Who is responsible tenant or landlord?

[sparklins]

Not my situation but a friend that would like some advice.

They live in a terraced property they rent from a private landlord through an estate agent. They have lived there about a year now. No issues apart from the place being a bit filthy when they moved in and bits of mold here and there.
My friend looks after their space and keeps the home really clean.

They ended up having a bad leak in the kitchen ceiling, they notified the landlord who said someone will be around in a few days. No one came and a couple of weeks later a very large chunk ceiling/plasterboard disconnected from the floorboards above and collapsed into the kitchen.
They finally got someone around who has found the cause apparently the gutters are rotten and need replacing and there pointing issues down the supply and fit - my friend (tenant) has been presented with a quote for repairs and asked if they want to go ahead.

AIBU to think this repair is the responsibility of the landlord?
Or is it down to my friend to fix a property they already pay premium rent for and don't own?

YABU - it's your friends responsibility
YANBU - it's the landlords job

As a landlord myself, I'm shocked to hear that the EA seem to be in cahoots with the landlord about this. They should be telling the landlord that it is his/her duty/responsibility to get these repairs done asap, nothing to do with the tenants. Why are they not?

@sparklins

Just to clarify as it's been pointed out I didn't mention - my friend is going through the EA for everything. The EA/ the landlords sent out someone to inspect and then the EA presented my friend with a priced up quote and asked if they want to go ahead.

WHAT!. that is crazy!. They are 100% taking the piss

Which mad 1% said it was the tenant's responsibility?
This is one of the major benefits of renting. You do not deal with repairs etc.

in future, if something like this happens they should contact the landlord daily until it's fixed. Leaks are ALWAYS bad.

Landlords jobs!

Guttering sounds not fit for purpose.

Gutter cleaning is usually tenants responsibility though. I’m not sure whose responsibility it is if they don’t do it and there is a leak into the property.

However this sounds like the guttering is not fit for purpose and repointing issues as well.

@sparklins

Just to clarify as it's been pointed out I didn't mention - my friend is going through the EA for everything. The EA/ the landlords sent out someone to inspect and then the EA presented my friend with a priced up quote and asked if they want to go ahead.

Your friend needs to pass the quote back and say this is the landlords responsibility and ask for confirmation of when the repairs will be done.

Definitely not the tenants responsibility whatsoever, if they push back tell your friend to speak to Shelter for advice.

@Jarstastic

Landlords jobs!

Guttering sounds not fit for purpose.

Gutter cleaning is usually tenants responsibility though. I’m not sure whose responsibility it is if they don’t do it and there is a leak into the property.

However this sounds like the guttering is not fit for purpose and repointing issues as well.

Guttering clearing is also landlords responsibility, anything to do with property maintenance like that falls to the landlord, not the tenant.

Are you sure that the tradesperson/ company hasn't just made a mistake and forgot that they should have sent the quote to the lettings agent?
Your friend should send it to the agent with a covering letter and ask for a written response.

Of course it's the landlords responsibility. Your friend should go back to the estate agent and ask why she's been sent the quote instead of the landlord

@Jarstastic

Landlords jobs!

Guttering sounds not fit for purpose.

Gutter cleaning is usually tenants responsibility though. I’m not sure whose responsibility it is if they don’t do it and there is a leak into the property.

However this sounds like the guttering is not fit for purpose and repointing issues as well.

OP, I think your friend needs to be prepared that the landlord may try and claim its their fault somehow, like for example debris in gutters. I had a LL who would do this and go to extraordinary lengths to avoid ever spending a penny of his own money.

She needs to nip this in the bud and be firm that it is the landlords responsibility to repair and pay for.

Oh. Now you have explained that the letting agent has presented the quite to the tenant. Completely different scenario.
Any property maintenance is the LL responsibility.

@Jarstastic

Landlords jobs!

Guttering sounds not fit for purpose.

Gutter cleaning is usually tenants responsibility though. I’m not sure whose responsibility it is if they don’t do it and there is a leak into the property.

However this sounds like the guttering is not fit for purpose and repointing issues as well.

My friend has only lived in the property for about a year at this point. Even if gutter cleaning is the tenants responsibility I doubt that one year would be enough to cause enough damage to rot the gutters and render them unfit for purpose.

I don't know if the landlords have ever done this though. When they agreed on the tenancy they put the moving date back by about a month and a bit in the end as apparently there was ''cleaning'' to be done and other maintenance to be done.
In the end my friend moved in and said the place looked exactly the same as the day they viewed it 3 months prior and was dusty and dirty so I doubt much got done since the last tenant moved out.

What a cheeky fucker. This isn’t even borderline this is 100% the landlords job.

I’m a landlord and I would not expect a tenant to fix that.

However, just an aside… every tenant thinks they pay a “premium”. It’s a goady and completely irrelevant adjective in your sentence that undermines what was a perfectly reasonable question.

If your friend thinks the rent is too expensive then she can move somewhere else. If she doesn’t think that, then it’s a straightforward question of responsibility and has nothing to do with whether it’s “premium” or not.

@BurntOrangeSky I did not mean for it to be goady.
But the rent is expensive which I suppose reflects the current demand. The rental market where we are is brimming with tenants and not enough properties at the moment and there is a long line of people up for any rental that comes up on the market which is probably why the rent has jumped up.

Bounce it straight back to the EA with a comment to the effect of "think you sent in error, landlord needs to approve this".
It could be as simple as them sending the quote to the wrong person, but it is absolutly, 100%, the landlords responsibility to fix.

However, just an aside… every tenant thinks they pay a “premium”. It’s a goady and completely irrelevant adjective in your sentence that undermines what was a perfectly reasonable question.
Not remotely goady.

If your friend thinks the rent is too expensive then she can move somewhere else.
Ahahahaha

OP definitely not the tenants fault. Does the landlord have pictures showing the gut the gutters were clean and clear of debris before the tenant moved in?. This is all on the landlord. You have to tell them to fix it ASAP or else you are getting environmental health involved

Also is the fixed term over? If it is i would be thinking of moving out...this doesnt bode well

Get her to check her contract. Randomly, mine says the gutters maintenance etc is down to me. That said, I think if there was structural issues, it's the landlords Jon surely?

I’m a landlord and definitely landlords job.
If you’re going through EA I imagine they manage the property on landlords behalf, which is where a lot of time the problem is.
Communication is in my experience usually horrendous from EA’s to landlords. It may be that the landlord isn’t fully aware of the situation.
Any landlord with any sense would get this fixed ASAP if they were aware.

its a landlords job but just be aware yearly gutter cleaning can be tenants

Definitely landlords responsibility to instruct and pay for works.
Sounds like a dodgy landlord to me

@hotmeatymilk laugh all you like. If you don’t like how much somewhere costs to live but someone else is willing to pay the same price then it’s not a premium and adds nothing to the conversation other than to imply that the tenant is getting ripped off by the landlord, and if that’s the case the tenant has the choice not to agree to the terms. Hth.

I think you're being oversensitive, @BurntOrangeSky. OP was merely pointing out that her friend's rent isn't cheap, not having a go at bloated capitalist landlords bleeding hapless tenants dry.
In this instance the landlord sounds like a complete pisstaker.