Village Hall

[susannicola]

We have permission for Hairdresser but not all the services she is having in her shop, also we have never asked her for any rent rise to stop sub letting but she said no and that we couldnt stop her so we are having an electricity meter put in her premises this Wednesday as £400 + per month electric will close the hall she opens from morning till 10pm 6 days per week sometimes Sundays if she is asked to open eg weddings and christenings, our water bill is high too as we are on a meter but it would be too expensive to put separate water in, hall couldnt afford it so she gets it free. Committee is meeting with her again tonight to see what can be sorted x

[wales01man]

The Contract is what matters if you post it you can get more help I for one can see why she is doing what she is doing until the Contract is terminated not a lot the Hall can do if she refuses to vacate stop adding other services or the contract ends she will no doubt carry on.

[jaguarsuk]

And in future it might be worth drawing up a contract to lease the hall via this website as opposed to the committee doing it: https://www.lawdepot.co.uk/contracts.../#.Wt3eFi7wbRY

[susannicola]

Just looked at that site for contracts wish we had known about it 18 months ago x

[susannicola]

Committee meeting last night with hairdresser she blatantly lied and said it was her friend doing the tattoo eyebrows for free, her mother attended with her and she backed her up we have her adverts that she had put on facebook but she still denied that this was part of her businesskept saying its my friend doing it for free, we cannot win with her we are all too old and she is running rings round us

[Amethyst]

Maybe someone 'undercover' could ring up to enquire / book in for tattoo eyebrows ( why would you want tattoo eyebrows ? ) or nails and ask how much it is ?

[Phaeton]

Was there any provision in the lease for termination?

[jaguarsuk]

Was there any provision in the lease for termination?

If there is then you need to draw up a much more comprehensive lease and then serve notice with an offer to sign a new lease.

Personally I would increase the rent to cover the actual cost to you. Figure out the difference in the water bill from before she traded to now each month and include this as a "Standard Monthly Contribution to Water Utility." That she pays her own electricity. I would give permission for all the things she is doing now to be done there, but put in that permission needs to be sought for anything else in writing and only allowed if granted in writing.

If she signs then you have resolved the issue and protected your position. If she doesn't then she vacates and you rent to someone else with much more robust terms to protect your position.

[Phaeton]

Another thought is there anybody in the village who is either a solicitor or works within a solicitors office who could assist with a meeting at a reduced charity rates, without being too condescending she sounds like hard nosed business person & the committee are made up of 'too nice' people.

[susannicola]

Thank you everyone we have had to go to a solicitor from the nearby town he isnt cheap but at least contact will be better than the one we did feeling sorry for the girl as she had lost her previous shop which had been in town center, i cannot tell you how much stress this has caused the people on the committee as we are all elderly thank you all for the good advice from this site x

[susannicola]

Was there any provision in the lease for termination?

There is a 3 month provision for both her and the Village Hall x

[Phaeton]

There is a 3 month provision for both her and the Village Hall x

I think I would be serving that now then at least your exposure is finite, but maybe wait until you have seen the solicitor.

Not everybody in this world is nice unfortunately (your tenant not your solicitor)

[jaguarsuk]

Thank you everyone we have had to go to a solicitor from the nearby town he isnt cheap but at least contact will be better than the one we did feeling sorry for the girl as she had lost her previous shop which had been in town center, i cannot tell you how much stress this has caused the people on the committee as we are all elderly thank you all for the good advice from this site x

I think i would have spoken to her outlining your intention to serve a new lease and what it's terms will be, then asking what her intention would be regards signing it before I spent money on a solicitor personally. Unless you intend to market and re-let it regardless.

I think I would be serving that now then at least your exposure is finite, but maybe wait until you have seen the solicitor.

Not everybody in this world is nice unfortunately (your tenant not your solicitor)

I would wait if it is the case you want her to sign another lease, giving notice of termination alone might cause her to find other premises and then you left with a vacant property you'll need to market. However serving the two together tells her the whole facts and she can make an informed choice then.