Landlord being an arse

[landlordstress]

Very long story as short as possible:

We have lived in our current home (privately rented) since April 2020. House is relatively old (1920s build, Victorian style), so lots of things have started to go wrong over the past few years. Landlord is really disinterested in any repairs that have arisen. We've had issues with the boiler (which eventually required full replacement), leaks from the bathroom into the kitchen, tiles randomly falling off in the bathroom and shattering, heavy doors randomly falling off their hinges (almost landing on my toddler and instead landed on my arm to prevent this). All repairs we've needed have generally required repeated requests to the landlord before any action has been taken. The boiler issue for example went on for around 4-5 months, breaking pretty much fortnightly in that time, before landlord eventually agreed to replace it and that was over the winter months too with a baby, so totally nightmare.

The worst problem however, has been a leak in the back porch area (which is an extension on the house), which we first brought to the landlord's attention in October 2020. I know this because I was pregnant with my now almost 3 year old at the time and was concerned about slipping on large pools of water that came through the roof into the house near the back door every time it rained. Landlord did nothing. He replied to requests to fix it with comments such as "it's only a problem when the rain is coming from a particular direction" and so on... promised to get certain treatments to try and address it, never did, etc.. just fobbing us off essentially for years.

It came to a head last year when I decided enough was enough and I was sick of almost slipping in large puddles of rain water every time it rained heavily. At this point it had gone for so long the plaster work was falling off in chunks as the rain came through into the back porch area. We were constantly sending photos and videos of this to the landlord, again, nothing done to repair. So I contacted the council in desperation. They were horrified on inspection and got in touch with him, giving him deadlines and timeframes to fix it etc.

We now have a timeframe for something being done, he's apparently told the council workmen are coming round on a date in a few weeks time to put up a scaffold. However today on the phone to my partner he stated that he didn't like that we "updated" the council every time there was an issue and it felt like "tit for tat". My partner is quite a passive person and didn't challenge this but I am FUMING at this comment.

How dare he suggest we are in a "tit for tat" game playing situation here? He has forced our hand by doing nothing about the problem for 3.5 years, and now we have someone advocating for us and giving him deadlines and consequences for not fixing the issue, he has the audacity to accuse us of playing a "tit for tat" game?!

For context this is not a cheap property, we pay £900 a month to live here. And the place isn't even watertight and hasn't been for 3.5 years. The roof where the leak is at the point of literally crumbling away. I worry the whole thing is going to collapse on my toddler's head. Since our tenancy began in April 2020 we have paid this man around 41k in rent. What the hell has he done with our money and why can't he use some of that to fix the bloody state of the place? Instead of calling my partner to imply we are doing something wrong by involving the council? I am SO angry.

AIBU to have involved the council for help?
AIBU to be fuming and to expect a watertight property for £900 a month?!!

I think people should be able to have a watertight home regardless of how much they pay. However, I also think it’s probably time to find somewhere else to live and prepare for the fact that your landlord may not give you a reference.

We have been looking for somewhere suitable for the best part of a year now. Also, we wanted to wait and see if the council would help us.

Agree with others, it’s time to move OP.

Landlord’s really are a law to themselves and I’d not want to waste a single second more, or risk a single second more, of living in a home with young children where I’m worried about the roof crumbling around us.

Were we wrong to get the council involved though? He's implying that we are but surely he can see he's forced our hand here?? How could any reasonable person NOT see this?

I'd expect a watertight property for £90, never mind £900 a month! Landlords get away with absolute shite that causes long term damage to buildings instead of just fixing it when it starts to be an issue! My friend's rented flat had windows that were so rotten they were on the verge of falling in and the landlord just did not care.

He is clearly being an arse, it's definitely not tit for tat (how is he even justifying that opinion to himself?!) and it's so good that you got the council to actually get him to do the repairs. Hope the repairs get done quickly with minimal disruption.

How do you think the council will help you? The likelihood is that the landlord is more likely to evict you than do what you want.

YANBU and we're correct to involve the council.

I think I would move house. He clearly isn't a good landlord and things won't get better in the longer term.

The council HAVE helped. They're giving him deadlines that he has to get repairs done by otherwise there are legal consequences as he's in breach of contract. That's what we've been told. Obviously LL doesn't like this, as it's putting pressure on him to remedy the issues that he is legally obliged to remedy 🤷‍♀️

Yeah this is the longer term plan when a suitable property comes up - we are looking almost daily.

I don't think you were wrong to involve the council, but do you really want to live like this? Having to battle for every single repair?

Is this a low rent for your area, or are there just not many properties available to rent? A year seems like a long time to be looking for a rental without success, but I live in an arrear where £900 per month would get you a pretty good choice of decent homes.

@Fallenangelofthenorth

For a property that meets our requirements in the area we need we are looking at £900-£1300 pcm. Many of what we've seen are at the top end of that budget, we've been waiting for something slightly lower to come up.

A couple of photos of a small part of the damage, where the water comes through

I'm a landlord (1 property, but it's an HMO). I'd be mortified if any of my tenants ever felt they needed to get support from the council to get repairs done, but only because that would mean I'd failed in my basic duty as a landlord (and human being) to provide safe, fit for purpose housing. All our tenants (including the ones who let through an agent) know they can contact us direct any time, and we will get issues fixed quickly, working with the tenants to ensure access for tradespeople where necessary. Most stuff gets fixed within a day or two of us being made aware of it. One fairly big job recently was delayed by about a month due to difficulties finding reliable tradespeople, but we kept the tenants updated throughout. There are no kids in our property, but if there were, I'd feel an even stronger need to ensure it was safe. YANBU. Your landlord is a slum landlord and I hope the council prosecute him and help you find a house that can be a proper home.

I think it’s one of those things that you’re never going to see eye to eye on.

From your perspective, you felt pushed to involve the council due to the issues ongoing. You’re absolutely right to want these things resolved.

From his perspective (and a lot of local landlords round here), it’s his property and he doesn’t want to be told what to do with it.

The problem is, especially at the moment with the state of the rental market, landlord’s hold most of the power really. You need them more than they need you, where we live at least there are literally between 20 and 30 offers on a rental property within 48 hours of it being made available, there’s no shortage of tenants needing a home, but there are a shortage of properties. He could have new tenants in within days of kicking you out but as you’ve said, you’ve been looking for a year and haven’t found somewhere appropriate. It’s a massive power imbalance really and so when landlord’s start being dictated to by the council they don’t tend to be best pleased (and a good landlord wouldn’t need any council involvement anyway) and are much more likely to evict and replace tenants than resolve.

From his perspective (and a lot of local landlords round here), it’s his property and he doesn’t want to be told what to do with it.

I'm not demanding an extension be built on the property. I'm asking for it to be watertight and safe. That's not us unreasonably demanding something extra for the sake of it, it's expecting the LL to fulfil his legal obligations to us as tenants.

Ouch! That's quite a big increase. Regardless of what you pay (and 900 quid a month is a lot) it should still be in a decent condition.

The wall inside the property near the back door is also stained with water marks where the water has literally ran down the walls, and there are plug sockets on those walls (we obviously don't use them as it wouldn't be safe). But that's the level of risk we are talking about.

The council HAVE helped. They're giving him deadlines that he has to get repairs done by otherwise there are legal consequences as he's in breach of contract. That's what we've been told. Obviously LL doesn't like this, as it's putting pressure on him to remedy the issues that he is legally obliged to remedy

But have they helped? You are now in a precarious situation where there isn’t anything suitable/affordable to move to and you are reliant on your landlord’s reference to get somewhere.

Yes, your landlord is an arse. That’s not in doubt. However, he holds the control over deciding whether you have caused too much contact from the council and whether to evict you or not. You don’t have anywhere to go.

It‘a not right, because your landlord should look after the property, but you should have just moved when it was apparent he wasn’t going to voluntarily do anything.

There is a reason lots of people don’t like renting direct from a private landlord and whilst it’s cheaper than going through an agency, it can be very frustrating is you have a landlord like you have - and landlords like that will rent privately as an agency would make them carry out the repairs.

You are absolutely not being unreasonable. Well done for taking action to make sure your family have a nice home.

The number of comments suggesting you just easily find a new home miss the point and minimise the difficulty of doing this!

Can you withhold rent until things are repaired? You sound like decent people who want to live in a nice, safe home & where I live landlords would want to hang on to you. I also privately rent & sometimes it feels like the house is falling apart but my landlord is great, things are generally fixed as soon as they can & in turn anything minor that I can repair myself I do. I treat their property with respect & try to maintain it & in turn they repair things when necessary. Unsure on the legalities of withholding rent but I wouldn't hesitate to do this if necessary.

From his perspective (and a lot of local landlords round here), it’s his property and he doesn’t want to be told what to do with it.

That's tough luck for him then. By chosing to let that property out he has certain legal responsibilities, as the council's action has made clear.

The council can force landlords to do the work. I had a problem with drains from next door and the council gave the landlord 7 days to fix it. If you read the OPs posts you will see the council has issued a notice to her landlord to fix the porch.

OP, you haven’t done anything wrong. I’d sit it out until the work has been done and see how things go from there.

So he can't legally evict us, according to the council. I don't know the ins and outs of the legal side, but they have told us that when they became involved they discovered he wasn't in possession of a specific licence that he needed to let out the property. He's had to apply for one or face a fine of up to 30k, but in order to be granted one, he has to evidence that he's a "fit and proper" landlord. That means getting the property into a reasonable state of repair, which it still isn't. We were told that whilst he remains not in possession of this licence, he cannot legally evict us.