To ask where we stand legally in relation to non-communicating landlord's agent?

[PuffinTilly]

Apologies for rubbish title and length of post! Have also NC'd for this just in case she's on here...

We (2 adults, 1 child) had to move to another rented house late last year as the house we had lived in for 9 years was being sold. Found a place, tiny but rent was affordable. Landlord lives locally and had recently agreed to let someone he knew become his agent for the 2 houses he owns as he didn't want to do it himself. All seemed fine to start with - landlord was pleasant enough and the agent seemed very nice and to start with was very responsive about sorting out minor issues. Promises were also made about major issues being dealt with quickly. This started to tail off after a couple of months and it became harder to get hold of her as she focused on getting the other property ready to let.

Basically we found ourselves living in a damp, mouldy house with blown double glazing while the rent we were paying was being used to fix up the empty house next door. The promise of the windows being replaced by the end of last year still hasn't materialised. The building work that will (hopefully) sort out the worst of the damp and mould was finally started last month and is now complete but only because I asked over and over again for months for this essential work to be done and eventually said I would go to environmental health if a date to begin the work wasn't set.

Now I'm chasing her to get the double glazing replaced as promised (there are several windows that we can hardly see out of) and she has completely stopped responding to me. Over a month ago I finally suggested that I would contact the window fitters myself and arrange a date and she responded that she was already in contact with them. After waiting 3 weeks and nothing happening I did contact the window fitters and was told that she had not been in touch with them and no date had been arranged to begin the work. I messaged her again and told her this and she has now ceased all contact with me and will respond to no messages at all. The last time she responded to a message was in the middle of July and I have sent a number of messages since then.

These are just the major issues - there have been many more. Reading back through all the messages between myself and the agent over the last few months has made me very angry and upset - I don't want to have to deal with her any more! She isn't doing her job at all, just taking the money! I have spoken to the landlord about the problems we are having with her but he doesn't seem willing to do anything about it.

I know that we could withhold rent but my concern is that this would leave us at risk of eviction for breach of contract. Can anyone with legal knowledge advise me of what course of action we can take? Thank you!

Just call Environmental Health now. I did this when my landlord failed to sort mould in our house a few years ago. An inspector came and immediately issued an order to the landlord to repair it within a certain time frame or court would be ordered.

No point giving them chances.

Thanks for responding Ajas

Not sure if the window replacement would count though? It's not a health issue, just a quality of life one (we'll have to wait till autumn / winter to see whether the mould and damp problems have been rectified by the work that was done).

At the moment for me, it's more a question of how to proceed when the agent who is supposed to be in charge of sorting out any issues with the house refuses to communicate with me! I have never been rude to her, always polite though increasingly more curt in response to her telling me lies and ignoring my messages...

Anyone else got any advice? It's such a stressful situation! Won't be able to check for answers until Monday but really hoping to hear from some people in the know xx

I work in property law
Just call environmental health, they won’t be able to serve notice on you while the property is substandard and any improvement order they will have to adhere to usually in a strict timeframe

I'm no expert but I read the regulars on MSE.

Firstly, the agent works for the landlord, not for you. You need to report everything IN WRITING (pen, paper, envelope, stamp) to the Landlord. Don't waste your time sending the letters by recorded delivery; simply hand them in at the Post Office and get a free proof of posting. Courts deem this acceptable. Keep copies of everything.

Keep your letter(s) factual and to the point. No emotion at all. E.g. Situation was this, we reported that on day x to agent. Y response received.

Sometimes, people seem to think that landlords can magic contractors out of thin air. I am not saying that in your case, but if the house was your own, you could not always expect plumbers etc to be out within 20 minutes of you reporting something. Be reasonable and give the LL time to sort things.

In the case of the windows, you could contact 3 different companies to ask for quotes and pass them onto the LL. If you are prepared to do some of the donkey work for them, they have fewer excuses for not having the time to sort it.

Finally, do report mould and other health concerns to Environmental Health. Make sure they are not caused by lifestyle issues (open windows, air a bathroom after a shower, try not to dry clothes indoors). We find dehumidifiers really useful and not too expensive to run. HTH

Blown double glazing is a purely cosmetic problem. Annoying, but not something you could force any action on.

Thank you so much for your responses. Got back so late today and have only just finished sorting out all the new school stuff! Very tired so going to bed and will look into this again tomorrow.

Replacing double glazing is a very expensive job, and you can’t force the LL / agent to replace them if they don’t want to.

As advised above, mound could be down to life style issues. Do you avoid drying clothes indoors, and regularly open windows?

Personally I’d start thinking about moving when your tenancy expires.

Hi again, and thanks once more for all the messages. To answer a few of the questions / respond to comments - before we even moved in to the house a promise was made to replace the blown double glazing by the end of last year as there are some windows that we can't see out of at all. Not the frames, just the window units. Several quotes were found and after no action was taken I found a nationwide company myself and sent the details to the agent. They provided a quote and I was told that the LL had found this to be acceptable and would go ahead with this company. This was many months ago and nothing has happened since. The company has said that if they are given the go-ahead, they will start the work within 3 weeks.

As to the mould and damp, very little of this was due to lifestyle issues. Water was getting into the walls causing excessive thick white mould to grow all over our bedroom walls and black as well as white mould to appear in many other areas. We have 4 dehumidifiers and try to open windows as much as possible. In winter this is not so easy! When we dry clothes indoors we use a dehumidifier. We have no choice - no tumble dryer or room to install one, no covered outdoor space, no launderette within 15 miles of where we live.

The building work has now been completed which we are hoping will address the issue of water getting into the walls. I have also taken steps to address the mould on external walls problem by painting those areas with anti-mould paint (at our own expense). We won't know if any of this has been effective until it gets properly cold and wet again.

We don't have the option to move again as there are no other properties in the area that we can afford! I am still looking but our only option would be social housing and as we do actually have a house I suspect we would not be very high priority. Not that there is any social housing available here anyway! I hate the idea of moving again and would rather try and make this work. I just have no idea how to maintain a working relationship with an agent who refuses to communicate with me (possibly because I caught her out and called her out in a lie?).

I am in the process of writing a letter to the LL - thank you for that suggestion Malbecfan - detailing all the issues we are having with the agent. The problem is that he is almost pathologically lazy and does not want to have to deal with anything relating to his properties, hence the agent. Having spoken to the person who lived here before us (before LL had an agent) this is abundantly clear. He did literally nothing and left it all to the tenant to sort out. Of course we only found all this out after we had moved in.

Honestly, in this situation, usually the quickest and easiest solution is simply to move elsewhere.

I’m not sure what “blown” double glazing is? There is a requirement on landlords to keep structure and exterior in repair and working order. (S11 Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. This includes windows, but if the problem is purely cosmetic, this will not be covered. If you are unable to open them, or if they let in draughts or water then this is covered under s11LTA. Environmental Health will not be interested either unless there is a health/ sanitation issue as you are aware.
If the landlord promised to replace the windows, and you relied on that in taking on the property, technically there may be a breach of contract, but enforcing this could be tricky (nothing in writing, and cost/hassle court proceedings). There is a sort of “self help” remedy where you obtain 3 quotes, take the cheapest and get the work done yourself taking it out of the rent. This after warning the landlord of intention to do this, in writing. However, the landlord has to be in breach of contract or statutory duty, so again you’re up against proving it is in the event of landlord taking action re rent arrears.
Which brings you to final problem. Assuming you have an assured shorthold tenancy, do you have a fixed term? Any break clause allowing landlord to terminate before end of term? Even if you have, say a year tenancy with no break clause, the landlord can serve notice and end tenancy at end of the term. Pressurising a landlord to do works can result in him/ her deciding to evict as the cheapest option.

The LL has no intention of replacing the double glazing units at this stage. Once the other house is ready to be let I bet you are served with a S21 notice. Once you are out then the necessary work will be done and the house re-let.
It's a pain but I'd start looking to give your notice and move.

Blown double glazing is where the seal between the two panes of glass becomes compromised, meaning small amounts of water vapour get in causing cloudiness. It doesn't affect the function of the windows. It is almost as expensive to put right as it is to get completely new windows. I recently had five small panes done for around £1500.

Your LL obviously doesn't want to do it right now. It's annoying, as it was promised, but in no way an 'actionable' matter. All you can do is move.