To think this is particularly poor for a rental?

[EachPeachPearRum]

We spent an age getting our house ready to be rented out. The house we have rented is turning out to not have been looked after to the point I wonder how anyone lived here.

-the dishwasher doesn't work (tablet door is broken)

• The washing machine is so full of mould I refuse to use it even after I've cleaned it
• the tub won't drain as the brain plug that's meant to pop up won't so I had the joy of hand bailing out the bath last night
• the house was filthy despite being "professionally cleaned"
• Some of the rooms didn't even have lightbulbs in the downlights
• the garden was full of rubbish. I've hauled out half broken laundry baskets, bottles, cans you name it.

When we viewed the house the agent assured me all of it would be sorted before we moved it and now I'm sat in a house where I can't wash the clothes, the kids or dishes (well I can by hand). Is this normal? This is our first rental. We wanted to rent for a year to see which village would suit us best but I'm ready to bail out to Airbnb at this point.

Not normal. Especially not for one managed by agents. I'd say it was more of a risk when privately renting....my experience has been that agent-managed houses are usually well cared for.

Have you signed a contract I assume?

Have you called the agent to complain?

Well I wouldn’t of moved in without checking all this had been done to be honest, why did you? The agent said it would be done so why not insist to see it before paying and moving in! Lesson 1 in life NEVER trust an estate agents word.....

What have you done about it? have you called & emailed the agent with photos to complain?

I’ve got a few properties I rent out and each one will be spotless& completely empty before the next tenants go in, so of course it’s unacceptable what you’ve got. No your not in the worst property but your paying rent on somewhere so all this should of been sorted

Is it just the tablet door that doesn't work on the dishwasher?

Have you contacted the agent to address all these issues? Disgusting.

Make sure every single thing is noted on the inventory and take photos so there's no dispute with your deposit.

Surely for the dishwasher you can just chuck the tablet in the machine? My machine just throws the tablet out anyway once the cycle starts so I can’t see what difference it would make.

Washing machine just run on the hottest setting with some dettol cleaner, will be fine

Nothing you describe make it even remotely uninhabitable! Mould won't stop the washing machine from working, not being able to put a tablet in the dishwasher the same. The bath problem is easily fixed, ditto lightbulbs and dirt.

I'm sorry to sound so unsympathetic but it's all pretty trivial. By all means ask the agent to sort it out but don't be surprised if it doesn't happen.

When you checked in, received the inventory, did you highlight all the faults?

The landlord might not be aware if the property is being fully managed.

No it’s not acceptable. Put it in writing to the managing agent and ask them how and when they will rectify.

Rented privately for almost 10 years. Had lots of issues in various properties. Sadly this happens quite ofte. Complain to the agency and don't give up, be prepared to put up a fight.

Been there with this with private rental OP. Very similar - garden filthy, things not working, superficially clean but actually really filthy. Its very stressful . You could move again if the Agents won't deal with it pronto?

On the positive side, just remember, some people have no choice with all this long-term whereas you have a home you will eventually sell.

This sounds very similar to a rental I once lived in. One of the first things I did was photograph all the inadequate cleaning and email the agents to say that I would not be paying for the property to be professionally cleaned when we moved out given that it clearly wasn't in a professionally cleaned state when moved in. Also sent photos of all damage including broken compartments in the fridge, dishwasher, garden fence and mould which had been painted over . You should inform them about the missing light bulbs. Was there an inventory? Go through it and dispute anything incorrect, even on the face of it minor things.

I bleached the hell out of our washing machine. Thankfully it broke 2 months later and LL reluctantly bought a new one.

Our oven would take 50 minutes to cook oven chips which should have taken 20 mins. LL refused to replace it, even when one of the gas hobs broke. We ended up buying a convection oven - he then complained when we moved out that it was missing(!)

As pp says you can just chuck tablet at the bottom of the dishwasher, that's all the machine does, but imo it's indicative of a rubbish LL so I expect you'll have issues in the future re repairs.

Get on to the agents, it's their responsibility to put things right. Also to organise replacements for any white goods which don't work.

good post witch. i'd be taking photos and so forth too, do a massive email outlining all your problems, with photos, inventory, etc, so its all in writing. they might be problemmatic later if they are like this now.

-the dishwasher doesn't work (tablet door is broken)

So is ours, not a big deal just throw the tablet in.

Lesson 1 in life NEVER trust an estate agents word.....

True, they all chat utter shit.

I moved into a rental property a few years ago and the Landlord promised he would put a garden gate up to make it secure for my DC, promised someone would be round to fix a mould issue upstairs, promised the leak that had clearly recently happened in the kitchen would be fixed etc. None of the above were fixed and he was generally slow at fixing other issues too. Great at having the annual gas checks done to cover his own back, useless at fixing things. Lots and lots of landlords are stingy cunts like that.

In future check these things out before moving in and ensure they have been fixed before signing the tenancy.

Lesson 1 in life NEVER trust an estate agents word..... True, as often they are told one thing by the landlord before the tenant moves in and quite another afterwards

Handy to remember it isn't always the agent's fault!

Get on to the agents, it's their responsibility to put things right. Also to organise replacements for any white goods which don't work. Fixing/replacing white goods depends entirely on what your AST says! Many tenants assume that the LL must fix/repair... but that ain't necessarily so! Check your contract.

The dishawasher isn't dissolving the tablet if I just chuck it in. Maybe the water isn't getting hot enough,

There was an inventory sheet given to me and I was told we have 7 days to disputed it and we will. The washing machine is disgusting. The seal is rotting and stained with mould. No way I'm using it.

This was a long distance move for us so I wasn't able to see it again until the day we moved in.

Since my last post I've realised one of the ovens doesn't work ditto the extractor fan.

I've put it all in writing to the agent.

I'm just so stressed. This was not how I needed this to go.

EachPeach do you have a full inventory/schedule of condition?

What does your AST say about repairs and cleaning?

I've always found that it's pointless making sure landlords or agents get things sorted prior to signing an agreement on a place.

Where I live, there's so few rental properties available privately, there's massive demand and if I put my foot down and demand X, Y and Z be done first, they'd just pick another applicant who's happy to move in as is and when renting is my only option, I don't have the choice to lose the rental by being fussy.

Obviously if the property was in a dire state and unliveable, etc. Then I'd demand it was sorted or try and find somewhere else but if it's minor things then I'd just have to suck it up.

Xpost!

A single sheet for the inventory? Ye gods!

Right... take pictures, make lists, room by room. Be prepared to fight for repair whilst you are there and to be given S21 as soon as your LL is able to - essentially kick up a fuss and look for somewhere else to live ASAP!

Then check have you been given the following:
Gas safety certificate?
How to Rent booklet or link to the government website
Within 30 days of your start date did/will you get a deposit protection certificate?

Sounds normal to me unfortunately, it is soul destroying having scrubbed one house you can’t unpack until you do the next. I was so exhausted from the move (a bit complicated but we basically had a months notice) I missed the 7 day cut off to notify. I know this is going to bite me in the arse when I move.

It’s shit I know

Just get a second hand washing machine that is cleaner - often the mould stains so whilst not mouldy looks awful - alternatively if works fine then give it a proper deep clean wash with bleach and 90 degrees or replace the rubber seal - am considering that on mine as it is also stained (bought secondhand).

Dishwasher - just chuck the tablet in - the doors on tablet unit often go

Re bath - work out how it should work and look at why it isn't. It may pop up when pushed etc. In mean time when you put it in find some ribbon or something slim that can fit underneath and be used to pull it up more easily. Or if you can afford it just get a plumber to sort sometimes that is what has to happen.

Lightbulbs - replacing them is your job - you should have checked if they had bulbs before moving in

A friend of mine is having serious damp issues with a new rental - to the extent its effecting her health as she only has half a functioning lung! Kind of puts it in perspective

Call and insist ALL of these thing are rectified.

None of these things are big and can easily be done and sorted out by the landlord.

Send photos and email them over.

They need to repair or replace. Unacceptable.

Thats not acceptable, but to be honest I wouldn't have proceeded to sign contracts to move in after viewing it in that state. No estate agent holds their word and gets things fixed before you move in. Ever. This is something i've learned from a lifetime of renting.

We rented when we moved back to the UK, and the houses available were generally fairly shite 😕

When we moved in it too had been "professionally cleaned" and had numerous problem. We notified the agent, but to be honest they didn't give an arse and there's not much arguing you can do with a removal truck sitting on the drive.

Just heavily mark up the inventory and take pictures, send a copy back to the agent and hold onto a copy. If there's any problems when you leave, you can take it up with the deposit people (I forget their name). Our agent tried to hold back our deposit on exit for various things which we disputed. The deposit people saw 100% in our favour and essentially told us they were sick to the back teeth of crap agents not doing their job.