I have recently had to rent my flat in the UK, and unfortunately I allowed the agency to persuade me to let to a group of 3 'sharers'. They are young, and work shifts, and are a bit lively.

The couple downstairs are professional 30-somethings, who have spent much time and money converting their flat and turning it into their perfect home. She is also a dab-hand at writing letters to the council or whoever in order to get things changed to her liking.

The sound proofing is not what it could be and it turns out that my tenants have been disturbing them. Within a week of them moving in she had written a complaining email to the agency, and it has continued on an almost weekly basis. To be honest, I do sympathise with them, and I don't intend to renew the contract when it expires in 4 months time.

However, I am worried that when I then get new tenants then the letter writing will start again. So I have had an idea, and I would be interested in the opinions of the people on this board:

I will invite the people downstairs to interview the prospective tenants themselves. I will give them a time limit (say 1-2 months), and they just have to choose someone they feel is suitable within that time. It obviously benefits them, and it benefits me as well because they will then have no grounds for complaint.

It seems like a reasonable idea, but I'm worried that I am making some kind of tactical mistake that you more experienced landlords will know of. Any advice gratefully received.

Hello Minsk. I would advise do NOT let the neighbours get involved you will open a can of worms. You will open the door to them interfering and you will open channels of communication between your tenants and the neighbour which may not be harmonious. It is your flat and you should be in control in every sense. Have you tried speaking to your tenants to calm down ? The best policy is in 4 months choose a more professional class of tenant to avoid problems and trust your judgement in the future. This is the reason why I have only ever invested in commercial properties but even that is not fail safe!

Hi Minsk,

I completely agree with Ilhan - the point of using an agency is that you get some sensible distance from both your tenants and the neighbours, but your suggestion will probably reverse that.

If you don't feel the agency is working for you perhaps find another one.

I used to privately manage a flat and rent another house through an agent.
The flat caused me so much bother with requests to put hooks up, put a clock on the wall and even a suggestion to landscape the garden (!) that I put it through the agent too. Not all unreasonable requests, but they could wait until Monday and not Saturday evening...

I believe tenants should be treated fairly of course and not ignored, but I think as Ilhan says once you go down that road you're suggesting you'll be getting calls from BOTH parties, day and night...

Ilhan and NeilH,

Many thanks for the advice - I am glad I checked on here first. I'll be abandoning that idea.

Apart from the tenants that they have set me up with, my experience of the management agency (Accord lettings) has been good. They have been very cooperative and helpful. This is my first UK let and it's interesting to compare and contrast the agencies that I use in CEE with those in the UK. It is clearly a much more mature business in the UK.