Nearby flat's scary subtenant-enforcing lease covenant?

[babbington21]

Hi

i would be grateful if someone can offer some advice on this situation. my sister and her boyfriend own a flat and their upstairs neighbour rents his through a local letting agent.

a few nights ago this neighbour had a party (on a weekday). at 3am the boyfriend went and asked him to turn the music down but was told to f*** off. him and his guests were all doing drugs and for the rest of the night were screaming threats to my sister that they would slit her throat etc.

they complained to the tenants letting agent who went round and delivered him with a final warning (the police wouldn't attend which was of great use!) because the boyfriend had evidence on his phone.the agents said he was still off his face on drugs - why couldn't they evict him there and then as he was obviously in violation of the contract?

last night my sister called the police again because they could hear a girl screaming from his flat. the police attended this time but surely he should be chucked out. my sister is terrified in her own home.

do you know what they can do legally to get this tenant out and if the agent has an obligation to remove them if they are dangerous?

many thanks - any advice is appreciated

[jeffrey]

Start this way.
1. Each flat in block is leasehold.
2. Find out L, who owns freehold to block. Use LR Online, if necessary.
3. Find out OT, who owns other flat's leasehold. Use ditto.
4. Your sister + friend are T. As lessees, they complain to L. He/she presumably has enforcement powers against lessees.
5. T demands that L enforce against OT.

[babbington21]

many thanks for your reply. you will have to bear with me because i'm new and i'm not sure what all the abbreviations mean :) could you please tell me what OT is? also, if my sister owns the flat she doesn't have a landlord. they got the tenants details from the company that manages the building. can they force their neighbours landlord/letting agent to evict him?
many thanks for your time

[jeffrey]

LR = HM Land Registry.
The others are just convenient shorthand, and I've defined them for you. Usually:
L = Landlord
T = Tenant
OT= Other Tenant.

[jeffrey]

If my sister owns the flat she doesn't have a landlord.
If your sister owns the flat, she is a leaseholder/lessee. She does have a landlord, but that's more usually called the freeholder/lessor (i.e. the person next up in chain of title, entitled to receive her ground rent in accordance with lease of the flat which she owns).

[jeffrey]

Can they force their neighbours landlord/letting agent to evict him?
Not directly, no. However, sister as lessee can probably force L (freeholder of block) to enforce covenants against lessee of other flat- who will then perhaps evict the culprit.

[babbington21]

thank you very much for the clarification :)

i will pass this info to my sister and let you know how she gets on. thank you for your help

Hannah