Renting issues

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Can anyone help?

I've been forced to rent to escape domestic abuse whilst I wait for him to buy me out of our property. The rental has been a nightmare from day one as there are so many issues and the agency don't do anything.

I've been here 3 months and yesterday the front door lock broke. The agent said I had to pay for this as there was no deemed issue with the lock on their inventory. I'm livid. I couldn't close or lock the door so was forced to pay over £150 to get it done the same day. When the locksmith arrived he said that the inner mechanism in the door was the issue and therefore it will likely happen again. I have told the estate agent and they are dismissive saying it's not their responsibility. What can I do? Super fed up

Agent not agency

Hi OP,

Your tenancy agreement should tell you what repairs they are responsible for and ones you are responsible for.

It sounds like the door issue should be the responsibility of the agency, not you.

I'd contact Shelter or Citizens Advice as they can give you more specialist help.

https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/repairs

I hope that helps x

That's absolutely their responsibility, not yours! Wear and tear over the years has caused the issue, not you using it.

It’s a faulty lock, LL responsibility. Agents are a pita, they don’t like to report too many faults to LL as they’ll think the agent’s over-fussy and go elsewhere.

I had a similar problem and the agency called an out of hours locksmith. I was never asked to pay a penny.

Check your rental agreement and maybe speak to Shelter, CAB or similar.

Tell them if they don't sort the door, you'll take it further. It's 100 percent their responsibility.