Single man - to family with children no written consent

[plecostrum]

A friend is renting to a single person now it appears that he is moving in a family with 4 children. I have had previous problems with the neighbours and a prior family tenant and opted for a single man to rent the property and also as i recently renovated it to a basic standard. Should i have received any notice that the tenant had move in other people etc. Should i have had written notice?

also this person is now complaining that the basic work i have done is now inadequate and that it is not of a high enough standard and demanding works to be carried out small things like paint interior, boxing in pipework due to being unsightly, block a old vent hole which was for dryer due to losing heat it is under the sink in a cupboard,

Am i within my right to refuse as these are all decorative items and are more personal choices not major inconvienience/or health and safety etc Where do i stand regarding these matters?

As this person was a friend there was no contract and now i think i need to create one, how do i go about doing that with someone who has been a verbal tennant with no fixed end date? I would like to make them into a fixed term 3mth to see how this goes etc can i do that with a verbal contract. where do i stand?

[Preston]

Hi plecostrum

Dealing with your issues in reverse order, if you let the property to the occupant for a rent on a commercial basis and he has the property to himself ("exclusive possession"), then you have almost certainly created a 6 month assured shorthold tenancy automatically, regardless of whether there is anything in writing.

If, on the other hand, it was a purely friendly arrangement, say, to help him out of a tight spot for a short period because of some particular circumstance, you might be able to argue that there was no intention to create legal relations and so there is no tenancy in place - but this seems very unlikely from what you have said.

The law implies various terms to your AST, even though there is nothing in writing, including various repairing obligations. The most important amongst these is section 11 of the landlord and tenant act 1985, which lists what you should repair as a landlord. It includes the structure and exterior and the installations for water, heating and sanitation. I dont think it would include the things you have listed, which as you say sound more decorative than structural - with the possible exception of the hole left by the vent?

You might have a slightly bigger problem, though, with him moving in his family. As you have nothing in writing, you are relying purely on "implied terms" which means he can move in more less who he likes, provided he doesnt overcrowd or break the law in some other way. He doesnt have to give you any notice.

Even if you had thought of this when he first moved in, the only way you could have given him a 3 month agreement (a "licence") would be to rely on the friendly type arrangement referred to above or argue that for some other technical reason there would be no tenancy e.g. he didnt have exclusive possession because he shared the property with you or someone else. These kinds of exception, though, are extremely rare and courts nearly always imply tenancies unless there is very strong evidence to the contrary.

Sounds like it might be worth getting a bit of advice locally on the next steps.

Hope this is of interest.

Preston

[Melboy]

3 Month contracts have no validity in AST law.

Verbal contracts....well, I don't have to spell that one out do I? Who said what? One person's word against another's.

I am sorry to say but the harsh truth is that you should have set up a 6 Month AST contract prior to the person moving in. Trust no one in the letting business including your Family, Friends and Granny. Read some of the previous threads on this forum re-family lettings and the problems that have been caused by letting to family members and friends.

regarding the requests for cosmetic repairs....you have no obligation to do anything BUT if it keeps the peace then you could make a goodwill action to rectify things...especially the hole in the wall and heat loss.

Mel.