Landlord AIBU

[Snickerdoodles]

Seriously irritated with landlord.

I moved into a houseshare a couple of months ago. I really like the location and love my flatmates, who I get on really well with, so don’t want to move. The flat contract also has a break clause of December, so I couldn’t move until then anyway.

It’s just that the landlord is really starting to piss me off. As I don’t want to move out yet, I’m just using this thread as a venting zone to let off some steam (I hope that’s okay! ) (Already vented to my flatmates earlier!)

When I viewed the flat before moving in, she said she wasn’t a ‘dodgy landlord’ .

Since I’ve moved in, the following has happened:

1. Things have broken, which we’ve let the LL know about, and they still haven’t been fixed.
   The LL promised verbally (and in the written and signed tenancy agreement) to fix things if they were damaged due to wear and tear, yet hasn’t stuck by this.
   For example, a toilet won’t flush in one of the bathrooms; mouse problem in flat; and, more seriously, a tube light fell down in the kitchen while my flatmate was cooking (LL came in today and said ‘this wasn’t an urgent thing to be repaired(!)’ When we emailed her to complain about these things, she phoned me at 9pm to say ‘we are not a hotel’ and that I could move out if I didn’t like the flat.

2. Less serious, but still annoying:

The tenancy agreement says that LL has to give us 24 hours’ notice before visiting the flat. The other night, she texted us with less than an hour’s notice to say that a new tenant was coming to view an unoccupied room in the flat.

Today, the LL arranged for professional cleaners to clean the carpets in the flat. She let us know about this in advance, which is fair. She asked if we could be in, but only one of my flatmates could, as everyone else was busy. When the LL arrived, she asked my flatmate to make her a cup of tea with milk (fine). Except the LL didn’t like my flatmate’s tea or milk, so said, ‘I’ll have a look in everyone else’s cupboards to see what tea or milk they have(!!)’

She’s also texted one flatmate to say that the new tenant will be moving into the unoccupied room soon, but didn’t let me know, so I only found out from my flatmate. I don’t want to sound precious (hope I’m not), but I really don’t think this is on.

Is there anyone I could complain to (e.g. Citizens Advice) or will i be laughed out of town?

I guess they can’t do anything really, especially as it’s a private rental, but I really want the LL to realise that this is not on.

AIBU?

@BlueBug45 Yes that's true. That would count as an HMO anywhere - but not an HMO that requires a mandatory HMO licence. The rules for that are national - three storeys or more and five tenants or more.

I agree about moving out, BlueBug. I don’t think I can move until my break clause is up though.

Also, another thing that’s more of an irritation than anything but still worth bringing up:

• The kitchen tap only ever runs hot water, not cold
• Most of the plug sockets in the flat don’t work. They’re not connected to the mains, according to the landlord, and as she ‘is not a hotel’, she has no need or reason to repair them
• The skirting board around the door to my flatmate’s room is a hazard, as it is loose and very sharp. I viewed the flat at the same time as the flatmate (in May), and the LL said then that she would repair the skirting board. It’s now almost September, and the LL still hasn’t done a thing.

I can't for the life of me see how a loose skirting board could be anything other than annoying. Dangerous? Come off it.

The kitchen tap - very annoying.

The electrics sound dodgy though. All HMOs, licensable or otherwise, must have five yearly electrical safety certificates. Ask to see hers. Put it in writing. Ask for the gas safety too while you're at it. If she doesn't have it you can at least use it as leverage for negotiating leaving early, getting stuff done, or whatever, and it should make her get one. It is very important that everything you communicate about repairs etc is in writing. It could be useful evidence for the future.

Write as a whole household at the broken items and ask they're fixed within a fixed timeframe otherwise you'll all expect a decreased rent as some items aren't acceptable to not be fixed

Also insist as a group that she gives proper notice and informs everyone of new housemates

Job jobbed - don't let her rule you, you tell her what needs doing and that it's not acceptable to turn up with very short notice

Oh and when you do write (email is fine) try to stick to factual and polite, and don't make any outrageous claims (eg 'dangerous' skirting boards), and don't get emotional in any way.

That will get better results and, should you have to take it further, will make you seem a much more credible and reasonable complainant.

@flumpybear. As I said above, and as growup1 has also said, she doesn't need to give notice to enter the common areas or to enter empty rooms. It would be nice if see could, as it would be nice if she could tell you about new people moving in, but you can't 'insist'.

Fucking hell talk about wanting your cake and eating it. (Obviously referring to the LL not the OP).

i hate it when LLs take money off tenants and don't deal with their obligations as a landlord.

I know there are good landlords of course. I've had one of two. But the majority have been the type who want the money but won't give anything back in terms of their obligations.

I have no idea what happened with the font there.

I need to go to bed I think!!!