We are living in a quickly evolving letting world, both for residential and commercial premises.
There seems to be an issue increasingly faced by landlords, resulting from insufficient vetting procedures at the tenancy inception.
Some of the issues we are currently seeing landlords face are:
- Tenants excessive hoarding at the property or using the property for storage rather than the agreed use;
- Unlawful sub-lettings;
- Tenants using the property for immoral and illegal purposes, such as a to run a cannabis farm; or
- Commercial tenants not trading from the premises and instead using them for purposes which cause nuisance or annoyance to others within multi-occupied sites or Estates.
These issues can end up being incredibly costly for landlords, not only in dealing with the issue itself but also subsequent reinstatement and repairs once possession of the property has been recovered.
At a time when we are seeing tenants use properties for use other than what was intended it is evident that landlords need to ensure that their letting agents are carrying out sufficient vetting of tenants prior to tenancies being granted, but that they also organise regular inspections to identify these issues as early on as possible.
We are currently working with landlords to help them mitigate their risks, including working with their letting agents at the outset to ensure the correct due diligence is undertaken. We are also reviewing the terms of leases/tenancy agreements and including bespoke clauses regarding inspections, possession and forfeiture. We are also considering increased rent deposits and advising on strategy both to prevent these issues arising in the first instance but to also assist in getting possession should the need arise.
We have an experienced team at Howard Kennedy who can assist with all new letting and existing letting issues. Please contact Jenna Russell (Jenna.Russell@HowardKennedy.com) or Bhavini Patel (Bhavini.Patel@howardkennedy.com)
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