Tenant has given up possession

[littleme]

Hello everyone

Just looking for some advice, my tenant stopped paying his rent at the end of 2008 and we have since served him a section 8 notice. On friday the agent called to say they believed that he had given up possession of hte house and had moved out. I went around today with the agent on an inspection and there is nothing in the house - no furniture on the ground floor. All the bedroom are also empty except for a double mattress and duvet in teh master bedroom.

What do i do now? I have tried to speak to the solicitor who served the notices for me but in typical solicitor fashion my calls are not being returned. Can i start marketing the property again. He has not returned the keys to the estate agent yet or admitted giving up possession - the agent just thought he would leave.

The house is okay, but things like door missing off fridge:rolleyes: and needs repainting - do i have the right to hold his deposit - the agent has taken care of this.

Thanks for reading and any replies much apprecaited.

Cheers

Littleme

[jeffrey]

Yes, you can market the property. BUT T has not yet formally surrendered, so there is a risk!

[Bel]

See: http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=17487

You must try and contact T for surrender

[Paul Gibbs]

read other threads on surrender - you will probably be ok, but as Jeffrey said there is a risk.

If you want to protect yourself further put a notice up on the door saying that you think he has abandoned and unless contact made within 7 or 14 days you will re-enter and assume he has surrendered.

when you re-enter take photographs of the damage and then also prepare a schedule of the damage and cost of repair. You can then apply to the TDS to deduct that amount from the deposit. If you have not protected the deposit then this may complicate matters (onyl in terms of deductinos and how to return any residue to T