Is My Landlord Breaking The Law?

[Whatisthisfuckery]

I live in an upstairs flat. Downstairs there is a front door that leads into mine and the next door flat. My flat has an internal wooden door type with a 5 lever lock. It isn’t a proper front door, it’s the same kind of internal door that is in the rest of the flat, with a normal pull down handle.

The downstairs front door has a Yale lock. The front door is sticking, it’s hard to open and shut but the lock isn’t catching properly. Give the door a little shove from the outside and it just opens, but it’s quite difficult to pull it open from the inside.

I have complained to the letting agent about the front door not locking and sticking but they say they only manage the flats, not the communal halls and doors. I don’t have the LLs number so I can’t get in touch. The letting agent say they’ll contact him but I never hear back, mean while the main front door doesn’t lock and it’s difficult to open from the inside.

Whose responsibility is it to keep the front door in good condition, and are any regulations being broken by whoever is responsible refusing to fix it?

Can I also add that we live in a high crime area.

Anybody?

Have you asked your downstairs neighbour? The hallway may be owned between the two flats or might be owned solely by downstairs owner. Your landlord isn't acting illegally if he actually doesn't own the hallway. Have you tried wd40 on the door? That may help.

You can find out who owns the property by going on the Land Registry. It will cost you £3. With the set up you have described, it is highly likely that the same person owns both flats and the entire building, but that is not guaranteed.

The other line of attack is by checking your tenancy agreement. Who signed it? Once you have the LLs name, you need to track him/her down and contact them directly.

Start a log of all attempts to make contact, use email where possible to keep an evidence trail. It may be worth trying to contact the housing team at the council or Shelter. Your insurance is worth nothing if the property is not secured.

sounds like you need to know who owns the freehold for the property that person will be responsible for the communal areas I think?

From the way you have described the set up, it sounds like the LL may have converted the house from a family dwelling to two flats. This may or may not be illegal depending on planning regs etc where you live (in the borough my rental is, this would 100% be illegal unless certain very stringent conditions are met).

The LL owns all the flats. it’s two terraced houses converted into four flats. There are two front doors, one leading to the two upstairs flats where I live, and one leading to the two downstairs flats. That door doesn’t lock either.

I kept on at the letting agent when I moved in because the door didn’t lock then either. A locksmith came round and sorted it out, but that was a couple of months ago and now it’s back to how it was again. The same with the other door, locksmith fixed it, but less than a month later that one’s in the same state. It doesn’t shut at all.

You should have the landlords contact information, I pretty sure that's a legal requirement. Check your contract, my landlords details are in there.

I have his address. I’ll have to write him a letter. he’s not very good though and will ignore things, even the letting agent say this is the case.

Your flat front door should be a fire door - not the same as the internal doors in your flat.
That’s basic fire safety.
You should complain about that and the unlockable door.
Tell him you’re going to ask the local authority to to an inspection. (Though this could get you evicted - sorry)

Sounds like a fire hazard for starters. Definitely a security risk too.

Call the fire service and ask them to do a fire inspection.

Write to your landlord direct. I've been in a situation where tenants got in touch with me and we had a very interesting conversation. Turned out that the agent wasn't passing on messages about minor repairs and was telling the tenants that the were, and that I was ignoring them. What benefit that was to the agent I'm not sure, but I terminated their contract and managed the property myself from that point onwards.
Must admit, I'd be very tempted to see how much it would cost to get the lock sorted and have a word with downstairs to see about sharing the cost. Really not right, but security would trump arguments with landlords and agents for me.

Yes! Call the fire department and ask if they will do a fire inspection. They won't tell anyone you asked them, they'll say they chose the address....

Is it the door or the lock that's the issue I.e. has the door swollen too much to fit in the aperture or has it not been cut to size properly? Could be a joiner you need rather than a locksmith

The locksmith said that the door had dropped, whatever that means.

I’m worried about getting evicted if I cause a fuss. I have been told by the gas engineer that the letting agent didn’t call them for a week after I’d complained about my boiler leaking, despite me having chased the letting agents three times. When I reported via their online form it said it was an emergency and that I’d hear within 24 hours, but clearly I didn’t.

Yes, I think it would be a good idea to have a chat with the LL. I think one of my downstairs neighbours has his number so I might ask them for it. I’m not sure they’re all too impressed with him either though. I’ll have a chat with them.

I think I’ll google a fire inspection. I’ll only ask them if I they’ll say it was random though, I don’t want to get evicted.

sounds like you don't know your rights. read your how to rent. Write to landlord (letter so a paper trail) stating what you want done and giving a timescale. Say that if nothing is done you will contact environmental health.

although being evicted from this shithole doesn't really sound the end of the world. London?

On your tenancy agreement you must have, by law, an address for the serving of notices. This must be in the UK, even if the landlord lives elsewhere. It is this address where you will need to write (pen and paper) explaining the issue and the resolution you expect (within reason). State at the begining of the letter that you are writing to that address as it is the legal address on the tenancy agreement. If this produces no result you'll need to take further action.

Keep the letter short and to the point: the external entry to the main building is insecure due to the lock not engaging. Please rectify this as soon as possible as it is invalidating the insurances. I expect a response or resolution of the issue by....

No, but a very expensive city not too far away.

TBH getting evicted would be pretty awful. I’ve already moved me and DS three times in the last 6 years through no fault of my own, LLs selling up etc, and each time it gets harder and harder to find affordable accommodation. I’m disabled so on benefits so struggle to find anywhere and I don’t have a guarantor.

Sounds like the door needs tightening or rehung rather than a locksmith

Contact Citizens Advice - they can advise on your rights and recourse.