New carpets and redecoration required every two years?

Yvonne,

Thats some turnover of tenants, 100 a year. I assume you let rooms to students as your main business activity? Different rental markets have different problems and issues. If I was renting to students every tenancy would have a guarantor, and probably a very financially sound one at that.

I'm at around 30 tenancies accross 20 houses over 6 years. I've only been to court once, and had to go through the whole process to baliff eviction. Its not a move you would ever take lightly, its hugely stressful and total takes over your life.

You can only engage with tenants who themselves want to engage. I had private tenants, in work you flew through their references, paid their deposit and month in advance, moved in, then never paid another penny. It took me 8 months to get them out. Believe me I tried every means of communication possible and offerd many different solutions to try and fix the situation such as spreading the rent owed over 6 or 12 months. Alas, there was no solution, they were going to live in my property for free until they were forceably evicted by the court.

As a landlord however good you are, whatever you ability to get down with your tenants - you cant fix this.

Reply to the comment left by "Industry Observer " at "30/04/2014 - 10:21":

The need and frequency for s.21 and s.8 notices will depend, in some degree, to the profile of the tenants that are accommodated. Tenant's from abroad may feel more vulnerable and ready to talk about the issues; working tenants who find their income has reduced may be more ready to move to cheaper accommodation, albeit not as good as formerly enjoyed. Yvonne's approach sounds very human and yes, talking can work, but not always. Her success points to the strengths of careful management and well done.
With regard to the original question, I would agree with other comments - there is no legal requirement to decorate and re-carpet every 2 years, provided the carpets pose no hazard and the decorating is generally in a good state of repair. What I would say, though, is that the property does not appear to have been decorated for 5 years. Whilst it may seem ok, perhaps after 5 years some freshening up is required? Certainly in my training sessions with landlords, some allowance in the contingency fund for re-decoration should be made, and 5 years is the period I would generally suggest is written into the tenancy agreement.
However, this tenant does seem to be messing about, so serve the notice and get rid.

I have never had to go legal in 23 years and only ever lost less than £100 - cheaper than a cooker replacement. I must be lucky - or very licky in my choice of tenants through the manging agent.

Dear Roy, I hope you are not getting "licky" with your tenants...it's not a good move ! LOL
( How did you edit that typo Roy, 10 hours after posting it ?)

In nearly 20 years of letting, I, also, have only once had to take court action.

Talking does work, but Yvonne's 'taking them down the pub', I think is getting a bit too personal, unless it is to get them to sign something whilst intoxicated !! -LOL, again !!
And I also, do not really want to tell my tenants all about me and my business, but I guess it depends what you are willing to share to get a good outcome to the problem.

All I would say is, Well Done Yvonne !!

Hi Alan,

A five year tenancy, where the place has obviously been looked after, is not to be dismissed lightly. It sounds as though everything was fine until they started their own business and with this change of circumstances now they are struggling - good tenants can quickly become problematic when they lose their jobs/income. Only you will have any idea whether this may still work out and if so, it is probably in your interest to try to help them, as court options are time-consuming and costly. (If they think they will have to move and find a deposit elsewhere I bet the payments stop altogether).

The bathroom (and the nonsense about re-decoration etc) is simply a distraction - for both of you. I agree with Yvonne - if it needs doing, just get on with it whilst they are there - it may resolve the situation, but if it doesn't, it will be ready for showing to prospective new tenants and may help you to increase the rent. If they avoid paying you don't lose out that much, as it would not have been presentable until finished and would therefore result in a void period.

If you want them to stay, then insist on setting up a direct debit for the weekly amount. Become more pro-active and arrange to visit every week to collect the rent until this happens, so that they realise that weekly payments need to be paid absolutely on time. Switching back to monthly would be tricky for a lot of people.

Otherwise, if you want to find new tenants just give them notice to leave and cut your losses; it need only be in the form of a polite letter which includes the requisite wording for the Section 21. Presumably it is an AST (which is now statutory periodic) and you are up to date with your deposit protection and issuing of information? If not, they could use that against you if it gets legal and surely you really want to avoid that route anyway, if you can?