Tenant In Distress – Mowing The Lawn

HI Jill, I wonder if under common law that the verbal agreement with the previous landlord is sufficient to argue the case. I suspect that it maybe. It is possible that after so much time (assuming the same tenancy agreement) and in the light that the previous landlord arranged / conducted all the gardening in the past, that you may have a case. Of course it would help if you have some evidence of the verbal agreement or evidence that he did do the work to date. I would therefore suggest you consult with a solicitor on this basis.

Reply to the comment left by "Rob Crawford" at "03/12/2016 - 13:41":

Thanks Rob, yes I do have proof of garden maintenance since I moved in, and yes it has been done on a regular basis until the son of my previous landlord who died took over.

I don't look to be confrontational, but where this is concerned I'm going to stand firm on it, for the reasons I have given. The new tenancy comes up in April 2017 and this is when I will have everything in place to state my case - and if the landlord attempts to "force" me into accepting a tenancy on the same property I've been in for 14 years, on clauses that were NEVER part of why I accepted this property, I will indeed take action against him.

I would prefer not to, but if a property is let on a certain criteria "agreement" and has been in operation for an extended period, as in my case 14 years, then just because another member of the same family now becomes the landlord he cannot decide to change the original agreement to suit himself.

It would be perfectly acceptable to change what has been agreed IF...

1. There had been a change of tenant so the landlord could introduce new clauses for them to take on the garden maintenance...This is NOT the case! No interruption to the tenancy at all.

2. Any tenancy where the tenant has remained in situ for over a decade or sometimes longer should not be subject to being treated as though they are a NEW tenant every 12 months where a landlord can ultimately change clauses as though the tenant was.

3. I will in fact put a case forward on this basis if it comes to it, otherwise a tenant could rent a property at the beginning of their tenancy, where the landlord has requested a long term tenant as in my case, assure them of certain *inclusions* for their tenancy then change it once the tenant has moved in 6-12 months later dependent on the the fixed AST. Having a system like this opens it up to being abused *potentially* as any landlord/letting agent who wanted to get the tenant in so as not lose rent, just have to wait a few months to change the deal.

I have no problem with challenging this, and will...I would prefer not to, but have no intentions of having my landlord who is not respecting his late father's wishes on how the property should be offered to a tenant or maintained.

For everyone who has followed this post, the following may be of interest as it is a COPY exactly of the email that went between myself and the agent who supplied the "Docu-Sign" agreement for my tenancy, and personally I think the landlord will have very little solid ground to stand on. Please note: for confidential and legal reasons I have blanked out the email addresses of the letting company and the agents full surname.

----- Original Message -----

From: Sammie S*******e
To: Jill H*********
Sent: Wednesday, March 18, 2015 12:39 PM
Subject: RE: Sycamore Avenue

Hi Jill
Thanks for your e-mail.
Yes such a lovely day considering how misty and foggy it was this morning. Honestly the agreement is nothing for you to worry about. It is our standard agreement which we send to all tenants it is here to protect you as well as the landlord.

Mr E*********** wants to carry on with the same arrangement that you had with his father. Therefore Mr E************ will tend to the gutters and cutting the grass – so nothing will change, you can stop worrying. However this will not be written into this agreement as this is an arrangement between you and the late father that has been ongoing and extended when B********* letting agents looked after the property for the late Mr. E********* in the latter years for him.

* After receiving this email I signed the tenancy in good faith, unfortunately my landlord seems to conveniently forgotten what he's agreed to where a letting agent (Sammie the daughter of the his GF) assures me ALL will remain the same.

Hi Jill, if you are now on a contracted periodic tenancy and the landlord wishes to end that existing tenancy he does not have to give reason and under current law this will not be opposed by the Court. Whether you would have grounds under retaliatory eviction can only be determined by the Judge, I don't feel this issue is in the context of why retaliatory eviction law was introduced. It is a new law and has yet to be fully tested. The landlord may well have changed his mind since the correspondence was received, I am not sure how this would stand in Court. You should seek legal advice.
Rob Crawford recently posted...HMO Mandatory Licensing to be Expanded

Reply to the comment left by "Rob Crawford" at "03/12/2016 - 16:40":

Rob, thank you for another posting, but not sure where you got "periodic" tenancy from, however, your posting has convinced me things need to seriously change for tenants renting where they have been in a property for many years. As you seem to suggesting " A landlord can change his mind at anytime, regardless of what he's agreed to" which only clarifies my point further, basically having an agreement of any kind is futile.

Although I suspect Rob IF I changed my mind about something I had agreed to, and just say " well, I've changed my mind I no longer want to clean the property" I would be held accountable and reminded of it, and quite rightly too. What a ludicrous one sided law, that entitles two parties to enter into an agreement that ONLY allows one side to change their mind. It makes no sense whatsoever to have a tenancy agreement because it's not worth the paper it's written on. If a landlord cannot be held accountable for what he's offered a "LONG TERM tenant" then I'm afraid the law needs to updated and changed as this is completely unjust. Can you imagine any business that offered the sale of an item or a service "after" agreeing the terms with the customer. I'm a customer and if I buy something on the basis of being told it has A, B, C & D and I purchase on that basis and when the item/service is accepted, the seller changes those terms, because they have changed their mind on what they will supply they would be in very hot water.

I will stand my ground when the new tenancy comes up and won't seek legal advice as I don't feel I need to. I feel perfectly capable of acting for myself. Eviction, gosh, can you imagine what he would like trying to evict an OAP who has been an excellent tenant, no, not just good, but excellent, where he's paid for no maintenance on the property in 14 years as I've covered it - left the property without proper heating with serious damp problems since he took over from his late father in January 2015, and some 21 months later is only just providing heating in the property and on top of that informing me " he wanted everything to continue the same" which I have proof of.. I would welcome the opportunity of actually challenging it in a court, because it's only way of ever getting the law changed. I don't scare easily, but I am a busy woman, so I will thank you once more, but I think this topic has been exhausted and I shall now take my leave of it, as I have spent far too long on this thread regarding this "damn garden"

Thanks Rob, have a good weekend!

Reply to the comment left by "Rob Crawford" at "03/12/2016 - 16:40":

Also, the case of Superstrike vs Rodrigues confirmed that a statutory periodic tenancy is a new tenancy for deposit protection. On that basis the landlord might also argue that the garden maintenance agreement also ended when the fixed term tenancy ended.
.

Hay Jill did you say your against private renting ?? Because it's not long term ??? (Well you've been there 14 years). I like many other Landlords on here would love long term tenants. I see your having a go against the private rental sector and why not !! Everyone else is against us you might as well jump on the band wagon....... but with all these tax changes Landlords will soon be forced to sell up (some) others will have to raise the rent to cover the cost of these tax changes. I can see your moaning over having to pay the garden maintenance bill, but soon that will be the least of your worries because at the moment you are one of the lucky ones who has a Landlord who owns the property outright (mortgage free) and these tax changes won't effect him that much. I would try and sort things out with your Landlord and try to stay in the house you love, because if you was to move to another rented property and the Landlord has a mortgage he/she will have to raise the rent in the near future to cover his increase in tax that he/she will be paying. They may even be forced to sell meaning you would have to move again. Good luck

Reply to the comment left by "Jill Harding" at "03/12/2016 - 18:14":

I think we've ALL spent far too long on this thread ?

Yes me to but there is a lot to get through when tenants don't really know what tough times are ahead for Landlords and tenants with these changes. I could go on about this all night !!!!

Simples, cup of tea and a chat , LL is either going to honour the agreement or not.