For not paying my last month's rent?

[jendaisy]

I have lived in a privately rented house for the last 16 months, paying £800 per month rent. The landlord (who works as a well paid land agent), has always been really slack with getting things fixed. Current list of problems with the property are:

1. The boiler has never worked properly (apparently it is suitable for a 2 bed flat and this is a 4 storey town house). It leaks brown water all the time and all winter, despite having it turned up full, the radiators would not get warm and over 6 months my energy bills were over £1200. And we were still wearing our coats most of the winter! The landlord has been aware of this but instead of replacing it he suggested we contact the Warm Front Grant as we are eligible for the grant, we have been approved but received a letter saying it may be 6 months before the boiler is replaced.

2. There is mould growing on the walls in both the ground floor reception rooms. In the basement there is a large area of damp on the walls and chunks of paint and plaster are continually falling off.

3. For the last three weeks we have had raw sewage flinging itself over the patio every time anyone uses the upstairs toilet, as there is a hole in the external waste pipe. It also goes onto the wall dividing our garden from next door's and onto her driveway. It stinks and we have not been able to use the outside space in this hot weather, or use the washing line, and the smell has also come into the house. This was reported to the landlord 3 weeks ago today and so far all that has happened (after reporting it to the environmental health last week), is that a bloke turned up yesterday and put up some scaffolding. He has now gone for the weekend, leaving the scaffold there which is a security risk as it is right against windows.

There are other problems too, e.g. the annual gas safety check was not done, there are exposed wires in the kitchen, the security light does not work but he refused to fix that 'in case it breaks again' (?!). All in all, the landlord is shit.

We have found another property to move to and I am going to hand my notice in this weekend. The last months rent is also due this weekend , and I am loathe to pay it as I don't see why I should pay another penny to live in this hovel. I understand that when there are waste issues they should, by law, be rectified within 48 hours, so he is in breach of that. But then I guess if I don't pay the rent he will just keep my deposit.

Does anyone know where I stand with this? What would you do?

YANBU - don't pay the last months rent and let him use the deposit instead. Hopefully, the deposit you gave him doesn't come to more than one months rent.

How horrible for you to live like that! I totally understand your point about not wanting to pay the rent. BUT by not doing so could you cause yourself more issues? In effect it is 'lowering yourslef to his level'. ANd it weakens your position in any negotiations re deposit as I suspect he would use your deposit to try and fix the walls mould etc as he wont get another tenant in with that there and will blame it on you?

How much is the deposit? If it's MORE than the rent then I'd pay the rent.

If it's less than the rent I'd withhold the rent but write a letter to the landlord explaining exactly why you're not paying him. Keep a copy of it, and take some photos as well, just in case you need them in the future if he starts playing up. I am assuming this is not legal, but it doesn't sound as if your landlord is the sort to to be bothered about the rights and wrongs of it all anyway.

Read your contract very carefully. It will have things in there that the landlord must adhere to. If he/she doesn't, they are in breach of contract, and you can legally dispute paying rent until they are rectified.

I think.

Best ask a legal bod though.

I didn't pay my last rent on my old place because I knew my landlord was going to screw me over the deposit! So I kept my last rent, he kept my deposit and nothing was ever said or done. The place was a HOLE when we moved in. We decorated it, cleaned it, made it a home. When they came round to inspect it before we moved out, they started saying about this wall and that carpet and this scrape! - all things that had been there when we moved in! So we just knew they were going to screw us! So we got in there first.

I don't think it's legal, and I'm fairly sure you would lose if they decided to pursue it, but I suppose what I am saying is you do what you have to do, based on your assessment of the situation and the landlord.

Thanks for your replies. I was thinking about approaching it by either writing to him explaining basically what I have said above, and saying that as we currently cannot use one bathroom or the outside space, and are going to have the disruption of this being fixed over the last month of being here, then we should be eligible for a reduction on the rent (I was thinking about offering him half the normal amount and see what he says).

Or the other option would be to not pay the last month's rent. He would keep my deposit but at least then he would not be able to sting me by taking anything off my deposit. And I have a baby due on the same day that I will be moving (yes I am probably crazy but I really need to get out of here). So if I don't have to worry about the deposit I will not exactly break my back getting the place clean before I go (it was pretty filthy when I moved in but he is the sort of bloke who would try and keep as much of my deposit as he could I reckon). So that will be one less job to do.

Do you think I should seek legal advice (and if so who from?), or just tell him how it is?!

Oh, and also how would that work as the deposit is (as far as I know) held in the deposit scheme so would be automatically paid back to me wouldn't it? I don't really understand the scheme!

Sugarmousepink - I know he can get an eviction order etc but once 15 days have passed I will only have another 2 weeks before I move anyway so I can't see him bothering with that.

The deposit is £800 - so the same as the rent due for the last month.

Jendaisy, we are both tenants and landlords ourselves.

He is clearly in breach of your contract and were I you I would not pay last month's rent (assuming the deposit covers the month's rental), as it's highly likely you will have to chase him for the deposit. He is obviously untrustworthy! The LAST thing you need, esp with a newborn. And I doubt he'll take you to court as it's an inconvenience, and all his shortcomings will come to light.

We are in London, we own a house in Johannesburg... the boiler burst last week Monday, it was fixed and sorted by Tuesday. Long distance means nothing, we are still hands on landlords. There is NO excuse for not taking care of your tenants... the contract goes both ways.

Good luck, and get out of there!

Thanks JenniPenni - sounds like that would be the best plan and would work well for me as then I can give this month's rent to the new landlords rather than having to find that money and then getting my deposit (or part of it) back at some point in the future.

Landlord lives 2 counties away (about 150 miles), and used this as an excuse for not getting the heating system looked at for months! He emailed me saying he was having problems finding someone as he is not in the area. I looked on the internet and within 5 mins had found someone and arranged for them to come round. Presumably the internet works differently 150 miles down the road! He is an arse!

If you can, go and speak to CAB, they'll be able to advise you further

he's already in breach of contract for renting a flat in such a state, so you are legally within your rights to withold rent (until the repairs are done).

Sorry if this sounds patronising, as it not. When was the last time you spoke to your landlord, and what exactly was said?

Have you tried to be assertive and to arrange a meeting - preferably at his house where you live, so you can go through all the things that need fixing and sorting out.

You really need to be quite emphatic and firm with some people. Get him over, compile a detailed list that you can physically go over and then make sure you hand him a copy too. Write down proposed dates as and when they are discussed.

Say that you really need the problems fixed within a specified time. You could even arrange a faux holiday to tie in with the maintenance - so you are making out you are taking time out to be there to oversea any builders who may be on site.

Good luck

You are all missing the most important thing- the missing CP12 certificate. If LL wants to take you to court, go ahead. Huge fines will AUTOMATICALLY be placed without this form. Its a big big huge massive legal deal in the world of rentals (Im an ex-lettings neg).
Sod paying the last months rent.
Also, the above info re court is wrong, you must be 2 months in arrears before you get taken to court. So, go 2 months to arrears, then pay £50. Suddenly you aren't 2 months behind anymore and court is dropped.
Fuckers do it all the time.