This problem is one which is usually the responsibility of the landlord. In these circumstances tenants can act against the landlord, if they are willing to do so. Damp and mould are associated with ill health, and some tenants have successfully, with the help of legal advisors, sued landlords.

If only possessions are affected, write to your landlord with a list of damaged goods, and if all else fails, sue for their replacement through the Small Claims Court, even after your tenancy has ended, if they did not respond to your letters while you lived there. However, if the building was perfectly dry when you moved in, and you have never opened a window for ventilation as the washer boiled away – or worse, blocked fitted ventilation grilles, expect comeback from the landlord if you have introduced a major problem.

Even in prestigious properties things can go awry. Here, lavish features or fittings included in the rent must work, and continue to work if they are included in the rent. If repairs are slow, hustle. Believe me, if your rent is slow you will be hustled!

Can The Landlord Visit The Property While I Am A Tenant?

Landlords do have a statutory right (under the 1988 Act) to enter the property at reasonable times of the day to carry out repairs, or to inspect the condition of their property. However, unless an emergency as urgent as the last anecdote exists, they should always give you 24 hours’ notice in writing.

These landlords’ rights of entry don’t allow them to come and go as they please. Landlords need to notify you formally that they are exercising their rights of entry and have good reason for doing so. They may need to carry out works. Alternatively, they may wish to carry out, say, a quarterly inspection of the condition of their property. This must not deteriorate into a series of unnecessary calls.

As a tenant you are buying with your rent the ‘right to quiet enjoyment’. The property you are renting is your home, and good landlords and agents will automatically respect this. Of course, repeated unnecessary calls are a subtle form of harassment – read the Lesson and take some advice about endless ‘social’ calls.