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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think if the landlord can afford private school they can afford to fix the damp in this flat?

164 replies

weatherall · 26/06/2014 12:38

Or maybe they're getting a bursary and not declaring the rental income.

I've just found out that LL's child is being sent to £10k private school next term.

I had previously had a bit of sympathy for her as she bought this flat at top of the market and is most def in negative equity now. Depending on deposit the rent we pay probably isn't much more than her repayment mortgage and la fees.

Structural work needs done eg damp proofing. We have been waiting months and have resigned ourselves to moving as it isn't going to happen. DP has asthma so we can't risk his health from another winter in this damp hole.

But now that her DC is going private I think, well she can afford to get the work done and is just being a s*** landlord.

The other possibility is that she is getting a bursary and possibly not declaring this income.

I assume ainbu to be p ed off.

Wwyd?

Kick up a stink with the la?

Stop paying rent? I'm not going to do this, I think it would be unreasonable.

Report her to the school?

OP posts:
JassyRadlett · 26/06/2014 13:59

Natural, that's your own home and your own choice about what to do about it, and what's the right balance of how to spend your money.

If someone chooses to be a landlord, they take on responsibilities to their tenants, because that's the business they chose to go into.

sparechange · 26/06/2014 14:34

How is she playing the system? Confused

You say that her mortgage repayments are probably equal to the rent you pay her, so her 'income' from your flat is minimal. At best, she is earning a few thousand pounds a year on top of her 'migrant worker' salary.
I'm fairly sure that would not propel her into the realms of banker salary and therefore make her ineligible for a bursary.

What isn't at all clear from any of your posts is whether you've asked her to fix the damp problem. And if so, what her response was.

Also, you say the flat needs 'structural work eg damp proofing.
Damp proofing work isn't structural work. What other work needs doing?

careeristbitchnigel · 26/06/2014 15:12

that is true, sparechange - we rent out our house but make literally no money on it as the rent all goes on mortgage, landlord insurance and the agency fees

APlaceInTheSummer · 26/06/2014 15:15

It's a very stressful situation but you have been given some good advice eg contacting EHO; getting a letter from the GP about the health implications of staying in a damp property.

You could also contact your local councillor and MP to ask them to write to the local HA and Council to support your case for appropriate housing. (This can help to make you a priority).

Depending on the type of property you are renting (eg if it's a Listed building) there are sometimes grants available for structural repairs.

If your deposit is in a deposit scheme then you will get it back. The only way you won't get it back is if you've breached any of the lease conditions concerning the return of the deposit, and even then you can still appeal the decision. If you are on benefits, you can also apply for a hardship grant to help meet the deposit on your new place until your original deposit is returned.

specialsubject · 26/06/2014 15:51

private tenants DO have rights. Not paying rent is theft. Two wrongs do not make a right. I also do not recommend squatting as then no sensible landlord will touch you with a bargepole.

carpetbagger can't find that programme or any info about it - can you clarify please?

you have the right to decent accommodation. You will not end up on the street or in a shed, you live in the UK.

if this is damp, has been reported and LL is ignoring/refusing, (which is totally unsatisfactory) you can report to Environmental Health. As you note, this will probably result in a notice to leave, which is what you need anyway, and I am at a loss to understand why you want to stay if the place is so bad. Of course if there is a problem it should be fixed - but if you rent from someone who ignores the rules, it won't be unless enforced. So give notice and plan to stop paying to be ripped off - WHEN you leave.

yes, you may have to leave the area to afford somewhere. Welcome to real life, I've done that, my parents did, many others do too. Not the end of the world.

AgaPanthers · 26/06/2014 15:53

"private tenants DO have rights. Not paying rent is theft."

Absolute bollocks. Not paying rent is breach of contract. Not theft.

squoosh · 26/06/2014 16:06

Don't blame you for being pissed off OP. If she can afford to shell out for private school fees she can afford to make her property fit for habitation.

Landlords get away with blue murder in this country.

WooWooOwl · 26/06/2014 16:10

Your landlord sounds pretty crap as landlords go, but where her child goes to school and how that paid for is completely irrelevant and none of your business. Lots of people struggle to pay school fees, but they do it because they (often rightly) believe it's what's best for their children.

It's not the landlords fault that you can't afford a deposit for somewhere else, and it's certainly not her school child's fault.

Of course the damp should be sorted, the LL is doing no one any favours by leaving it to get worse, including herself.

I agree that not paying rent amounts to theft. Maybe not legally, but morally. And legally the ll doesn't have to have the damp sorted, but morally not doing so makes her a shit. Withholding rent would make the tenant in this case no better than the landlord, but the landlord will still have a property at the end of the day whereas a tenant is likely to end up with a CCJ. Neither party is helping themselves by screwing the other.

hellskitty · 26/06/2014 16:11

I am LL and I arrange my affairs so that I borrow as much as possible against the rental properties and use this to reduce the mortgage on teh property we live in. Therefore I make next to no taxable profit on the rentals and pay a low mortgage for my home.

heraldgerald · 26/06/2014 16:13

Yanbu. Kick up a stink with whoever you can. Fucking outrageous to put you in this position. Of course it's wrong. And for all those saying the lls finances are none of the ops business- yes they are. She pays her rent with the legal right to a safe home, which is not being provided. The ll is now spending that money on private school fees, or defrauding that system.

Contact shelter op, very helpful in these situations. Good luck.

MollyWhuppie · 26/06/2014 16:17

Is the issue rising damp or condensation? Quite often tenanted properties have issues with condensation causing mould as they don't ventilate their properties properly, dry laundry on radiators etc.

Not saying this is what you've done, or if this is the case in your instance, but proving that damp is the landlord's responsibility can be tricky.

If it is a matter of broken guttering causing water to come through walls or rising damp then yes the LL should get it fixed. Whether her child is at private school or not is neither here nor there.

pluCaChange · 26/06/2014 16:17

"It's not the landlords fault that you can't afford a deposit for somewhere else, and it's certainly not her school child's fault. "

But it is the LL's fault if she makes the house uninhabitable and forces a move.

MollyWhuppie · 26/06/2014 16:18

'They' being the tenants.

sparechange · 26/06/2014 16:33

plu
Want to jump to any more assumptions? Confused
All we know is:
The LL is in negative equity
The mortgage payments are about equal with the rent the OP pays
The house has damp (and possibly other problems)
The LL used to live in the house
The OP has lived in the house since at least September 2013
How has the LL 'made' the house uninhabitable? She may well have been happily living there up until 9 months ago

We still haven't actually had it confirmed by the OP that she has a) told the landlord there is a damp problem b) asked for it to be fixed c) been told what, if any timescale the LL will sort it out by

All we know is that the OP has assumed the landlord couldn't pay for the repairs, but now thinks she can based on her choice of school for her child, which may or may not be paid for by a bursary

MyUsernameIsPants · 26/06/2014 16:45

I despair at this, I really do.

A LL can get away with leaving tenants in shitty home homes forcing the tenants to move. The LL is then allowed to re-let it out straight away to some other poor bastard who will be locked into a contract for at least six months while continuing to pay full rent for fear of breaching their contract.

LL's like this should be banned from re-letting substandard properties for a few months and have feedback/references on file so later tenants can see what fuckwits they are.

Tenants have to jump through hoops to rent a property ('credit checks', references etc) why can't we have something like that for LL's.

They can make peoples lives a misery.

JassyRadlett · 26/06/2014 16:50

It is strongly implied in the OP that the landlord is aware - otherwise why would the OP have been waiting for months?

JassyRadlett · 26/06/2014 16:53

I would quite like a tripadvisor/checkatrade site for landlords. And I'm speaking as somebody who used to be one.

MyUsernameIsPants · 26/06/2014 16:57

Our local authority has a system where you can check on LL's in the area, but it's not compulsory and only those who let their properties out via the council are on there.

There is about 10 listed Hmm

Sidthesausage · 26/06/2014 17:15

Write to her ask her to sort out the damp by 1st of October. Say you will sadly have to give notice on on the 1st of October due to health reasons if work isn't done.

NigellasDealer · 26/06/2014 17:16

our LA has as part of the housing dept someone who deals with shitty private landlords maybe OP your LA has that too?

Sidthesausage · 26/06/2014 17:17

My friend sends her kid to a private school with fees of 13k (cheap for area). However they live hand to mouth to do it. They buy second hand clothes and walk everywhere

squoosh · 26/06/2014 17:20

I really don't think being financially stretched is any excuse for shitty landlord practices. If you can't afford to be a good landlord sell your property on.

TheOriginalSteamingNit · 26/06/2014 17:20

Lucky your friend to be able to find £13k pa from not buying new clothes, sid but it's hardly usual and nor is it what's going on here.

Given that OP's rent will be a significant part of this land lady's income, it's not unreasonable at all that she feels annoyed and upset that the woman is sending her child to an expensive school and not doing her actual job as a landlady.

magpiegin · 26/06/2014 17:20

What has the landlord actually said about the damp?

Her personal life is irrelevant. I also agree with the other posters, I'm not sure why her being Polish means she can't have rich family members?

QuintessentiallyQS · 26/06/2014 17:22

Dont meddle with her childs schooling, how petty can you be?

My friend got a 100% scholarship created for her child because of her high abilities. The school really wanted to educate this child, and they made new rules on the fly for this child. Just because you think you know the policies of this school (is your child a pupil there?) it does not necessarily mean you know about the inner politics and exceptions they could make.

It will make you come across as jealous and petty. Her dds education is nothing to do with your home and your tenancy.