Odd one with the Council , handing back a flat after death?

Mr Bump

Mr Bump

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Had an odd one today, a mate gave me a bell, just sorting out his father and the undertakers, he died in hospital yesterday (not covid) after a short fast illness.
Well he has had a call from the council saying they want his fathers flat back, empty, cleaned and ready for the next tennant in 7 days.

I told him to call them and tell them they can f*** right off, whilst that sounds rude i think dealing with a dead father takes importance. I said tell them they can either have the keys now and clear it themselves from tip to toe after he has a few hours just gathering anything important or they can wait 14 days minimum and he will do the best he can.

They said he also will need to remove all the carpets.

any how he has just called me back and said he called them and told them all that and he will not be removing the carpets.
He said the flat was his fathers and not his so he is not responsible for really clearing the flat at all, they have agreed and given him 21 days and then the council will clean and remove anything left ie carpets.
 
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Mr Bump said:
Had an odd one today, a mate gave me a bell, just sorting out his father and the undertakers, he died in hospital yesterday (not covid) after a short fast illness.
Well he has had a call from the council saying they want his fathers flat back, empty, cleaned and ready for the next tennant in 7 days.

I told him to call them and tell them they can f*** right off, whilst that sounds rude i think dealing with a dead father takes importance. I said tell them they can either have the keys now and clear it themselves from tip to toe after he has a few hours just gathering anything important or they can wait 14 days minimum and he will do the best he can.

They said he also will need to remove all the carpets.

any how he has just called me back and said he called them and told them all that and he will not be removing the carpets.
He said the flat was his fathers and not his so he is not responsible for really clearing the flat at all, they have agreed and given him 21 days and then the council will clean and remove anything left ie carpets.
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Had the same thing with my late MILs flat, i bit back and it was extended to 21 days
 
i think if i hadn't "advised" him to give them a finger he would have complied.

i am going to help him at the weekend, he has promised me a very old amplifier in exchange, haha and a beer when we can
 
I had the same with FiL's flat. They carried on until I pointed out that the tenancy agreement was with FiL and not me.
 
boyfalldown said:
I had the same with FiL's flat. They carried on until I pointed out that the tenancy agreement was with FiL and not me.
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well thats the thing what happens if the person has no relatives that want to step up, may mate Don was half tempted just to go and clear what he wanted which frankly wasnt much and just hand the keys in.
 
Mr Bump said:
well thats the thing what happens if the person has no relatives that want to step up, may mate Don was half tempted just to go and clear what he wanted which frankly wasnt much and just hand the keys in.
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I assume the council do it. Its their property after all
 
I see this happen on a regular basis, most properties are now housing association rather than council - it all changed to thwart the right to buy scheme.
Sadly it is run like a business, even though most are charities, minimum down time regarding rentals (partly to prevent squatters and vandalism admittedly) and try and get someone else to do the work at their cost.
Due to the housing crisis compliance and unoccuppied statistics are now all that matters, they've completely lost the human element, it wasn't just bricks and mortar but someones home.
 
Similar story.
We moved house last year and got to know several local estate agents.
We viewed a house with one agent (probate) and talking to another (different agent) they asked which other housed we had viewed.
We mentioned this property and she explained that she had been asked for a value (but did not get the listing).
When a probate valuation is requested they require the date of death. She asked and the guy said that day's date.
"But that's today's date, I need the date of death"
"Today is the date of death, he died this morning"
Greedy SIL I understand.
 
I had a issue with my council after my father died , He had a disabled badge and a bay outside the house , Not a council house , I rang the council to let them know he had passed away , Reply was don't use the parking card , WTF I did not intend to use the card anyway ,
The following day " 2 days after dad passed , Ding dong on the door bell , Standing at the door was a man in overalls , He asked If I could move my dads car ? , I thought hold on how does he know its dads car ? I asked WHY ?
Reply was I have come to burn off the disabled bay signage , Bloody hell
I was about to say dad is not cold yet but thought better of it

Shame councils can't be that efficient with other things isnt it .
 
Just to put the other side of the story: most public providers are tremendously pushed these days. They have very limited resources with consequent problems recruiting, training and then retaining sufficient staff. The Right to Buy legislation has been a disaster for public housing, due to local authorities being prevented from investing the income from sales in new houses. With all these problems the pressure to relet what properties they do have will lead to incidents as described above.

Also, I understand that, in law, the deceased person's estate has a duty to honour all contracts and agreements, so the council would have a right to charge for making good under the tenancy agreement.
 
Also, many, if not most, council staff are working from home, there’s a lockdown on. I guess that means poor decisions are more likely.
 
Peter123 said:
Similar story.
We moved house last year and got to know several local estate agents.
We viewed a house with one agent (probate) and talking to another (different agent) they asked which other housed we had viewed.
We mentioned this property and she explained that she had been asked for a value (but did not get the listing).
When a probate valuation is requested they require the date of death. She asked and the guy said that day's date.
"But that's today's date, I need the date of death"
"Today is the date of death, he died this morning"
Greedy SIL I understand.
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Whilst that may be true, grief gets us all in different ways. Some people are also just more practical about these things.

We knew my mum was dying and by the time she passed away, we had a funeral director sorted out, and most of the funeral planned.

We had already sold her bungalow (a year earlier) to pay for her care.

Do I miss my mum of course I do, but she had Alzheimer's, and that had already taken the mother I knew long before she died.

So whilst some relatives thought I(we) were wrong to sort things out whilst mum was dying, we just got on with it.

When I went into hospital to have my first cancer operation I had left letters, for my wife, daughter, mother, and In-laws.
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
Also, I understand that, in law, the deceased person's estate has a duty to honour all contracts and agreements, so the council would have a right to charge for making good under the tenancy agreement.
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Equally though - if that persons estate can't cover them (for whatever reason) they can't go after anybody else to fulfil those obligations
 
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I went over to meet Don at the flat last yesterday eve (mask and social dist of course) and had a good mooch and came to the conclusion there is a car full of personal items that he will remove, there is a few electrical items i will take on his behalf and punt them out on FB marketplace, TV, new microwave, kettle and stuff. Also about a small van of items for charity and clothes (he has called a local shop and when ready they will send a van) that just leaves some furniture which is the biggest to move and he will make arrangements with the council to pay them to collect and dispose (£200 quoted), then a deep clean of the place so should be back with them in 14 days, he has said the carpets are ok and will stay even though they wanted them removing. I suggested once flat is empty and cleaned a quick run round with my mums carpet cleaning machine should bring them back to decent.
 
boyfalldown said:
Equally though - if that persons estate can't cover them (for whatever reason) they can't go after anybody else to fulfil those obligations
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Of course.
 
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