to not pay my rent..

[biddysmama]

the landlord was supposed to decorate the house before we moved in, he didnt and promised he would do it in a couple of weeks, every time ive asked him hes said a couple of weeks, even giving days they will come, and then they dont, i've said we will do it if he gives us the things no no, hes a builder,he will send some lads down to do it on x day that never arrives...

we have lived here a year now and we have decorated the childrens bedrooms beccause the children that lived her before drew all over the walls..

in august dd's new nursery teachers are coming for a visit,theres no wallpaper on the stairs, we stripped it (it was mouldy) ready for the decorators that never came,ive told him and same answer as always

wibu to use this months rent to finish the decorating

im probably going to be told aibu for waiting so long but we havent got alot of spare money esp since im paying 450 a month for living here and we havent moved because its literally across the road from ds's school

YABU just decorate it yourself if it means so much to you. I doubt the nursery people will care if you haven't wallpapered in fact I doubt anyone would care.

If you don't pay the rent you'll be in breach of your tenancy agreement. Its a PITA that he hasn't decorated but that doesn't entitle you to withold rent.

Was it written into the contract that the place would be decorated before you moved in? If not, I'm afraid there's not really anything you can do - unless the place is in such a horrible state of repair that it's a danger to health.

A verbal promise is pretty meaningless. And if you simply refuse to pay your rent then you'll end up getting notice to quit, the loss of your deposit and no reference for a new place.

Have you actually offered to redecorate the place if he lets you off a months rent? He may go for that because it's a lot less hassle than doing it himself.

Ask - but don't withhold the rent. The fall out is not worth it.

whatever you do DON'T start withholding rent. You will be evicted if you get 2 months into arrears.

My advice would be to contact him, tell him you need the decorating completing because of the nursery teachers coming to visit, and remind him that he agreed to do it before you moved in and the rent you pay is for a fully decorated property. And tell him that if he doesn't do it by X date, then you will do it yourself according to your own taste.

Do you plan to stay there as a long term arrangement? If so then I don't see what's wrong with paying for decorating yourself. And then you can choose exactly how you want it done.

But don't withhold rent OP!! esp over a decorating issue, i.e. nothing essential like the central heating etc. people do that and end up homeless.

Ask him if you can use a months rent to decorate yourselves. If he says no I'm afraid there's bugger all you can do unless you have something in writing which states the place would be redecorated.

What's the nursery visit got to do with it!?

This doesn't help now but NEVER move into a house where the landlord promises to do work before you move in. My reasons being:

-When you look around a house to see if you want to rent it, it is (generally) the best it will look. The landlord should be trying to impress prospective tenants.

-When is the landlord going to do the work? When you've moved in? No way would I want to pay rent for the pleasure of that disruption.

I looked around a house recently with a horrific kitchen. The letting agent said " the landlord has said that he may put a new kitchen in when he has tenants moved in".

And pigs may fly.

in scotland a verbal promise is enforcable in the courts

Presumably you will still be expecting to get the house to live in while you redecorate it to your tastes using your skills? Why would you expect that for free and how do you know it would be worth exactly the amount of rent you propose to withhold?

Good luck with that one.

A verbal agreement is enforceable in English law too, it's just harder and not really appropriate in this case.

Unfortunately legally it is very easy to enforce withholding of rent as being breach of contract and you could find yourself evicted. You never withhold rent unless you are happy for that to happen.

If you want get kicked out of your house then yeah sure, dont pay him.

Wow you've had a bit of a hard time op. Fwiw it sounds like your house desperately needs decorating and yet there are peoeple on here implying you're being fussy or somehow entitled.

For those who are hard of reading: the op has offered to do it herself. Landlord said no.

don't withhold your rent. He could evict you for that.

Instead, why not say to him that you have been waiting for a very long time for the promised redecorating, and if he'd rather you used this month's rent to do it yourselves, then you're happy to do that, but you'd obviously need confirmation of your rent 'holiday' in writing.

but put more nicely. It's too early for me to think clearly

oh I missed that bit. Hard of reading indeed. in my defence, it is only just after 6:30 and I have said it's too early to think clearly

Excused :) it was the "decorate yourself if it means that much to you" comment that really annoyed me. As if the op is being precious by wanting.to.live somewhere that's decorated to a basic standard. Do landlords have no responsibilities to ensure this then? I know when we rented we simply werennt allowed to decorate or even put pictures up, so what the hell do you do if your ll leaves you with bare walls?

I would say that if you don't pay the rent one month, put something in writing that explains you are withholding that money until the decorating is done, and then carry on paying from the following month, he has very very little chance of being able to evict you, and it will probably be sufficient incentive for him to get his finger out.

He would have to make a much bigger effort to try and get you out, and is unlikely to get a court order. If it looked like he was going to you could probably pay at that point.

There are lot of private landlords on MN though.

1. don't withhold your rent-you would be breaking the terms of your t/a

2. do not decorate without the ll's permission in writing otherwise you risk losing your deposit for not leaving the property in the same condition as it was let to you bar fair wear and tear.

Magneto your a cow. Why bother to comment if you have nothing nice to say. There is too much of this on mumsnet- it pisses me off.

Hope you got your stairs decorated, if it matters to you then IT MATTERs. Goo luck an take no notice of the bitchy comments in here.

I said that because the op has already decorated the children's bedroom, so she clearly doesn't care about losing her deposit so why not go the whole hog and do the lot.

And I think it's absolutely ridiculous to want to decorate because a nursery worker is visiting Is it having a decorated house a condition of getting into the nursery or something?

And I think the op needs to get her priorities straight: pay the rent or decorate? Who thinks like that seriously?

Is your house decorated btw?

Have to admit, if I was the landlord in this situation, I would send notice of eviction if the tenant started threatning not to pay the rent.

Reason being - I would be thinking whats next? Shower breaks for 3 days - tenant withholds rent. Central heating breaks and scheduled for repair first time I can get a plumber - tenant withholds rent. Doesn't like the sofa - tenant withholds rent.

On this logic, the tenant could be getting entirely free accommodation, or at least cut price, if they got worked up about enough matters during the tenancy, and who needs this hassle?

People who have no choice. Landlord won't do it, she can't do it herself. Rent is the only power she has over him.

So geegee what do you suggest Tje op do, given she has asked the ll with no joy, and offered to do it herself, with no joy.

Jeez there are some cowboy lls out therre and somehow everyone thinks they're in the right!