Washing machine not working, tenant wants me to pay for a laundry service

[kesm]

My tenant told me Last night that the washing machine is giving an error. I found an engineer for the washing machine brand for Thursday.

He wants me to pay for a laundry service in the meantime cause he does not have clean clothes he says, and says he can’t be there on Thursday to let the engineer in because of work.

He is very inflexible. Advice please?

[Carryon Regardless]

You are responding to the issue in a timely manner. There is no claim for any inconvenience.
It is for the tenant to arrange access.

Tbh, I would be v tempted to say that it isn't a 5 star hotel, or any other star. Renting a property comes with occupier responsibilities.

[Richlist]

I agree

6 hours ago, Carryon Regardless said:

You are responding to the issue in a timely manner. There is no claim for any inconvenience.
It is for the tenant to arrange access.

Tbh, I would be v tempted to say that it isn't a 5 star hotel, or any other star. Renting a property comes with occupier responsibilities.

I agree 100%.

It's quite easy to say no to requests of this kind. Your tenant should feel lucky that the property he rents contains a washing machine. Most landlords do not provide them now unless it's a high end property.

You will have to accept the fact that he can't be there but I assume he has given you permission to be there and let the repair guy Into the property ?

 

[Grampa]

I agree with the above. However, regarding access issues/difficulties we sometimes just give the contractors details to the tenant and say here is the repair company call them yourself and arrange a convenient time to repair. But contact the company in advance to let them know mr/mrs xxx will be in contact and to sent the invoice to you for payment but make it clear you are not authorising out of hours call outs that cost more. 

Or you get permission from the tenant to give a key to the contractor to gain access when they are out which we find a lot of tenant allow.  

[Grampa]

We also have a clause in our tenancies that state:

1.The tenant agrees that the landlord’s liability to repair (if there is a liability to repair as outlined under this ‘Repairs’ heading) does not arise until the landlord has received notice in writing. Further, no breach of any repairing obligation arises if the landlord then carries out the necessary work or repair with reasonable expedition. Where some other person is liable for the repair (whether or not jointly with the landlord), no breach of any repairing obligation arises whilst the landlord uses all reasonable efforts to communicate the need for repair to the other person.

2. The tenant has the use of all the appliances provided in the property, as listed in the inventory save those which are noted as not working. However, should any items require repair, or be beyond repair, the landlord does not undertake to arrange a repair, to pay for any costs or repair or to replace the appliance, except for those which the landlord is required by law to maintain. 

We wouldn't normally enforce clause 2 unless we were maybe in the middle of an eviction. But it does give you some wriggle room with difficult tenants and can focus their mind if they think there is a possibility that you wont do the repair. 

[Melboy]

I don't provide washing machines as I have mentioned a few times over the years past. Too much hassle. The thing is I have never had a problem with letting the properties out either in what must be 15 years or more since I stopped providing washing machines. The only concession I make is that I will install the washing machine they provide and I know that is an easy job 'cos all my w/m water / discharge connections are bang up to date thanks to my Son renewing them all to a high standard.  😀

[Grampa]

As a general rule I don't supply W/M either however one flat of mine the only place to fit it was the bathroom for which the bathroom door had to be taken off and power supply routed through the wall into the hallway. So I brought the cheapest possible W/M from Currys and pay £3 pm for their essentials repair service which will replace it with a new one if they cant repair it. 

Currys have been out twice so far to repair and this cheap W/M is now 9 years old. So I guess I have about broken even with the £3 pm charge. Just need a issue to arise now that makes it unrepairable and get a new one. 

 

[Richlist]

Blimey ! £3 a month is a great price for peace of mind. The first 3 rental properties I bought I installed new washing machines and I purchased 5 year extended warranty on each. They all lasted around 10 years or more and I never needed a repair on any of them. Guess I was just lucky but following on from that I never supplied another washing machine.

My understanding is that no washing machine is generally the norm now (with a few exceptions) unless :-

* it's a large property or

* a high end property or

* it's brand new and been installed by the developers or

* it's a new inexperienced landlord who thinks they need to supply one.

 

[Carryon Regardless]

A Welsh tenant has served notice, well sort of.

On the 7th his father in formed me that he would be leaving on the 20th or 27th.

Then on the 8th, because I asked, the tenant served to say he would be gone on the 20th, by the 12th that had been amended to the 27th. It's fun this is'n it? In Wales now, if a tenant stays after the notice date, I am unable to do anything other than charge for each day they desire to remain, or serve 6 month notice.

Anyways, he thinks leaving his washing machine is a bonus to me. Nope, don't want the bl**dy things.

 

 

[Richlist]

Well I know nobody wants me to bring politics into it but Wales has a devolved Government......they happen to be Labour.  If Labour wins the General Election then England may well end up with the same set up as Wales. Mind you, Angela Rayner seems to be doing a fantastic job of ensuring that Labour wont get the majority that they will need.

When my tenants left a washing machine I would just gift it to the new incoming tenants. I made sure they understood it was not on the inventory and I wasn't going to repair or replace it. If they didn't want it I would sell it on Gumtree......usually got £30-£50 for it. There always seems to be lots of people looking for a cheap 2nd hand washing machine.

 

[kesm]

13 hours ago, Richlist said:

Blimey ! £3 a month is a great price for peace of mind. The first 3 rental properties I bought I installed new washing machines and I purchased 5 year extended warranty on each. They all lasted around 10 years or more and I never needed a repair on any of them. Guess I was just lucky but following on from that I never supplied another washing machine.

My understanding is that no washing machine is generally the norm now (with a few exceptions) unless :-

* it's a large property or

* a high end property or

* it's brand new and been installed by the developers or

* it's a new inexperienced landlord who thinks they need to supply one.

 

I had no idea about white goods not a norm. The flat I am talking about is in London and it is a 1 bed. The building was built 12 years ago. Shall I not provide it from now on?

[Carryon Regardless]

The flats my daughter has rented in London have come with white goods, so I'm guessing that it is the norm there.

But it seems there is a high demand, so I'm also guessing that, even w/o these the flats would still rent easily enough.

I find anything can be complicated with many of my tenants, so simple is better with my rentals.

[kesm]

Thanks all. So the rent was paid minus £50 which the tenant claims spent at the launderette. He sent me a receipt that was not dated and was handwritten. 

Is he in breach of contract for not paying the full rent?

What can I do, apart from claiming this amount from the deposit, when he leaves?

[Carryon Regardless]

 

Methinks your tenant is a clown. Such a round figure on a scrap of paper is the work of a school boy.

Absolutely, there is no right of compensation.

I assume the tenant informed you and you responded in a reasonable time. Nowt else you should be expected to do.

You may charge minimal interest on late payments, of more than 14 days. In truth not worth the effort.

Where you can offer incentive is to point out that his account is in arrear, and shall remain so until paid, and would likely affect any future rental come request of a reference.

Otherwise, as you suggest, ignore it till deposit hand out time. You demonstrate the ongoing arrears, with the rental statement/s. He cites the laundry charges and doesn't have a receipt anyway, you get £50 back.

If you have desire to hoof the pillock, be aware that soon enough Gove might / is likely to extend the 2 month notice to 6 month.

[kesm]

16 hours ago, Carryon Regardless said:

 

Methinks your tenant is a clown. Such a round figure on a scrap of paper is the work of a school boy.

Absolutely, there is no right of compensation.

I assume the tenant informed you and you responded in a reasonable time. Nowt else you should be expected to do.

You may charge minimal interest on late payments, of more than 14 days. In truth not worth the effort.

Where you can offer incentive is to point out that his account is in arrear, and shall remain so until paid, and would likely affect any future rental come request of a reference.

Otherwise, as you suggest, ignore it till deposit hand out time. You demonstrate the ongoing arrears, with the rental statement/s. He cites the laundry charges and doesn't have a receipt anyway, you get £50 back.

If you have desire to hoof the pillock, be aware that soon enough Gove might / is likely to extend the 2 month notice to 6 month.

Thank you, Yes I acted quickly to get someone in. Do i charge the interest in the end of the tenancy agreement? That will be in July cause I am going to issue a section 21 notice.

[Carryon Regardless]

I haven't applied interest, but 'I would assume' that interest is due, on daily basis, until the outstanding amount is settled.

Maybe the interest is applied to the statement balance each month.