Would you be wary of these estate agents/landlords?

[starrysimon]

Apologies if I seem a bit over the top but have just moved from a property that was classed as unfit for habitation by local Environmental Health with more than several serious hazards identified. Landlord was served an Improvement Notice upon our vacation of said property and we’re still owed over £500 for major repairs we were forced to do ourselves as he never did them.

Moved into a new property just over a month ago. £700 for a 20 year old 2 bed mid-terrace in the East Midlands. Not very modernised for the price, has Victorian style kitchen and bathroom that is falling apart but we’re not too fussy about cosmetics considering our last home. It was advertised as a 3 bedroom property but going off the EHO’s assessment of my previous property the smallest ‘bedroom’ is not big enough to be a bedroom by the new laws/guidelines that were introduced in 2018. Can fit a single bed in it and nothing else. So there’s been false advertisement from the get go but it’s in a way better state than my previous property and in a lovely area so not complaining about that.

It was advertised with laminate flooring in the open plan living room/dining room and in the master bedroom. When we came to view the property the agent informed us that the landlord would be changing the laminate for carpet. Fair enough I thought as it’s their house but the laminate looked fine to me. Bit worn out in places but it would have been covered by furniture and rugs anyway. I wasn’t too happy about the thought of carpet in the dining room with two children under 4 but the landlords have created a rod for their own backs there! We needed to move ASAP due to the state of our previous house and this property fitted our needs perfectly so we weren’t going to let it slip over a bit of carpet. The only thing I don’t agree with is that we weren’t allowed to re-view the property before we paid the deposit and got the keys so if we really hated it we couldn’t have pulled out anyway. Carpet is nice but not a great colour. Speckled navy stuff that doesn’t really match with any furniture or the magnolia walls but it’s only carpet. This is the minor thing.

The major thing is the worryingly slow response to repairs already. It has a conservatory and when it rains it leaks quite badly. It’s easy to tell that it’s been happening for a while as there is a fair bit of water damage to the laminate in there and is probably why the landlords didn’t replace it with carpet like the other laminate. You can imagine what it was like during the storms! I let the estate agents know this within the first week of the tenancy and we’ve still not been contacted about the repairs. This means that we haven’t been using the conservatory as we were going to have it as our office with computers and various electricals in but don’t want to risk them getting damaged.

I also let them know that the seal on the window in the master bedroom is broken/coming away from the window and the window doesn’t shut properly causing a fair amount of draft. Was only given the number for a contractor 2 days ago which was a month after reporting it.

There is also a large hole in the kitchen wall to the exterior which allows rain into the property and is already causing water damage. As well as two broken switches in the living room with wiring exposed that make it dangerous for the children if they were ever to use them. I’ve covered them with electrical tape for now. I sent a polite reminder email first thing yesterday morning with images of the issues and haven’t received a response yet. Am I overreacting to be quite wary of our new estate agents and landlords?

Sounds dodgy. Sorry to say it but they already sound difficult to deal with. Be very wary.

I don't think holes in walls and leaks in conservatories (or exposed wires) should be things you have to up with no. I rented for 20 years though that was in shared houses, I never had this.

I say this as a letting agent...

Send one further email to the letting agent documenting the issues, the repairs needed and give them a timescale of 24 hours to acknowledge receipt and a further 24 to confirm when a contractor will be attending (so you want contractors booked by Friday 5pm).

Inform the agents that you have also contacted the landlord directly with the same email - if you do not have a landlord contact email there may be an address in your tenancy agreement. If you don’t have any details for landlord at all it’s £3 to download the title register from the land registry and that will hopefully give you the info.

If nothing happens within your set timescales go straight to environmental health at the council and don’t let them get away with it. To be honest, I’d also look for somewhere else to live as if it’s all such a poor standard of repair you’ll find other things will go wrong as well and who needs a constant battle.

Other things to check out of interest: what is your EPC rating? Should be minimum D. Also, has your deposit been protected.

Sorry E not D...typo

They were very quick at responding until receiving the photos I sent. Also ignored my email from Wednesday asking for the landlord’s contact details. Definitely getting wary of them now. The things I’ve reported should have been fixed before we moved in.

I think they might be a bit scared as they were well aware of previous EHO involvement at my last property and for £700 a month in the Midlands it’s not cheap so you would naturally expect better. Here’s the pic of the hole I sent them. Doesn’t look very large in perspective but it’s big enough to allow rain water to enter the property. We’re not sure whether to block the hole up ourselves without permission.

Mould has already started to show itself through the paint in the en-suite. There’s no reason for mould as we open the window after showering and use the built in extractor fan whilst in there. It’s where it starts coming through light blue under white paint where it’s been painted over.