I’m not a charity: Is it time to issue a Section 21?

I personally don’t charge interest on rent arrears. I would just be glad that a payment plan had been agreed and if it was being followed then I would try to work with the tenant. At least I was getting my money and the tenant was trying. However I wouldn’t answer questions about my personal finances to anyone and if a tenant was £2500 in arrears and wasn’t sticking to a payment plan then I would be trying to evict while I can. As you say you aren’t a charity, nor are you a bank. You are a business. You still have expenses relating to that house and rent should be what covers them. If your tenant can’t pay their rent then you should be looking to resolve the situation where you have one who can.

You have breached the Tenant Fees Act. You cannot charge 10%.

Seek professional advice.

You can’t simply charge 10% interest on late pay

It was easily googleable

Late rent. Your landlord or agent can only charge you if you are 2 weeks late with your rent. They can charge interest. This cannot be more than 3% above the Bank of England base rate.

Reply to the comment left by SteveFowkes at 04/07/2024 – 09:39
Exactly.

And it’s an annual interest rate charge.

So, if there is a late payment of £1000 the could charge less than 23p per day in interest.

That’s 1000 x 8.25% divided by 365.

(It’s 8,25% because that BofE base rate plus 3%).

We are landlords, not loan sharks.

Reply to the comment left by Cider Drinker at 04/07/2024 – 09:50You didn’t say what the monthly rent payments were, so I can’t see how serious the situation is in terms of number of months in arrears. But I wouldn’t have thought the £600 one was that many behind? Anyhow, even though you’re entitled to charge interest, I’d only do so if it came to having to evict them after all attempts to avoid that. So if it comes to legal action, include it in your court claim amount by all means, but if you want to be seen to be bending over backwards to help a tenant which, like it or not, is what we have to do these days, then I wouldn’t have introduced interest into the conversation at this stage. I don’t think the thought of being charged 59 pence a day or whatever it is, is going to make your missed rent materialise.

You are right, you are not a charity. But the Government has taken over your property rights and given some of them to the tenants.
As other have mentioned, the rate of interest you can charge is not your right, but a privilege you can do up to a certain rate.

As the others say, you cannot charge interest of as much as 10% PER ANNUM on unpaid rent – only 3% above the Bank of England base rate (which has been 5.25% for nearly a year now, so one can charge 8.25%pa).
HOWEVER, if what you have charged is a 10% FLAT AMOUNT on something that has been outstanding for well over a year, this is likely to be legitimate – somebody needs to convert this to an equivalent annual rate!
On another note, why do you want to add fuel to the arguments of those who want to abolish S.21?
‘Cos this will be viewed (wrongly) as “yet another no-fault eviction” – and it seems to me that you can easily issue a S.8 notice:
* Ground 8 (mandatory): Serious rent arrears – at least 2 months’ arrears (assuming it should be paid monthly);
* Ground 10 (discretionary): Rent arrears – not as serious as those used for mandatory ground 8.
* Ground 11 (discretionary): Persistent delay in rent payments.
Do check the maths – and the details – first, and maybe (IF necessary) you can re-do the payment plan/s to be compliant with the interest levels that one IS allowed to charge.

“Tenant can’t afford to pay what they owe me so I’ll charge them an extra extortionate, illegal, 10% on top”. In what way did you possibly think that was a good idea? ? That said, S21 is the way to proceed but expect to write off the debt.

Reply to the comment left by Ron H-W at 04/07/2024 – 10:07The only information that we have from the author is…
… ?’?? ?ℎ????? ?ℎ?? ????????? ?????? ???????? ?? 10% ?? ?ℎ? ?????? ?? ?????? ????…
It doesn’t say anything about the actual fee charged in terms of an annual interest rate. This is not lawful and could land the errant landlord with a fine of up to £5,000. Also, the landlord will not be able to rely on Section 21 until they have repaid the illegal charges. The late payment interest fee (BofE base rate plus 3% (annually)) can only be charged if the AST says so.
Author needs to seek professional legal advice urgently.

Lets hope if Labour get in they don’t impose an eviction
Ban siting a housing crisis .
Prepare for a long wait down the Court rout the tenant
wont pay. Its hard but sometimes easer to pay them off
if defended it can take a long time back and forth to court
I took me a year sometimes much longer I have heard.