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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think some landlords just cannot be bothered?

38 replies

Chulita · 07/04/2010 20:19

My brothers have not had a working boiler for 2 weeks now and so have no hot water and no heating. The house they're renting is single-glazed and is a draught-trap. (We stayed with them last week and DD was up all night crying cos their house was so cold.) Everytime they go to the letting agents they're told a boilerman will be out to fix it but they still haven't got any hot water. The one who came out today botched the job and they're still without anything hot...do they have a right to reclaim some rent back?
This is the latest of a string of things wrong with different student lettings - I just get the feeling that some landlords charge the earth for a room in a dirty, damp and cold house and aren't bothered about upkeep of the property at all!
(They're my 'little' brothers, can you tell? [overprotective big sister emoticon])

OP posts:
JustMyTwoPenceWorth · 07/04/2010 20:21

Isn't that breaching some law or other? Go to CAB and find out.

mintyfresh · 07/04/2010 20:30

Definitely check out with CAB. I think he is within his rights to write the LL a letter giving a reasonable time in which the work should be done by - after which time he will pay a reduced rent. Does he rent through an agency?

IMO most LL's are shite - they just want their money and no responsibility for the upkeep of the property. We are on our third rental now and LL is selling up - we have 2 kids and nowhere to go

Original poster
Chulita · 07/04/2010 20:34

Yes, they're students so they go through a letting agency. I might encourage them to write a letter saying that they'll be expecting to pay less rent til it's fixed. They don't like to make a fuss which is what LL's are hoping for.
minty for you, they just don't think of the effect it'll have on a family!

OP posts:
Jaggers · 07/04/2010 20:37

They are within their rights to withhold the rent as, the landlord/letting agency is legally obligated to provide habital living conditions (this includes heat and hot water)

I would suggest they tell letting agent that untill this is resolved and they have both heating and hotwater they will not be paying a penny for rent. I would expect that it will be fixed asap once they do this. They should also ask for reduced rent once the problem is fixed given they paid X ammount for X ammount of time while living in substandard conditions.

TottWriter · 07/04/2010 20:44

YANBU - as the other posters have said, I'd be advising them to withold rent or pay a reduced amout but go to the CAB before they do that. Make sure they aren't just going to be turfed out for trying to have a habitable house. Some LLs are utterly despicable, and some agencies are quick to cry foul and try to turf any tenants who kick up a fuss.

That said, my cousin is a LL, and it took months and months for him to evict a very unpleasant tenant who wasn't paying rent and was utterly destroying the property. He did have kids though, so they couldn't go down there and give him the boot. Your brothers might not be so lucky .

It's such a shame. There are some awful tenants out there, and some awful landlords. Why can't the two pair up rather than the nice tenants getting crap LLs and vice versa? Would be so much fairer...

oldraver · 07/04/2010 20:45

My son hasnt had proper hot water or heating since he started this years Uni in September. I keep nagging telling him he is entilted to withold rent but as its a Uni tied company and they dont want to rock the boat

scaryteacher · 07/04/2010 20:47

'IMO most LL's are shite - they just want their money and no responsibility for the upkeep of the property.'

And some of us are letting out our family home and bend over backwards to keep the tenants happy.

Original poster
Chulita · 07/04/2010 20:48

I think with students they're used to parents making any necessary complaints so they're not sure how to go about it. CAB is a good idea and I've already suggested they ask for reduced rent. I suppose telling them they'll be paying reduced rent (or none at all) would be more effective!

OP posts:
Ihatebeingfrugal · 07/04/2010 21:08

Ask the letting agents for proof that they have contacted the landlord. We are landlords and had been informed that a shower needed replacing. We gave permission for letting agents plumber to go in and replace immediately.Six weeks later tenant contacted me personally to ask why the work hadn't been done. Turns out letting agents hadn't bothered to check if the plumber had actually done the work and were ignoring tenants phone calls. We got another plumber to do the job straight away, and letting agents have now been binned.

superv1xen · 07/04/2010 21:12

grrr this makes me soooo angry

i am sure there are lots of nice landlords out there but the majority i have dealt with are shocking and this DOES NOT surprise me

overpriced rent for rubbish properties and they dont give a shit when things go wrong as long as they are getting their money for their shitholes.

i am soooo glad i am out of the private renting game now. (i am lucky enough to have a housing association house)

ILikeToMoveItMoveIt · 07/04/2010 21:21

If the house is via an agent then the agent most likely has the power and responsibility (on their clients ((the landlord)) behalf) to fix the problem.

I would put the pressure on the agent (daily phonecalls) and if I had the LL's number I would call them too - they may not know what the situation is.

MrsC2010 · 07/04/2010 23:08

I'm a lovely landlady so they do exist! But it sounds like this one sucks. Can they move?

ButterPie · 07/04/2010 23:14

My front room fire has been broken (no button to turn it on) since november, and condemmed for a month. We had no oven for three months. I am considering contacting the actual owner of the house as the letting agents are so rubbish.

larks35 · 07/04/2010 23:20

I'm almost certain they are within rights to withhold rent until the house is habitable, I don't think they'll be able to reclaim any rent already paid so if they want the boiler sorted they should stop paying rent and write a letter explaining themselves. FWIW I have lived in at least 10 rented properties and have hardly ever had any probs, the best landlords are the private ones, agencies are pretty crap.

JenniPenni · 07/04/2010 23:33

I have been a tenant and am a landlord too. Landlords AND tenants can be hell on earth... or an absolute dream... it really depends.

eg: Our tenant (in another country no less!) told us on Easter wkend (Fri) that their washing machine wasn't working properly... plumber has been and fixed the problem and sent us the invoice already... they value the fact we look after them if there is a problem I value the fact they pay their rent on time and aren't trashing our property... it goes both ways.

If I was this tenant and was really desperate... I would email the agency and tell them I was contacting the ombudsman about this, and the local paper... this worked for me once, when dealing with a scum-of-the-earth-lying-agency. Problem was dealt with within the hour.

TheLadyEvenstar · 07/04/2010 23:48

I wish a broken heater was all I had to worry about as a tenant.
atm I have no use of the shower in the main bathroom as the shower door fell off of the runners and on top of DS1, I have to have a dehumidifier on at all times in my bedroom because of the damp, I can't use the shower in the ensuite because it floods my bedroom, I have to use the bath but everytime we do it floods the cellar .....and thats just the tip of the problems. the shower door has been absent now from the shower since just after Christmas and I am still waiting for the LL to come to see me or repair it.

UndertheBoredWalk · 08/04/2010 00:05

God, all these crap landlords and agencies! I've always been in rented and am quite happy to stay that way, but can see now that it's because I've been lucky with landlords.
I was grumbling about mine today for yet another of the monthly phonecalls to remind me rent is due this week and check all is ok.
Every Bloody Month, was winding me up, but I shall complain no more!
I do think they're entitled to withold rent, but second advice to check with CAB or they could just ring shelter, they're fab and can help with all things like this

bibbitybobbityhat · 08/04/2010 00:09

Tell your brothers to start a thread naming and shaming the letting agents on their local neighbourhood forum and email a link back to the agency. That seems to get estate agents motivated in my neck of the woods.

AmandaCooper · 08/04/2010 00:24

We've had three of our six wall heaters out of action for two years now, hot water heater constantly on the blink and have sometimes been without hot water for up to six weeks at a time, damp so have to constantly run dehumidifier, hot taps don't work - you have to take the tap off and loosen the fitting with a spanner, washing machine only washes with cold water, overflow pipe from the kitchen sink runs into the kitchen cupboard, and on Thursday the oven broke and is still broken. Our landlord "can't afford" to fix/replace any of the above. I'd love to do something about it. Where do you stand if you withold rent? Would it affect our chances of getting a mortgage? I don't want them to refuse to give us a reference.

MissAnneElk · 08/04/2010 00:42

scaryteacher, if you're letting it out, it's not really your family home is it?

I think the rise of the 'amateur landlord' when everyone thinks they can buy to let has a lot to answer for.

sunnydelight · 08/04/2010 06:41

NEVER withhold rent without agreement - it can leave you in a position where you can legally be evicted. Rent and repairs are two separate issues; don't be tempted to confuse the two.

AmandaCooper · 08/04/2010 07:32

I don't see why that means you should NEVER do it. I'm sure our landlord would rather put his hand in his pocket and sort out the broken heating etc than evict tenants who have never missed a payment in two and a half years. There are several identical flats in our building that are standng empty. I'm just worried about our credit rating/reference.

JosieZ · 08/04/2010 07:57

In Scotland landlords have to issue a 'Standard Letter for Tenants', a recent requirement, to all tenants before letting to avoid this problem. It states 'the installations in the house for the supply of water, gas and electricity and for
sanitation, space heating and heating water are in reasonable repair and proper
working order (including installations outside the house but serving it, and which the
owner is responsible for maintaining, solely or communally);'

It doesn't seem to be the same in England but it would be worth checking their lease. There is also ombudsmen, I think, to assess rents so maybe they could go there and get rent reduced due to lack of amenities -- this might speed up the repair. Or as they are students and probably won't want to do anthing you could write to the ombudsman in their name.

There is also Landlord Accreditation schemes to encourage good landlordship. This link suggests contacting the local Council if the landlord is breaking the code of the scheme. But the landlord must be accredited in the first place which this one might not be.
www.londonlandlords.org.uk/accreditation/faq#faq-18
You should probably contact your local council as each has a list of accredited landlords.

sunnydelight · 08/04/2010 09:19

If you don't mind the possibility of being evicted then of course do whatever you want, but I trained CAB advice staff (and trading standards advice staff) for years and based on housing law this is the advice all staff should give people in your situation.

Fluffyone · 08/04/2010 10:23

Talk to the CAB. A lot of tenants would withhold rent in this situation, and it takes a lot more than doing that for a few weeks to affect their credit rating.

"I think the rise of the 'amateur landlord' when everyone thinks they can buy to let has a lot to answer for. "

Blimey, that p'd me off. My DP and I have 4 BTL properties between us. Maybe just because the numbers are small we should be labelled "amateur"? However, we treat this as a business, maintain the properties well and treat our tenants like gold dust. Pity they don't always treat us as well...
It's easy to label a whole category of people (landlords) based on what you read in discussion groups, but let's face it, how many people are going to start a thread just to list how well their landlord treats them?