As a landlord, it might seem more than a little unfair when complaints from neighbours come in your direction, rather than straight to your tenant.

It’s not you causing the problem, after all.

But the thing is, sometimes situations do arise where you could be liable for your tenant’s negligence. No, it’s not that common, but it does happen.

Equally, there’ll be times when your tenants come to you with a complaint about their own neighbours. And however much you might not feel it’s your responsibility to get involved, there are things you can do to help diffuse the situation and make yourself look like “landlord of the year” at the same time.

When are you liable for tenant negligence?

Thankfully, there aren’t many cases that will leave you liable if you receive a complaint about a tenant from a neighbour. It’d be a bit harsh for you to take all the flack for someone else’s bad behaviour now, wouldn’t it?

But if you’re actively encouraging the nuisance, if you let the property out knowing there’d be an issue, or if you’re deliberately turning a blind eye, something’s got to give.

I know, seems like you’d have to be a bit of a plonker to do any of those three things. But there are some circumstances where it’s understandable that it could happen, like if you leased the property for use as a small music venue, for example.

So while it’s unlikely that you’ll find yourself liable for your tenant’s negligence, you do have a duty of care to the people living around your property. And if you are ever made aware of some recurring antisocial behaviour coming from your property, it’s only right that you try to do something about it.

So how do you deal with complaints about your tenants?

First things first, talk to your tenant.

As soon as you receive a complaint, pick up the phone to your tenant and have a gentle, friendly conversation. Be totally transparent with them and try not to automatically assume that they are definitely guilty of any wrongdoing.

Gauge the situation, be receptive and able to talk problems through and ask how they think it’s best rectified. If it’s appropriate, ask them if they’d be able to apologise to the neighbours and do their bit to improve the relationship.

Of course, you’ll need to give them a chance to rectify the situation after that conversation. So wait a few days before getting back in touch to see if any progress has been made.

What if it doesn’t work?

If everything is sorted out with some polite conversations and a few new leaves turned, great. But if your tenant really is behaving badly and their poor conduct continues without resolution, it’s your job to remind them of the terms of their contract.

If you got your tenancy agreements right at the get-go, you should be in a position where you could give notice if awkward situations like these don’t improve.

Don’t be afraid to refer to the “nuisance” or “noise” clause in the tenancy agreement, but never threaten immediate eviction. Explain that you’re upholding your duties as a landlord and that they need to do the same as tenant.

If they continue to ignore you and the problem persists? That’s when you could consider contacting your local council, calling the police or serving a section 21 notice. And equally, you should be prepared that your tenant might give notice themselves, if they’re unhappy or feel unable to “do their thing” in your property.

And what about complaints from your tenants?

The reality is that it’s more likely that you’ll probably receive complaints of antisocial behaviour from your tenants, rather than about them. So if a tenant does ever complain about a neighbour being a nuisance and ask for your help, here are a couple of things you can do to ease the issue.

First off, you can contact the main building management.
If your property is part of a block of flats, encourage your tenant to contact management to enlist their help in sorting out the issue, or do it for them. If there’s a potential breach of lease happening, they should be very quick to help.

Send a letter
Consider sending a letter to those behaving badly, or encourage your tenants to do it. Politely-worded, the letter should do its bit to resolve and diffuse the situation as far as possible. This is your best option if the complaint’s been made within a house and no lease is required.

Contact the landlord/owner
If your lovely letter gets no response, and if there’s no lease required on the property, find the details for the landlord or owner of the property with dodgy inhabitants. And if you’ve got no way of finding the contact details, use HM Land Registry to get closer to the source!

Whichever line you go down, ask your tenant to note and monitor the various stages of the complaint and resolution process, and do the same thing yourself, so that you’ve got a good record from start to finish.

One way or another, you’ll get there. But if you’d rather not deal with the rigmarole yourself and if solving complaints feels like one too many things to add to your to-do list, you should share the burden with a back-end property management team.

And if you need a back-end management team? Look no further! Give me a call on 020 3432 3888 or send an email to

he***@he******.uk











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