HOUSING - Landlords

How Can We Help You?

Although your home is your castle, it sometimes feels as if it is under attack - from absentee freeholders, unscrupulous builders, irresponsible tenants. It is important that you know your rights, whether as landlord or tenant. We hope this leaflet will help answer some questions
John Searby is Head of Litigation at Gerard Maye Legal. He has specialised in landlord & tenant disputes for over twenty years and has acted for a number of local lettings agencies as well as providing free advice to tenants and landlords at community advice centres. John will provide professional advice about your case and is able to offer an initial free consultation for many clients.

If you have a housing problem and you want some advice or assistance, contact us now. If you have been threatened with legal proceedings, it is important to act quickly as you may risk losing your home.

Gerard Maye Legal is an established law firm specialising in civil and criminal litigation. With offices in Brighton and Littlehampton, it offers a wide range of professional legal service, including:

• Employment advice
• Personal injury claims
• Injunctions/emergency work
• Housing/Landlord & tenant
• Criminal law
• We will advise you on how your case can be funded, including the availability of public funding (Legal Aid)
  

HOUSING PROBLEMS - some questions answered

I want to rent out my flat. How do I go about it?

You need to draw up a tenancy agreement, which sets out the terms by which you wish to let out your flat, including the rent and the tenants’ and your obligations to each other. Virtually all tenancies are now Assured Shorthold Tenancies. The tenant is entitled to occupy the property for a minimum of six months (providing he or she continues to pay the rent and does not break any of the tenancy conditions); after that period you can recover possession of your property. However, it is important that you serve the right notice at the right time; otherwise you might not get possession when you should. It is also necessary to ensure that any deposit you take is properly protected using an authorised tenancy deposit protection scheme: otherwise you might not be able to get your tenants out and you might have to pay them a penalty equal to three times the deposit.

My tenants won’t pay the rent; what do I do?

First, you should contact the tenants and ask them to pay the arrears. If they fail to do so, you can get the Court to order the tenants to leave (a possession order). The first step is to serve a Notice Seeking Possession giving the tenants 14 days to pay off the arrears. After that, if they still owe you rent, you can issue a claim in your local county court; in some cases there will have to be a hearing which you will have to attend. If the tenants refuse to move out, the court can grant a warrant of possession, which empowers the court bailiffs to evict the tenants. Do not try to evict the tenants yourself without a court order: you could end up being prosecuted for assault! It is always sensible to seek legal advice before applying for possession.
The lease of my flat has only 80 years left to run: how do I extend it? A lease is an agreement for you to occupy part of your landlord’s building for a set term of years. With most leases, the term is at least 99 years; however, at the end of the term the landlord is entitled to take the property back. As the length of the remaining term gets shorter, it may be more difficult to sell your property – especially if the lease has less than 80 years left to run. An extended lease will therefore improve the value of your leasehold property.
You are entitled by law to get your landlord to agree to extend the term of your lease for another 90 years. Your landlord is entitled to be paid a premium, based on the number of years left on the lease and the amount of ground rent.

I employed a firm of builders to carry out work to my house, but they have left it in an even worse state - and charged even more than their quote!

Always make sure you choose a builder who is recommended by someone who can trust and check that they are members of a reputable trade body. Always make sure you get a written quote for the work, where they specify what work they will do. If the builders do not carry out the work to a reasonable standard, or do not finish the job properly, you can ask the court to order them to go back and complete the work. Alternatively, you can have someone else finish the job properly and sue the builders for the cost of putting the work right. You would almost certainly need to get a report from an expert surveyor or structural engineer to support your claim but, if you are successful, your opponent should have to refund their fees, together with any legal costs you incur. There are certain steps or ‘protocols’ that have to be followed before you take the matter to court, so we recommend you seek legal advice beforehand.

How much will it cost?

Dealing with housing procedure can be very expensive, especially if the case goes to court, so it is worth checking your buildings or contents insurance to see if you have the benefit of legal expenses insurance. We can also advise if other methods of funding, such as community legal service funding (legal aid), or conditional fee agreements, are available.

We are able to provide legal advice on all types of housing problem, including:

• Problems with tenants. We can help to landlords who are having difficulty in getting rent paid, or problems with anti-social tenants. We can also draw up tenancy agreements to try to prevent problems and advise on the rules about houses in multiple occupation and other legal obligations (including fire safety checks)
• Problems with landlords. We can assist tenants whose accommodation is in disrepair, or who are suffering harassment from their landlord or other anti-social tenants.   We can also assist in recovering compensation where the landlord has not protected the deposit.
• Long leasehold and enfranchisement. Our conveyancing department is able to provide a speedy service in dealing with the transfer or creation of leaseholds.  We can also advise on how leaseholders can acquire the freehold to their property and help them through the steps involved.  If there are problems with payment of service charges – or in landlords carrying out maintenance – we have expertise to help.

We have many years experience in dealing with all areas of law affecting landlords and tenants and can provide expert advice and assistance.  In some cases, we can provide an initial free consultation. You may also be covered on your insurance policy. 

To find out more, contact John Searby on john.searby@gerardmaye.co.uk
or telephone 01273 560426 to contact us.  

Gerard Maye Legal

36 Robertson Road
Brighton, E. Sussex BN1 5NL
Phone 01273 560426
Email: john.searby@gerardmaye.co.uk