Marketing rented house for sale and carrying out works
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9 years ago
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We had a good relationship with our tenant however a few months ago we approached the tenant to ask how they would feel if we put the house on the market to sell. We very much left it in the court of the tenant saying that we understood if they didn't want to. They came back after two weeks stating that they were happy for it to be marketed for sale. Even more than that they wanted to be as helpful as possible and ensure that the house was tidy and clean. They also agreed for us to carry out some works to the house and we worked within the guidelines they suggested. The works did not interfere with their living in the property. We noticed that our double glazing had become defective and asked how the tenant felt about having it renewed. We explained we would need to explore whether we could simply insert new glass units first of all. Unfortunately when the company who inserts new units came to look at the double glazing (again under permission of the tenant), they advised they couldn't help as the windows were too soft. We then said we would need to look at replacing the windows with UPVC. We had a quote from a company, (again with permission of the tenant). We accepted the works and started to talk about possible dates with the tenant. The only date the company could fit the windows in the short term was not the best date for the tenant, however the tenant said that they would work around it as they wanted to be helpful. Weeks went by and all seemed fine. We organised the installation date. The tenant then phoned to say that they felt we had invaded their privacy and they weren't pleased with the date. The tenant said that we should give them compensation for the week of the installation. We had already given them some money as a goodwill gesture in view of us doing works to the property prior to sale. I had also said that as a goodwill gesture we would pay them a nominal amount in the months that the house had viewings for sale. The tenant gave half a day's notice for the installation company who said they could not rearrange the installation. I have written to the tenant asking for permission to enter the property, giving more than 24 hours notice. We have also tried to address concerns the tenant has and come up with solutions which they were happy with.

The tenant has now said that are not happy with the installation but they have no choice in the matter. They asked for the house to be taken off the market to sell. They suggested an option of us giving them one month's notice from now to leave the property which I know isn't legal. Please help, I am scared to do the wrong thing and worried that the tenant may try to take legal action as they keep stating the same point which is that they had to sign a long contractual agreement with us and that we haven't delivered what we promised and we are invading their privacy. I asked what they meant and they said that they couldn't live in the property during the week of the installation. We never asked them to move out and the work will be isolated to one room at a time, cleaning up after each room.

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