Sorry, bit long but don't want to be stealthy!
We've rented our flat for 3 years - good tenants (I think!), have paid on time every month, improved property (done garden up, repainted etc), don't complain as a rule.
September 2008 the boiler broke down, was repaired but landlord advised to replace it. He didn't and it broke down again Sept 2009. About the same time, we started hearing rats scuttling about between the floors (our bedroom is in basement). We have to go through agency who manage it, so complained about both things to them. Boiler was fixed but recommended for replacement again. Landlord refused to pay for pest control and would only allow council in. They can only come on Weds and cannot do any floorboard lifting or structural work so are quite useless, although nice!
Over the next 3 months, the boiler broke down several more times and we had weekly visits from council. 2 rats caught in traps placed under already loose floorboard but could still hear them. Landlord advised that rats chew and cause a lot of damage and, if left, would likely find a way into property. In Dec, boiler finally broke down completely and we had to move out for 4 days til it was replaced.
In new year, landlord finally agreed to let council put cameras down floor to see if they could find rat entrance and they found a couple of entrance holes under kitchen (this all took ages because letting agents maintenance company had to come and do structural work to enable council to do this). By last month, he had agreed to have holes filled. BUT, before that happened, a rat/s chewed its way up through kitchen floor and unit skirting board and got into property. We told letting agent but still nothing happened (we tried to DIY block hole) until one day I found DS's bib hanging out of change bag and chewed up. Phoned up and went mental, landlord finally agreed to do something and we had to move out again for nearly a week this month while they pulled out kitchen and gravelled under floor.
We wrote a (nice) letter saying we weren't going to pay May's rent due to having to move out twice in last 6 months for things that wouldn't have been such a problem had they been dealt with quickly, and putting up with unreliable heating and hot water for 3 months and rats for 7 months. We don't feel the property has been worth the full rent for this time. Had we not had a young baby, we would have moved out long before until problem was solved, meaning he would have been recieving no rent for that time, but it would have been so disruptive for DS and awkward that we grinned and bore it. We are quite disappointed with the way he's treated good tenants.
Anyway, now he's kicking off about us not paying, says he wants his money whatever problems we've had. Who is BU? Should we let it go to court (if he does) or just pay up?