Hi
Is it legal to insert a clause in the tenancy agreement to prescribe that if at the end of the tenancy, the tenant leaves any items in the property the landlord will dispose of them. And also deduct the costs of disposal from the deposit. I have read advice saying that a landlord is obliged to try to sell and return any proceeds to the tenant. And then only a period of time. I think 28 days.
In this situation I would need to rid of any stuff left behind immediately so that the place could be marketed for rental as soon as possible. Just want to know if I can avoid this particular problem by making a tenant agree upfront to give up rights to any items left in the property and to make them liable for the costs of disposal
regards
2 Comments
That would be an unfair term and unenforceable under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
Where goods are left, the landlord becomes an involuntary bailee (the important word being involuntary which, as it sounds, means you don’t want to be the custodian of the goods but are).
You must take reasonable care of the goods and give reasonable notice for the tenant to collect them. If the proper notices are served they can then be sold/disposed of.
Reasonable is relative to the situation so if someone moved next door, less notice would be needed than if they moved to America for example.
Between 14 and 28 days would commonly be regarded as reasonable although there isn’t really any suitable court cases to back that up.
Please see this article for full details.
Hello
Thanks for the advice. Good to know!