to ask landlord for a new bathroom

[Namechangedotcom]

I hate my bathroom in my rented house. I've been here for nearly two years and its just awful, its tiny, no storage, floor tiles are brown like a pub toilet and white wall tiles are done so badly there's grout smeared all over them that has gone grey over the years and the tiles are crooked and uneven. there's so many pipes going around the room that I don't see in anyone else's houses and they're covered in irremovable grime and rust. Also the skirting boards around the room are rotted, black and peeling between the wood and the floor that has been made worse by huge leaks that were happening last year. I understand that obviously they can't make the bathroom bigger and to be honest the actual toilet sink and bath are fine aside from the sealing starting to go but the actual room is in bad shape. do I have grounds to ask the agent to request that the landlord do something about it? I actually feel embarrassed having anyone in my house because of the bathroom. Should I offer to increase my rent to help pay for it or should I not ask at all? I am up to date with my rent and always pay well before its due.

It doesn't sound brilliant, is your rent priced to reflect that?
I'd worry that they would increase the rent after renovating the bathroom.

Some landlords would work together with you and maybe get new tiling.
A friend updated their kitchen, she paid and the landlord gave a few months rent-free (but they owned the whole block of flats so was a bit water off a duck's back to them).

It's in their interests for the waterproof seals to be good.

You could ask but if you don't get a reply you like could you put a lino on top of the floor tiles, I don't think that would be expensive.

You can always ask but as you accepted the property including the bathroom with those tiles they may say no.

The strongest point you have is that there is potential damage to the property from the seals and rotten wood.

Do they inspect the property? You could write to them (it’s important to actually put it in an actual letter) and say that the seal is not in good condition and you are concerned about potential leaks / damage and the wood is rotting and black and that you want to make them aware so they can fix it before the structure is affected.

Being up to date on rent is irrelevant, you signed a contract to say you would do that.

There is no harm in asking. I would contact the agent maybe with a description and if you can a picture. Assuming you have been there a little while and not literally just moved in with the bathroom in that condition then the landlord may well decide it is worth investing in a revamp.

I wouldn't immediately volunteer more rent, see what they say to a polite request first.

My rent is the average for a decent place in my area, if not a bit more. I'm going to email and ask and if they decline would it be cheeky to respond and ask if I could pay or should I just leave it?

No harm in asking but has your rent already been increased in line with inflation? So the increase would be above that.

Definitely ask, as they say ‘if you don’t ask you don’t get’! If they say no to cosmetic work, look for cheap ways you can improve it to make it more acceptable to you. This is what I have generally done in my previous rented properties. Sometimes it’s been a lick of paint (the same colour as the existing one), or actually cheap stick on vinyl tiles in one place to cover a really scuffed and stained kitchen floor! Maybe you could try and remove the grout that’s on the tiles where it shouldn’t be and try and whiten it between the tiles? They should definitely rectify the water damage and replace the skirting board. I understand your concerns about the pipes as I hate seeing that too, they just collect dust for no reason- other than trying to give them a really good clean and maybe paint them, I don’t think you can do much else as covering them up permanently would probably break your tenancy agreement...

@dontdisturbmenow my rent hasn’t increased since I’ve lived here

if it functions perfectly and you just want to change it for cosmetic reasons they’ll probably say no.

I can't see any harm in asking, but a landlord that would be ok with you living like that, probably won't want to do it.

I honestly don't understand landlords that are happy to have people living with grim bathrooms & mould etc.

How long do you plan on living there?
If you're paying a bit over the odds for your area,would you not consider moving to a slightly nicer place?

It might be worth asking depending on your relationship with your landlord or landlady. My sister got a rent reduction of 100 pcm for 2 years for putting in a new kitchen from her landlady. So it does happen. It also meant landlady knew she wanted to stay there which, considering she is an excellent tenant, was good for her too.

@Greeneyes78

if it functions perfectly and you just want to change it for cosmetic reasons they’ll probably say no.

irremovable grime and rust. Also the skirting boards around the room are rotted, black and peeling between the wood and the floor that has been made worse by huge leaks that were happening last year

Not really 'cosmetic'.

As in, my sister paid for the kitchen but got her money back over the course of the rent reduction and landlady got a fab new kitchen.

@Sheepareawesome

It might be worth asking depending on your relationship with your landlord or landlady. My sister got a rent reduction of 100 pcm for 2 years for putting in a new kitchen from her landlady. So it does happen. It also meant landlady knew she wanted to stay there which, considering she is an excellent tenant, was good for her too.

£2400 goes nowhere when you're talking about kitchens!

How much did your sister end up out of pocket?

The extra grout would probably chip off with a sharp knife IME of similar. There is some easy squeeze on sealant I've just bought for my rental bathroom , it was £5.99. Peel & stick flooring is dirt cheap in AliExpress or Wish. You could get the skirting done by the LL if there is mould as it comes under Health & Safety regs in rentals.

Forgot, white pipe covers are £2 for 12 on Amazon.

No way would I offer to pay more rent for a basic cosmetic job like this. You are already paying rent for a bathroom, which should be decent and therefore you should have a reduced, not increased rent right now. Perhaps the ll doesn’t know how bad it is. If you ask, they may just agree to rectify the issues. I don’t see how they can say no to removing the rust and rot. That sounds disgusting. It doesn’t sound like it’s actually in a rentable state right now.

How old is the bathroom? If it's 15 years old and wear and tear then it'd be reasonable to ask.
If it's just a badly fitted 2 year old job then I'd try and improve it yourself.
Boxing in or conduit is fairly easy.

The bathroom is easily 15 years old. The pipes are around the sink so can’t be boxed in really, I was thinking about getting one of those under sink cabinets but the sink is between the wall and the bath so it wouldn’t fit with the pipes. I’m not sure how I could even get rid of the pipes though, it must be an expensive job

If it's that old then go for it.
It isn't unreasonable and with the new flexi for systems the replacement shouldn't be too expensive for the LL plus make the bathroom neater.

Do private landlords have to abide by Decent Home Standards?

The criteria for the standard are as follows:

it must meet the current statutory minimum standard for housing
it must be in a reasonable state of repair
it must have reasonably modern facilities and services
it must provide a reasonable degree of thermal comfort."[2][3]

CP from Wiki, number three covers you.

If the bathroom is that old, it basically has a zero value. Although that is a grey area. But it sounds as if it really needs updating.

Do you rent through an agent or the ll direct ?

I'm wondering about this too. My landlord hinted when I rented the house (been here since May 2019) that he might redo the bathroom and the outside insulation too...

No sign so far, I would like to stay for another 4 years and would be a bit annoyed if he did it when I move out !

Not sure whether to contact him and to ask him about it.

My bathroom is functional but probably more like 30yrs old I'd say.

It doesn't look like the LL has to improve.
england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/repairs/asking_your_landlord_to_improve_your_home

There's advice at the bottom on how to go about it if any use.

Sister spent about 1500 on the kitchen. It is very small and her bil is a kitchen fitter. She is still there 10 years later and it was well worth it.

From what you have said it could do with a good clean, repainting and freshen up of the tiles, floor and skirting boards and some attention to sealing and ventilation if leaks and damp have been a problem. Could you propose that as it would be a day or two's work rather than fully ripping out a mostly functional bathroom?

If there is dried grout on tiles you can actually sand it off with an abrasive pad, tiling shops sell them for a few pounds. Pipes can be painted over with metal primer/Hammerite (not the valves of course).