Garage council - the.bloke

Hi All
I have rented a garage from the council for a long time now.

On March 27, the council send to all garage tenants an increase letter. From £11/week to £30/week.
Most tenant, according to the staff returned their garage keys.

I have returned my keys but my neighbour, after returning his keys kept his car in his garage.
Now he is panicking on what to do next.

No letter was send to him, nor any sticker on the door to contact the council.
He made a double of the key but the lock has been changed without let him it knows.

It's been 5 weeks now and no news.
Through a small gap at the top of the garage, one can see the car. So we he knows it's still there.

What are the powers and obligations [if any] of the council in that case?

Is it trespassing, as he did not brake anything to get in? He just said a white lie when he returned the keys and kept his car in.

Can the council take his car away without notifying him?

Thanks

Edited by the.bloke on 06/05/2019 at 20:23

Garage council - RT

He needs to contact the council and make arrangements to remove the car after they've opened the garage.

Garage council - the.bloke

What would happen if he does not?

Keping the car in is obviously a better choice for him as he does not drive it often.

It's a classic.

Garage council - alan1302

Why does he not just ask the council?

Garage council - the.bloke

I told him so.

He is afraid that they might come and tow his car away without warning.

Does the council has the power tp do so?

Edited by the.bloke on 06/05/2019 at 21:13

Garage council - RT

He can't just keep the car there after handing the keys back and presumably stopped paying rent.

He either needs to find somewhere else to store it or restart the garage rental, despite the higher price.

Garage council - alan1302

I told him so.

He is afraid that they might come and tow his car away without warning.

Does the council has the power tp do so?

If he's just left the car there then, yes, they can.

Garage council - Bromptonaut

If I've got this right neighbour owns classic car and keeps it in garage rented from Council. Council hike the rent and he stops paying rent and hands in key but leaves car there relying on a duplicate key.

Council, as might be expected, change locks.

Do the Council even know it's there? If their contractor was simply told to change locks and all garages where tenancy was terminated that's what they did. No instruction to catalogue the contents which in most cases was probably abandoned rubbish.

I would expect the Council to write to the ex-tenants saying garages were to be re let and giving them a deadline to remove stuff or Council would do it. Given your neighbour has more in there than an old bike and two rusty shovels he needs to get in touch with Council TODAY and make arrangements either to move the car or enter into new tenancy at higher cost. I doubt he'll get a better deal than £30/week.

One thing is certain, the problem will not go away if he ignores it and every week he 'tresspasses' his bill for rent arrears gets higher.

Garage council - the.bloke

Do the Council even know it's there? If their contractor was simply told to change locks and all garages where tenancy was terminated that's what they did.

Well, to be honest, there are no way know..

One of the garage tenant returned his keys but no lock was changed as he left it empty I suppose.

Regarding the rent, we all feel the same. From £450 to £1500 a year. quite a hike in rent.

Now, we checked how the garage door locks. There is a gap at the top and with two flat pieces of metal, we can open the door. That without notifiying the council.

I told him to remove the car, park it in a safe road [in London, safe?] and as there is a latch on the lock, park it at the weekend in the garage

He still want to know if the council has any right to remove the car without notifying before?

We checked and there was no lease, just a direct debit for a weekly rent. But he signed a form where it asked if he removed all his goods and said yes.

I would expected the Council to write to the ex-tenants saying garages were to be re let and giving them a deadline to remove stuff or Council would do it.
I thought the same. Am I right or day dreaming, again?

Those garages have a difficult access and mine was empty for months before I heard of it. So no tow-away truck would get access to them.

.

Edited by the.bloke on 07/05/2019 at 17:09

Garage council - concrete

I cannot imagine the local council knowingly acting illegally in this case. If approached in the proper manner and in person they can be very reasonable. I would suspect if your friend made an appointment to see someone in the relevant department and explained his situation then would happily either come to some arrangement about the rent or provide access for him to remove the vehicle. Just leaving it there and hoping no one would notice is not really an option for many reasons. Either way if your friend wishes to protect his vehicle then he may have to pay his way.

Cheers Concrete

Garage council - Brit_in_Germany

He has declared that he has removed all his property so the council is fully entitled to remove any property they find in the garage and sell it to the highest bidder without any form of warning.

Garage council - Bromptonaut

Thinking about this some more I'd expect the letting agreement to contain a clause requiring tenant to remove belongings at end of tenancy. I'd further expect it to allow landlord to treat anything left as abandoned and there's to dispose of with option of charging if cost could not be defrayed by sale.

Garage council - gordonbennet

I wouldn't be at all surprised if the person leaving their car in a locked garage without paying any rent goes to his car one day only to find it's vanished, the council won't do it themselves they'll have a contract vehicle disposal operator, it will be assumed to be dumped.

There won't be any gentle removal methods, it will get dragged out and up onto a transporter in a matter of minutes, then off to the recycling centre.

Garage council - Lee Power

I wonder if the rent increase is a subtle way to get the tenants to hand the keys back so the garages came be deemed unneeded & then demolished?

During the estate spruce up where I live the council demolished some of the surplus garages, they didn't check inside before the machines ripped them apart as the previous tenants had been moved out, signed the paperwork to say the garage was empty of all possessions & handed the keys back.

Garage council - Gibbo_Wirral

I wonder if the rent increase is a subtle way to get the tenants to hand the keys back so the garages came be deemed unneeded & then demolished?

During the estate spruce up where I live the council demolished some of the surplus garages, they didn't check inside before the machines ripped them apart as the previous tenants had been moved out, signed the paperwork to say the garage was empty of all possessions & handed the keys back.

Exactly same thing happened round my way. Garages demolished. Plot to be sold for housing.