Housing

 - From a tenant's perspective, what are  the telltale signs that a problem has become a legal issue? 

- Every tenant should be able to contact their landlord freely, in line with whichever agreement they've got, 
to raise an issue, and if the landlord becomes difficult, or things don't get fixed, or things don't get sorted,
then that's probably when you might want to seek advice, particularly if it has quite an adverse impact on the way in which you can stay in a property. 

- Would you advise when you're contacting your landlord, to keep everything in writing, keep a record? Is that something, best practise wise? 

- It's best practise. It depends on the relationship you've got with the landlord. If you've got a pretty good relationship, then a phone call should be enough to resolve something, but a text message, an email,if they're using an agent, probably better to go via email so that you've got that record, because agents are representing so many landlords, they've got so many on their books, that you know, it's quite easy for them to lose a record of something. 
 

- I'm gonna tell you the truth. I've never actually bought a house, so perhaps talking about the different stages that you've got, might be helpful. 

- You put your offer in. You see a house you like. You love it. You go to the estate agents. You put your offer in. Quite often, at the time you put your offer in, you'll be asked to provide some sort of finance details to show that you can afford it.

So if you have a mortgage in principle ready or details of your mortgage broker that the estate agent can get in touch with, that'll be helpful. If you have details of a solicitor, then, as I say, you can provide it to the estate agent just then. 

After that stage, if your offer was fully accepted by the agent, a memorandum of sale will be issued to your solicitor and the seller's solicitor, and that's when the ball starts really rolling.

There is quite a lot of paperwork that comes out at the start of a transaction in terms of client care information questionnaires, but that's so we don't have to keep on coming back to the client throughout the course of the transaction. 

We try and get as much information as we can at the outset so we do not have to go backwards and forwards. 

The contract pack follows then from the seller's solicitor. Your solicitor will review it, let you have details, let you have a plan, other important documentation. They will raise inquiries.

They would get searches. Your mortgage offer will be forthcoming. The whole process can, depends, normally take anywhere between 8 to 12 weeks. on average,but your solicitor will guide you through it.

- What are the key things landlords can do to protect themselves when they start to become worried about issues with a tenant, or even before they become worried? 
 

- If, for example, it's something like antisocial behaviour, you need good evidence to show that is the case, so you need to speak to neighbours, you need to have all your evidence together. Then you should really be seeking legal advice as soon as you think something may end up in the court process. I would say that's the time, really, to speak to a solicitor, but if you're not sure before you get to that stage, speak to a solicitor at that stage as well. 
 

- Yeah, but what you can do is before you get to us is to make sure you've got all your evidence. 

- All your evidence, yes, and if you look at what your obligations were and you think, "Well, I haven't done that," then you really need to speak with a solicitor as to what your next stage can be in light of you not having done that.