Rented accommodation and repairs

[Mythologies]

Hello,
I rent a flat with a garden
The fence blew down months ago.
I emailed and phoned and texted and went in person to the landlord.
They had a different reply every time
The were going to do it but ...
The fence was not theirs (it is)
They were going to take my neighbour to court over the fence (they aren't)
etc. etc. etc. for months
In the end I emailed saying I was going to pay a fencer if they still did not come round and gave them the option of paying or me deducting from rent.
They said they would pay £150 of the £250 but nothing was to be deducted from the rent and to send invoice.
I did not reply but had the work done and sent them photos and invoice and bank transfer from my account and said did they want to pay me directly or should I take it from September's rent.
Their last email says nothing was authorised (I have email saying go ahead)
and rent is to be paid in full or the £250 will be deducted from my deposit (which is in a deposit protection scheme)
Should I deduct the £250 from the rent?
Many thanks for any advice

IT sounds like there was a dispute as to who owned the fence, so in this case, it was right that this should have been resolved first. If he had changed it and it wasn't his, the neighbour could have caused him trouble. It's just odd not to know but sometimes deeds are not clear on this matter.

So it might be a case of legal confusion rather than him being a bad LL. Legally, you don't have to gave a fence, so he doesn't have to have one but you rented the property with one, so it is fair to expect one to be erected.

Of course, there was also the issue of Covid which meant that for some time, you couldn't even order panels.

It's a pity it fit to that and your LL could have been more proactive but at the same time, you don't know the background. By going ahead and doing it yourself, you put yourself at risk of being out of pocket.

Hopefully he will pay the money back. That's certainly what a professional tenant would do.

Why do you think MN will remove this?
It doesn’t breach the guidelines

This is legal matters. Quite a few lawyers post on here freely giving good legal advice to posters. Op you have been given good legal advice on here re what legal doctrine to quote, promissory estoppel, as you relied on the landlords promise to partly reimburse you, you have been advised the landlord has no legal obligation to repair the fence, re the Lord Denning decision, and have been advised how to move things forward. Exactly what part of this do you have issue with? The law is what it is, we can only advise on that. If it isn't to your liking, that's what it is . . ..

Regarding the law and judgments in favour of landlords, that is not my experience. I have defended many many cases re possession proceedings and providing the judge has discretion, which obviously they don't when it is a mandatory ground, the DJ favours the tenant. The new laws introduced this week are so in favour of the tenant a number of landlords in the private rented sector are selling up. I'm afraid this means higher rents in the PRS and less choice. Unfortunately it tends to be the good ones who sell up, because it is no longer profitable and now high risk. The bad ones don't provide a good service and cut corners incl breaching their statutory duties, because that's how they turn a profit. The laws are in place to protect tenants, but the enforcement regime led by local authorities is very poor. That's their fault not ours.

The PRS are not responsible for successive governments lack of a housing strategy, and failure to build social housing. They are providing a service that this government has failed to do. Again.

I was just reading through Scottish private residential statuary terms and in Scotland at least it seems the landlord IS responsible for the fence!

I just came across this and immediately thought of this thread.

Hope you got everything sorted OP.