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'm not sure what to do regarding the expired gas safety certificate either.

When did the certificate expire? The council officer should be able to advise on this. They’ll be motivated because they’ll want to do all they can to prevent you from potentially becoming at risk of homelessness, which is a massive stress for councils.

Did you tell your LL it had expired? I know it's his job to get it done but if you know it's expired you should tell him so he can get it sorted for you.

OP I'm so sorry that some posters appear to have been really nasty about this situation, none of which is your fault! In my opinion you did exactly the right thing in going to the Council to ask for assistance. You'd clearly given the LL plenty of opportunities to put things right, which he failed to do. He is obviously one of those LL's who thought he'd make loads of money by renting out a substandard property, and without even having the correct paperwork in place. Now it's all come back to bite him on the bum and he doesn't like it. He's obviously not very bright anyway, as what might have been a relatively cheap repair when the leak first became a problem, has likely now become far more costly, not to mention brought him to the attention of the Council, for not being properly licensed, so has cost him even more.

I hope that he now get's his act together and the necessary repairs done, and that you claim as much as you possibly can from him, to help make up for the misery he's caused you. I also hope that you find a really lovely new home in the better part of town soon. Good luck!

Only it is. Or you wouldn’t be looking at properties up to £400 more exorcised and would have moved already.

I would probably expect a section 21 based on last post. And a rent increase.

OP still can't be evicted if he sells the property! Selling the property doesn't negate her rights and who is going to buy a falling apart house with tenants in who can't be evicted due to a dispute with the council over expensive repairs that need to be done!?

Have you missed all the many posts where OP has explained he can't issue a section 21?

@Bubble2024 have you missed my posts where I explain that the properties that are £400 more are 8 miles away on the more sought after postcode area of the city?? Where we are currently, £900 is the top rent for this type of property because it's a less desirable postcode area. We are wanting to move to the nicer area hence the more expensive rents. I've explained this twice now.

Thank you x

@caringcarer
No. It is absolutely not our job to remind the LL to fulfil his legal obligations. Ridiculous suggestion

@3pSweet it expired mid January.

Go then!

He can't issue a section 21 for 6 months after the council have instructed him to make the repairs needed to make the priority safe to live in. We'll have found somewhere by then.

*property

@Bubble2024
Erm, I've explained several times that we are in the process of doing just that when the right property comes up, are you unable to read?

🤞🏻🤞🏻

OP I'm so sorry that some posters appear to have been really nasty about this situation, none of which is your fault!

Most likely some of them are rogue landlords themselves. Disgusting.

Selling the property doesn't negate her rights and who is going to buy a falling apart house with tenants in who can't be evicted due to a dispute with the council over expensive repairs that need to be done!?

No one bought it the first time round over 4 years ago, and it was in far better condition then! He's allowed half of the plasterwork to crumble away due to the rain damage. I wouldn't be surprised if the electrics are also unsafe in that area where water runs down the wall. Many other rooms are in an obvious state of disrepair. He's not exactly done himself any favours with this lazy approach has he 🤷‍♀️

For those demanding we just "move then", here's an example of the upfront moving costs for the estate agent / new LL. That's before we've factored in a moving van so add on around £200-300 for that. So around 2,400 in total needed up front to move to the area we are looking at. The landlord currently has £800 of our money in a deposit that we won't see (if at all!) until AFTER we've moved out, so we can't even put that towards it. So yeah; it's a lot of money and so we want to get this right as we can't afford to just do it again if we pick the wrong house!

I meant to say that's a Screenshot from rightmove for a property that we might consider moving to.

OP in the nicest possible way.

I do think your current LL can and will evict you eventually. That is, if you don't move first.

Think about it, roof leaking, bathroom broken and leaking pipes?
There will be and probably not from your description , some major renovation work going on in the near future.

So new bathroom = at least 1 week no bathroom.
Leak in the ceiling, lifting floor & floorboards then fixing it min 2-3 days.

Leaking roof & new plastering weeks!
If he needs to do these in order to comply with council regulations then he absolutely can turn round and say: yes, I have had trades people looking at the work, but it cannot be carried out with the tenant being there.

Yes, you have rights on paper, but it would be down to you to enforce them with the help of a solicitor. And that will be lengthy and initially costly.

And believe me, nobody will give a shit if these issues were there before you moved in or evolved during your tenancy.
Because it will be hard to proof either way.

@DancefloorAcrobatics you misunderstand. The bathroom doesn't need replacing to comply with the council requirements. The leaking porch area does, and we don't need to move out for that, we just won't be able to use the back door temporarily. The leak into the kitchen from the bathroom is historic and is now fixed (after months and months of badgering him). The bathroom is very old and could do with full replacement for modernisation and cosmetic reasons, but it doesn't need replacing for safety or building compliance reasons.

Erm, I've explained several times that we are in the process of doing just that when the right property comes up, are you unable to read?

But you have been looking for a long time, without success. You don’t sound like you have the funds to make a quick move and you almost certainly won’t have a reference for any reputable person to take you on.

There is no doubt your landlord is an arse but the reality of the tenancy world in England is that you are the one who will suffer as a result of all of this because, as you are repeatedly being told but refusing to believe, your landlord can and will evict you. I’m sorry that it’s not fair or what you deserve but it’s the almost certain result of you going to the council. Yes, it’s shit but you need to open your eyes to what a precarious situation you are in and your landlord sounds like the kind of twat who will challenge your deposit and say the damage occurred because you left the door open or did something else etc. It’s very very difficult to prove otherwise and I imagine your relationship with the landlord is irreparably beyond repair now.

@TheSnowyOwl already addressed the what if he doesn't give a reference question, please read all my posts. There are ways around that, I have a previous landlord who is fantastic who will vouch for us, I've got evidence of 4 years of rent payments never missed with this landlord, I've got the council evidence / emails / texts and documentation showing years of requests to make repairs and their reports evidencing that the property was/ is unsafe and inhabitable and also unlicensed. I'll be fine with this arsehole's reference, as any decent reasonable agent or LL would be fine with the above as evidence of us being decent tenants.

Fine *without, that should say