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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask for rent reduction

200 replies

GnomeDePlume · 22/08/2016 20:55

Sorry, posting here for traffic.

DD has just moved into a flat. Boiler doesnt work and the bloke sent by the landlord reckons it will take a week at least to fix.

DD has just started a new job 2 hours from home so needs to be able to shower daily.

WIBU to insist that DD gets a rent discount sufficient to allow her to join a gym for a month to get access to showers?

OP posts:
MindSweeper · 23/08/2016 14:11

Yes there's also people who get their mums to organise their job interviews for them so I suppose you're right harry, everyone is different.

HarryElephante · 23/08/2016 14:15

Why bring up a job interview? What's that got to do with this?

MindSweeper · 23/08/2016 14:19

Wasn't it obvious? That people are getting their parents to do tasks they really should be doing themselves, speaking with employers and negotiating contracts, both things that require professionalism not just roping mummy and daddy in to do it for them.

I'd be embarrassed if I had to ask my mum to speak to my landlord about a lower bill.

Advicepls7080 · 23/08/2016 14:21

I'm so glad my parents aren't like some of the other posters, it's the girls first time working away from home she's young and hasn't had luck trying to sort it herself.

She's probably feeling out of sorts as it is and has no shower to top it off. Op your daughter is lucky to have you! I hope it gets sorted for her

HarryElephante · 23/08/2016 14:24

This isn't about employers and contracts, it's about a faulty heating system and a daughter with little or no time to sort it out!

I am pretty pleased I am not related to some of you miserable buggers!

MindSweeper · 23/08/2016 14:27

As I have said, sorting out the logistics of the repair is fair enough, however making financial negotiations is a no no.

It's not miserable, my mum would gladly ring all around the world for me putting people to rights, but it's about knowing the time and place when parents stepping in is suitable. If I was a landlord I would absolutely not be willing to deal with someones mother requesting a rent decrease, I would be wanting to speak to my tenant.

doctoratsea · 23/08/2016 14:30

I haven't been a long term user of MN, so I am somewhat perplexed to read some of the comments by posters here today.

My advice OP - In future don't post in AIBU for "traffic"
There does seem to be a larger than average amount of hostility in this section... for some reason.Wink

You of course want to help your DD, just as I would. However as others have suggested any requests would be better placed coming direct from her to the letting agent/landlord, as opposed from your involvement. I understand however that some are more confident about handling these things than others.

You should research options and continue to support her, and if that means you buying her a month's membership to get rid of the problem, then why not?

Life is too short!

HarryElephante · 23/08/2016 14:31

Is a 'no no'? Accordng to who? Or what?

Can you accept that people may parent different to you, mindsweeper, and that's all this is? There is no right ot wrong, it's just different people acting differently.

Saying that, I can't believe you wouldn't help your daughter out in a similar situation!!!

Advicepls7080 · 23/08/2016 14:31

It's a good job you aren't they landlord then MindSweeper. I know my parents would talk to their tenants parents on their behalf and confirm with their tenant at a later date if needs be

MindSweeper · 23/08/2016 14:37

No I wouldn't, for one I haven't got a daughter older enough and for two I would expect that as an adult she needs to learn to negotiate and sort out financial matters by herself. I'd sort out her boiler, but I wouldn't be ringing the landlord about rent decreases.

The rent decrease isn't the immediate problem, OP's daughter can sort that out perfectly by herself but obviously it's much easier to get OP to do it as OP is older, wiser and more experienced - but that doesn't mean it's right to get her to do it.

And yeah harry like I've already said, people are different, but it doesn't mean that there aren't certain things that are unprofessional or frowned upon.

HarryElephante · 23/08/2016 14:41

Unprofessional? What?! This isn't in a professional context. And frowned upon by who? The likes of you?

I am a landlord and I'll deal with anyone as long as the tenant has agreed. I certainly don't frown upon it.

Where's the rulebook for all this, anyway?! You are acting like there is one, mindsweeper!

Dowser · 23/08/2016 14:55

I'm a landlord and I wouldn't expect a tenant to ask for a rent decrease while I'm pulling out all the stops to fix it asap.

If it does seem to be problematic and taking longer than accepted I may suggest it myself or take wine, chocolate and flowers to thank them for being patient.

MindSweeper · 23/08/2016 14:56

Professionalism isn't just about workplace professionalism.

And no, there isn't a rule book, but I'm not the only one who thinks a person in their 20's (like I am myself) should be negotiating on their own. Which you know as you've spent all day debating them.

Doesn't matter anyway in the grand scheme of things, it's just very Hmm

HarryElephante · 23/08/2016 15:01

The daughter is 19.

Advicepls7080 · 23/08/2016 15:02

One she's 19
Two she has tried to sort it herself and is getting passed pillar to post.

MindSweeper · 23/08/2016 15:06

Thanks for the correction. I couldn't see where OP has said she was 19 so assumed early 20's as she has finished uni. In fact I still can't find where OP says her DD is 19 - am I being blind?

Advicepls7080 · 23/08/2016 15:07

Her daughter hasn't finished uni, she is doing a placement for uni.

2016Blyton · 23/08/2016 15:09

If that happened to my child I;d think - wonderful life lesson for teh entitled little so and so. It wll do them so much good to wash in a bucket as loads of us have done and what a wonderful landlord to incur the cost of a new boiler £2k + and get it done in a week - let's suggest to my daughter she sends flowers to the landlord when it's fixed.

HarryElephante · 23/08/2016 15:13

I don't come on here very often but, when I do, it really opens my eyes to how differently we all see things.

I guess on here, the nuances amd minutia of life are discussed in great detail where that just doesn't happen in RL. Well, not in my RL, anyway!

But it's been an interesting chat znd, one way or another I hope the OP gets everything sorted.

HarryElephante · 23/08/2016 15:15

Too right, blyton. And then she should up her rent for putting the landlord out!

Pesky tenants and their demands for functioning hot water.

NPowerShitShower · 23/08/2016 15:22

Pendu - if you're a landlord and you know that plumbers are very costly, you should have adequate funds in place in the event of a situation like this! Seriously - suggesting that a tenant goes to a local service station for a shower as you're too tight to pay out for a repair??? Glad you're not my landlord!

napmeistergeneral · 23/08/2016 16:25

I am agog at all the people suggesting she flannel washes / goes to the service station / takes a dip in a local stream. She has just at moved into the flat! No she shouldn't get a gym membership but the LL is irresponsible for not checking that everything is in good working order! If something happens in the middle of a tenancy, well then yes to a certainly extent you suck it up but she has just moved in!

I'm even more agog at the "poor LL, having to spend loads of money to repair the boiler, you should be grateful" posts. Letting out property is a bloody business! If you don't have contingency funds for repairs etc. because you can't afford to, you've no business letting out to other people.

OP, you sound like a great mum and I hope your daughter gets everything sorted soon. If the heatwave continues maybe cold showers won't be so bad after all.

Original poster
GnomeDePlume · 23/08/2016 16:28

I havent put DD's age as funnily enough I dont want her to be clearly identifiable. But PPs are about right. She is in her placement year from uni. This is her first go at non-uni private renting.

To answer some questions:

  • there is no immersion heater
  • there is no bath
  • there is an electric water boiler which provides all hot water for the flat including the kitchen
  • at no point did I say that I was trying to get LL to give her gym membership. I was trying to assess what would be a suitable rent reduction to ask for.
  • local leisure centre charges £8/day. Month membership at gym would be £40 as a one off. She doesnt particularly want to join a gym other than to have a warm shower
  • DD is in her first couple of days starting a placement. She has been in inductions all day without access to her phone except at lunchtime. She spent yesterday playing voice and email pingpong with LL
  • So far she hasnt got an actual repair time only an estimate by a gas plumber of how long an electric boiler would take to repair - ie an educated guess, no more
  • she knows no one in the town
  • the next door flat is empty
  • the actual LL is c/o the letting agent so everything is being dealt with through the letting agent. For ease I have referred to the letting agent as LL as to all intents and purposes they are one and the same.
  • DD was not given an emergency number for repairs. She will know to ask for one in future

DD has manged to negotiate her way confidently through 2 years at uni. Dealt with student property issues as they have arisen. Find herself a good placement in a tricky market. Find herself a suitable flat. Put together her flat pack furniture.

A broken boiler on day 1 of her tenancy was something she was struggling to get resolved and she asked me for help.

OP posts:
FANTINE1 · 23/08/2016 16:51

OP,
Both you and your daughter have my sympathy. I really do hope that this problem is sorted soon.
I am not surprised by the way in which some people have re acted to your problem. I posted at about this time last year asking for advice, because my daughter 18, was sharing house with a guy who was smoking weed in the house, against the tenancy rules. Don't want to go in to too much detail, but wow did I get a hard time." What, you expect students not to smoke weed?" " do you live in the real world?' At 18, surely your daughter has smoked weed,
Your daughter is such a wuss, etc etc.
I was really dismayed at some of the comments, and felt almost personally attacked.
Some people were supportive however. I think the point about our children turning 18, and suddenly being able to handle everything without parental guidance is a good one.
As it turned out, the guy who smoked the weed just got worse as the year progressed, and D is still in dispute with him now over unpaid bills.

Original poster
GnomeDePlume · 23/08/2016 17:52

Thank you, I do think that growing up is a process not a step, FANTINE1. I could just leave DD to get on with it. In the end she would get it resolved but have a miserable time of it while she did. Not sure that she would learn a great deal from the experience that she isnt learning already.

We all find some things easy to deal with and other things harder.

OP posts:
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