The Complete Guide to Letting Property  
6th edition by Liz Hodgkinson 

Problems with social tenants

Social tenants are not at all the same animals as private tenants paying their own rent. In the first place, references are not taken as these tenants are housed according to ‘need’ rather than their suitability as rental occupiers. This does not necessarily mean they are all bad people, but clearly there is far more of a risk with such tenants than others.

Nor can they be easily evicted, as then they would be made homeless, and possibly cause even more bother to the authorities responsible for housing them. Such tenants are, though, issued with a tenancy agreement when they are housed in a property, as with any other tenancy, and they must abide by its terms.

If they then cause problems by their bad behaviour, complaints must be made to the relevant housing authority in writing. The authority will then write to the tenants in question – although those determined to behave badly usually deny ever receiving any letters – and caution them. Further complaints will cause the matter to be brought to court, at which time they can be evicted instantly, if the judge determines that they have violated the terms of their tenancy agreement. But however bad their behaviour, it is difficult to evict them before they have been in the property for six months.

Personal note: in the building where I live, there is one flat on lease to a local authority. Most of the tenants have been absolutely fine, but one, a young mother with a two-year old child, caused immense problems with horrendous noise, drugs, music being played into the small hours, police being called out, windows being smashed and violent boyfriends. We eventually managed to get her evicted after three official letters and numerous telephone complaints.

Ordinary tenants can cause these problems too, of course, but landlords, managing agents and others must be aware that social tenants can be loose cannons. After all, without wishing to prejudge, there is a reason why these people have become homeless in the first place. Also, although Housing Associations and local authorities undertake to keep properties they lease in good repair, in practice this often does not occur, and such properties can be a disgrace to surrounding houses or flats.

This is an extract of a book published by Kogan Page, ?10.99
www.lizhodgkinson.com

 

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