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Hi, our tenants are unhappy with the storage heaters in the property and I probably would be too. We're currently looking at spending ~£5k on a new heating system (likely either A2A or A2W heat pumps) but if we had a tenant in who was on benefits, we could get that for free along with insulation etc too.
Has anyone in a similar position offered to pay off tenants to leave? How was your experience if so? Thank you
First question is when does the tenancy end and do they plan to stay longer? Once the fixed term is up you could always evict them.
But why can’t you do the work with these tenants? The loss rent and bills you’d be paying when vacant can quickly add up and could surpass £5k if you have delays to the project.
Great advice
This is a complete arsehole move!
machiavellian
But possibly cost saving.
Well that's OK then
/s
Have you got good tenants, who pay and look after the place? And your wanting to risk new tenants on benefits who wouldn’t pass affordability checks in order to get a grant? Sounds foolish to me. Are you sure you could get it for free? A lot of these government grants look like they cover the full cost, then you realise you have to use an approved contractor on their list that charges more than most others do you still pay something. Personally, I’d leave the tenants in situ. They should have known at the start of tenancy that it was storage heaters. Let them leave if their own accord if they become really unhappy about it. Personally, if I was the tenant I’d accept nothing less than the rent I’d be expected to pay for the remaining lease as a payment to move out. Moving house is stressful, I wouldn’t do it for cheap just so you can claim a grant.
To then evict the tenants on benefit.
Yes this is probably exactly what will happen. It's disgusting behaviour of a landlord to think about kicking out good tenants to get money because they get a grant if they have a tenant on benefits.
Not kicking out, offering cash for keys.
No, that's the existing tenants you're thinking of. I'm predicting what would happen to the second set, those on benefits. Not sure they'd be so incentivised. Any cash provided towards tenants would reduce the value of the OP's 'cunning' plan to profit from grant money.
So, how much do you think existing tenants would want? Lol.. and how much are you willing to give the second set when they find out you've used them for your own benefit. And yes, they will probably find out because you'll be needing their proof of benefit and maybe a signature (i had our private property's insulation done when I was on benefits so I know this) what happens when you've had the money and want them out only for them to decide they've done you a favour so nope not leaving..I'll tell you..it'll be an absolute shit show
I didn't address any of those points, just noted the difference between kicking someone out and making them an offer to leave voluntarily.
It's fine to voluntarily offer, but what happens if they say no?? As for the second set most people don't like to be used for money
No idea, I'm not defending the idea, just saying it isn't the same as kicking someone out.
The ECO4 route can be quite a bruising experience. Lots of middle men, not much control over the installer or how they put it in. Then you are reponsible for making whatever they shove in work for the rest of time. Plus redecorating and putting right any damage. If they want to put in internal wall insulation you may have to redecorate the entire house and risk damp problems. But yes its possible to get solar panels, insulation and heatpumps at no cost, you can't guarantee you will qualify and get the funding mind. It might be better to get the £7500 grant and have it done properly. If you get tenants earning under £30000 a year will they have enough money to continuously run a heat pump, pay the rent and look after the house? These grants are generally tantalisingly out of reach.
They should have the money for that if it's installed properly tbh
Given there's £15K of government money, they can also pop some solar panels on the the roof too.
But yes, eco4 grants are really difficult to get and you'd probably need to get someone to rectify some of the work too tbh. But if they could get central heating out of that eco 4 grant, that's decent given installers can't really screw that up
The heat pump bit is where they get a £7.5K grant anyway. If you go to heatpumpmonitor.org you can see people who have the best SCOPs. You can also check out your local "heat geek"
If done properly, a heat pump should either be no more expensive than a gas boiler and possibly even cheaper tbh. Though when they're getting central heating via an eco4 grant, it'd be good for the landlord to pay for bigger radiators and/or underfloor heating instead.
you may need to guarantee them a good reference too
In a nutshell, you want your current tenants to leave so you can get new tenants in who are on benefits to obtain a freebie from the government?
Which is immoral but completely okay to do. Loophole in the system but landlords will be hated and shut down for saying it when government are the ones with the power to shut the loophole. This is what happens when incentives to take on benefit ls outweigh the benefits of having a non benefit tenant. Will see a lot more of this happen closer to the energy minimum band being rolled out.
Immoral but completely okay to do? Square that circle please
In that its not illegal
Just because it's legal doesn't make it okay
It is immoral like I said the 'okay' was just the wrong word but it is legal.
I hope you expect some nasty replies u/blizeH.
It can make business sense to house tenants who are eligible for government grants. Evicting tenants to accommodate them is not desirable. Additionally, dealing with vacant periods and the costs of remarketing can be expensive. Moreover, housing individuals with lower income levels increases the risk of default.
Alas, the government is launching a new scheme. Here is some early info on the next generation of the insulation grants. They are doing this as Labour plans to require an EPC by C by 2030 (earlier for mortgaged landlords) and are launching a new EPC system of calculation.
Landlords will be handed grants of up to £15,000 to cover the cost of Labour’s new EPC targets – but only if they let to low-income tenants that either live in certain impoverished areas, receive means-tested benefits, or earn less than £36,000.
u/blizeH If you are going the heat pump route, I'd highly recommend a "heat geek" and/or looking here too
Then choose the person with the best SCOP near you. The guy I'll go with isn't a heat geek but he's got really good SCOPs. If you're getting eco4 upgrades, you might also get solar + storage too? Which would be quite nice
Also are you sure you can get eco4 grants? You have to have a property that's below a D in EPC AND you have to not have central heating (though it seems you don't have central heating here)
I rent only to housing - how would I get the upgrade for free ?
Amazes me how cheap some landlords are. Gives us all a bad rep
Don't lose your tenants, figure out how much they would save, increase the rent a bit to cover this saving. Install the new system. Take into account the loss you will make in the void period and agent fees.
Far simpler to just install 1-2 modern high heat storage heaters.
Lol
Like it's not hard enough the relationship between landlords and those on benefits. People don't want to rent to us but you OP are happy to use them cos it benefits you. Like I'm sure there's a good business argument a d I certainly do see your rationale but from my side of the aisle it's gross.
Typical uk landlord shit. Ethics? That’s not a word