David.
4 Thanks
174 Posts
Good afternoon.
I have a long term tenant in a property in Failsworth Manchester. She has been living at the property since November 2013. The tenant is on housing benefits but she pays me directly, sometime some chasing is needed but there are currently no arrears. The initial rent was %C2£450pcm and has only been increased to %C2£500pcm over this time. Current market rents are %C2£600pcm and and the local housing allowance for central Manchester which this falls under, is circa %C2£648.22pcm. I wanted to increase the rent to %C2£550pcm which I believe is pretty fair.
The tenant has children and a dog which is not allowed officially but I have not enforced this seeing as she is a long term tenant etc. The property is subject to 'heavy usage' and not looked after very well.
When I mentioned a rent increase the tenant was rude and said that I have not spent any money on the property and therefore she will not pay any more. It is true that I have not redecorated or replaced the carpet etc but I have always undertaken any non tenant fault maintenance works and I consider myself a good caring landlord, which any of my other tenants would agree to.
When she moved into the property it was in perfect condition, freshly decorated, new carpets, laminate flooring and a nice modern kitchen. If she was to leave now it would need fully decorating new carpet/laminate and a new kitchen which she has ruined over time.
As a landlord am I obligated in anyway to decorate and replace things like carpet which the tenant themselves have damaged? I appreciate there is an element of wear and tear with certain things.
If not does she have any grounds to resist a fair rental increase and what are my options in this scenario?
Thanks again for your advice as ever.
Kind regards
David.
