Please help! New tenants complaining.. who is right?

[Diorissimo1985]

We are renting out our house for the first time so a bit tentative about what is reasonable when it comes to the tenants...

They moved in a few days ago and have so many complaints already. Some are completely valid and I'm fixing them asap (I.e new washing machine has mechanical fault, John Lewis is replacing with another new machine this week).

However others are things like:
-the handles on the kitchen drawers are a little loose

• the kick boards under the kitchen cupboards are loose
• two sash windows only stay open from the top and not the bottom

... and lots of other minor things besides

I am wondering if this is all normal? Some of the requests I feel are a bit silly and if I were the tenant (I have been in the past) I would just tighten the handles myself... takes a few seconds and wouldn't require a handyman to come out, which is what they're asking for.

Any advice from other landlords? Do I just fix everything, however minor, as I don't want to get off on the wrong foot.

The management fee just means they take 8-12% and do very little. They can usually find a handyman (person) to fix things as they will have contacts but will charge you a fee on top of the cost to fix.

What they don't do is run everything for you and just pass over the profits, even if they say they will. We have been a btl landlord and managed it all ourselves for this very reason.

Look at the condition report (did you get one?) And fix every little item on it. They shouldn't have to put up with dodgy fixes or issues. The house should be as near perfect as possible.

I would arrange my own handy person to spend some time doing all those little jobs. I always used to charge fair market rent but never put the rent up on good tenants. Our last tenant before we sold was there for 10 yrs. Good tenants should be treasured and we always fixed stuff immediately as they were so good and we didn't want our investment getting run down.

Have a look at landlord zone and check everything has been done right, as whilst you have a management company the legal responsibility is yours. Good luck

Thanks to the experience DC1 had with a LL when at university, we made sure to document, with photos, every, tiny issue with a property DC2 rented a few years back. Some things required attention, others they could live with. When they moved out the LL tried to retain the entire deposit for all the problems. Thankfully, we could prove that all issues had been notified, with photos to the LL at the start of the tenancy and the deposit scheme adjudication service found completely in DC2 favour. It was highly stressful for all. That's why they are telling you everything. Not saying you are in any way like DC2's LL, but your tenants don't know that.

Your agents won't send workers to fix things without your agreement which is why they are telling you about it!

Jeez I hate accidental landlords

Yep, as a tenant I'd report the issues now so it's clear they were there when we moved in. I wouldn't expect you to fix the small things. The window sounds annoying though.

I take your point Orgy I think it great that you have a reasonable landlord, I presume you will stay there for a number of years so you will benefit from living in a nicer environment.

I’ve been in my rental for a year, boiler was replaced when it died earlier this year after much tooing and froing,- it was snowing, I had no heating or hot water for 10 days! All the flooring needs to be replaced, think threadbare carpets, collapsing floorboard and dodgy laminate flooring through out. Two bathrooms just about functional, I’ve replaced a shower head myself. And painting through out. At a guess all that would easily cost 10k+. And I’m paying £1800 in rent each month. Of course dc and I’d rather live in comfortable property, I simply don’t have additional funds to cover my landlords maintenance issues.

full management does not include cost of fixes! you should have gone over the place before renting it out, landlording is all about attention to detail.

they sound good tenants. be a good landlord and get stuff fixed. and make sure agents have confirmed all paperwork, protected deposit, issued PI,checked smoke alarms etc et. as it all comes down to you.

If you charge a decent whack of rent, then yes, it's your job to fix the issues

That's not how renting works, a tenant is entitled to have repairs done no matter how much or how little the rent is.

My tenancy agreement states what is my responsibility and what is the landlords responsibility. As a general rule of thumb decorating, gardening, minor repairs/DIY, lightbulbs, floorcoverings and blinds are all my responsibility while anything to do with the structure, access, gas/water/electricity, and windows is the landlords responsibility. When we moved in we were told that for the first 90 days all repairs and works were the landlord's responsibility as they were classed as pre-contract repairs that wouldn't have been necessarily been apparent until someone was living in the property and found that A was broken or B was missing or C was loose.

You need to get them to put all of the repairs in writing so you have a comprehensive list and then arrange to get them all repaired. I don't think it's that they're high maintenance or demanding, they've just moved into a property and they have the not at all unreasonable expectation that everything will be working properly and in a good state of repair as a 'blank slate' start to the tenancy.

You may also want to check fire regulations with regard to the sash windows. We once had a landlord claim they didn't need to repair an upstairs window that wouldn't open properly because we could escape out of the front door. He didn't seem to understand that the staircase from upstairs lead to the back of the house (maisonette with no back door) and we would then have to walk across the downstairs area to get out and that this would be impossible if it was the downstairs that was on fire. In the end we had to make a complaint to environmental health, they carried out the repair (along with several others that we hadn't even spotted but were not compliant with regulations) and billed him for it.
www.mumfordwood.com/technical/fire-escape.html

Well, trust me it's very very annoying to move into somewhere and find loads of faults that were already there

As a landlord it is in your interest to hand over your property in the best possible condition. Good decorative order, all issues dealt with and professionally cleaned. This should also be reflected in the inventory. This then becomes the bench mark for how the property should be at the end of the tenancy except for fair wear and tear.

I agree with PP who suggest that your tenants are making sure you are aware of all defects so they don't get blamed for them.

The agent is informing you so you can tell them whether to arrange the handyman. The cost of that will be more than you'd pay arranging it yourself but in theory it's less hassle as you only have to speak to the agent rather than several tradesman. They will also negotiate entrance to the property as well. So, basically OP you need to tell the agent what to fix.