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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU private rent

49 replies

Daisydoo6799 · 05/12/2019 16:37

We were meant to have someone come to look at our bathroom roof today between 3-4... Made sure I was back by 3 from shopping...
Got to 4.15, no one had turned up, so i rang estate agent.
Apparently they came at 2pm, no answer so got next door to open the side gate and accessed the back of our property unattended.
So annoyed at people just turning up when they like! 😑

Had a meeting / inspection with the managers of our estate agents in August, expressed these concerns, (as has happened on more than one occasion)... with a young baby, it's not acceptable to just turn up and was assured they had a quiet house policy and this wouldn't happen again.

Surely it's courtesy for them to ring us and say 'we're in the area, is it OK to come now? '
**so fed up of paying our rent every month and bare minimum works get done. The house is freezing, cold, damp, and mouldy.

OP posts:
PlanDeRaccordement · 05/12/2019 17:11

Because its an old house, drafty windows and doors.

Go to Homebase and spend £25 on draft excluders for the windows and insulation strips for the doors. You’ll save more than that on your gas bill and have a warm home.

Original poster
Daisydoo6799 · 05/12/2019 17:12

It is our business when the house is freezing due to a shit roof,
Were the ones have to live in the place... Not him!

He's in a 5 bed house, with 5 motorbikes... So we've been told,
Most the contractors he gets out to us are his mates from the pub!

OP posts:
CuriousaboutSamphire · 05/12/2019 17:15

So move. Spend money you will begrudge on moving. Or a trip to B+ Q.

dreichXmas · 05/12/2019 17:18

Honestly we have rented and owned, workmen are a law unto themselves in either situation.

Hurdygurdy24 · 05/12/2019 17:20
  • It is our business when the house is freezing due to a shit roof, Were the ones have to live in the place... Not him!*

Sorry. But it’s really not.

If you don’t like the house and the way he maintains it then rent another or buy one that you can have exactly as you like.

Brutal, but true.

Also, it’s no concern if he owns fifteen yachts or private jets. It’s his house and you pay to stay there for a set time. If you don’t like it, move somewhere else

iamNOTmagic · 05/12/2019 17:21

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

PlanDeRaccordement · 05/12/2019 17:23

Amazon is a bit expensive. The links are just so you can see there are cheap and easy things you can do to stop the drafty windows and doors. Homebase or B&Q usually carry these for less £.
I rented the whole time I lived in northern England. Had to winterise my private rental too.

UtterlyPerfectCartoonGiraffe · 05/12/2019 17:25

LensGlans How bloody rude!! No, she doesn’t own the property, but it is her home, which she pays for. I know a lot of landlords are in it for the profit and couldn’t give a shit about their tenants living in damp and mould (been there, got the mouldy T-shirt) but saying that you’re not allowed to call it your property - I’ve never come across that batshittery before!
Can you even imagine?
“Right kids, shall we go back to the landlord’s house now?”
Did you see the Christmas lights on the house next to my landlord’s house? They’re lovely!”

Spitsandspots · 05/12/2019 17:31

even owned our own home, if they had no answer, they would have gone away, not just accessed the back of our property, where we have valuable things in our outbuildings

No, they would still have hopped over the fence and had a look and rang later to discuss what needs doing.
They tend to be busy people who don’t want to come out twice just to have a look and price a job up.

Hurdygurdy24 · 05/12/2019 17:36
  • “Right kids, shall we go back to the landlord’s house now?” Did you see the Christmas lights on the house next to my landlord’s house? They’re lovely!”*

I rent at the moment.

We go back to “the house”. No way would I call it home to the kids as it never will be. It’s a place that we live that we rent from someone else. We could be chucked out at fairly short notice. That’s the downside of renting. You live in a house or a flat, Bebe a home.

Hurdygurdy24 · 05/12/2019 17:36

Bebe - never

TheReluctantCountess · 05/12/2019 17:37

Yanbu. I empathise completely. We privately rent, and sometimes you are made to feel like you should be grateful that they let you live there.

dreichXmas · 05/12/2019 17:42

We are currently renting and call it "landlord's name house" it isn't our house.

Our house, the one we can change at will to suit us is back in the UK.

It is however currently our home, so we do talk about going back home for example.

UtterlyPerfectCartoonGiraffe · 05/12/2019 17:48

dreich Really? You live in a house but don’t call it home? You don’t finish shopping and go “right kids, lets head home?” That’s a bit of a pain in the bum, isn’t it. We rent, the kids think of here as their home and they’re happy and safe and settled. If we moved, the new place would be their home. It’s not not your home because you pay for it through rent rather than through a mortgage.

I can appreciate other people feel differently, but it feels a bit sad.

mencken · 05/12/2019 17:50

what is the EPC on this place? Did you visit before renting?

if it is 'freezing, cold, damp and mouldy' then give notice and leave. Even in London, there is choice. And if you've never been let down by a tradie who turns up when he likes - you've not much experience in the real world.

lot of noise on this thread....
neither situation is how it should be, but it is how it is. You certainly have control over one of them.

dreichXmas · 05/12/2019 17:53

@UtterlyPerfectCartoonGiraffe
I said that we call it home as in "let's go home"
But we we call it "x's house" rather than ours. It is our home but it isn't our house.

It is probably easier for us because we do have a house, it is just that other people are living in it and we are living in someone else's.

LIZS · 05/12/2019 17:53

Did he access outside only or did he have keys? I'm not sure you can put it on the agent if he chose to show up early, after all it is better to view a roof in daylight and it was your neighbour who let him in. Annoying that you rushed back in vain but it was not that intrusive if he only looked at outside.

Alsohuman · 05/12/2019 17:55

We own our house. This sort of thing happens to us too. It’s builders.

UtterlyPerfectCartoonGiraffe · 05/12/2019 18:02

You’re right dreich I misread and thought you meant you call the house back in the uk “home”. Thought I was the only weirdo in the land who called my rented house a home! Blush

To be fair, we do have year long contracts and a lovely landlord and letting agency so we are really lucky.

Original poster
Daisydoo6799 · 05/12/2019 18:27

Exactly that,
Yes it's not our house, but we've lived here for 2.5 years, paid our rent on time every month!
I have invested in making it our home.
We look after the property unlike his last tenants who trashed the place...

Just because we don't own the property doesn't mean we can't call it our home.

OP posts:
fpurplea · 05/12/2019 18:50

Why on earth do you think tradespeople don't do exactly the same thing to owners?! The way you're putting your point across is really detracting from your arguments. Yes, renting can be shit, enormously more so if your landlord is a dick. But look on the bright side, if the property needs serious roof work doing it wont be you on the hook for the bill.

If the conditions are that bad call Environmental Health and they can compel the landlord to do repairs. england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/repairs/complain_to_environmental_health_about_rented_housing

I would say beware of investing too much money in making it a home. You'll be out of pocket if the landlord wants you out.

HaudYerWheeshtYaWeeBellend · 05/12/2019 19:38

Yes, but it could equally have happened if you were in social housing

Only OP isn’t in social housing, and has a legal contract with her landlord!

Let’s stick to the facts and not what ifs As is regularly bashed around threads like this

OP landlord has a legal responsibility under right to repair act 2018 (see legislation) and fit for human habitation act 2018 (however if you signed your tenancy agreement before 20 March 2019, this act won’t apply to you until 20th March 2020). if you have a licenses to occupy tenancy your are not covered under this act.

Write a formal complaint to the estate agency (email preferably as you then have written documentation) and advise you give them 28 days to assess/repair the bathroom in which an appointment date and time are kept (mentioning previous examples) advise if this is not assessed within this period time frame then accordance with the above acts you will have to instruct a 3rd party on your behalf which would be the ombudsman and environmental health due to the mould growth and condition of the bathroom.

You can also contact shelter and citizens advice for further advice.

HaudYerWheeshtYaWeeBellend · 05/12/2019 19:46

Daisydoo6799

OP, I work in this field (social housing) irrespective of your property status, under contractual law as per your tenancy agreement you have protected rights covered by law.

Some may want to skip that basic and informative fact, for all the what ifs in the world, however it’s your circumstances and legal documentation that counts, not the what ifs Hmm

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