Private Renting - Landlord very slow to get maintenance done

[OnSecondThoughts]

Hi, I've put this in the Housekeeping topic, but mods feel free to move it if you think it belongs elsewhere!

I just want to ask, is there something like a professional body I can contact, or just some way I can persuade my landlord to abide by their side of the rent contract? Without going into detail there's an essential maintenance task that really needs seeing to - not an emergency but let's just say there's no way they could expect a new tenant to sign a contract without repairing this first. But they seem in no hurry to get the work done. On the other hand the estate agent tells me that I must not even THINK about delaying or short-paying the rent, oh no! That would go on my record and count against any future reference. It seems so unfair! The landlord gets to interpret THEIR side of the contract ("We will keep the house in good repair etc etc") as saying "We will sit on our backsides and do nothing, and let essential equipment fail repeatedly", but I must honour my side without question!

OK, I know that sometimes in life the rules aren't fair and at the end of the day all I can do is to move elsewhere. But before I make such plans, just thought I would ask if I have any other options that I haven't thought of. Thanks so much for any replies!

I mean I'm not sure - if it's not something urgent (heating / hot water etc) I'm not sure if there's an official "time frame" they have to abide by, especially over a busy period like Christmas where it might be hard to get workmen out. It would be easier knowing what the issue is if I'm honest!

Definitely keep on at the agents, perhaps suggest you could get the repair person out in your own and deduct it from rent (not sure on the legality of this) - shelter might be a good place to find someone to speak to, they'll probably be able to advise better 😊

What repair needs doing? It's difficult getting tradesmen over the Xmas period, and still quite slow getting parts. My tenant had to wait weeks for a part for the broken hob and I gave up in the end and bought a new one.

I'm a landlord (it was my own home, I live where I work, I don't have a portfolio of properties!). My comments are this: I'm not 100% sure the agents pass on info in a timely way so I try and always reply straight away if I can so the hold up is not with me. I use the rent income to pay the mortgage without huge surplus. I have to save up for getting things done, in the same way I would save up if I was living there myself. I have on several occasions had big expenses for the property to sort (e.g sudden things breaking like the boiler or oven etc) and again, I'm paying for this myself I don't have a big bank of money to delve into. My tenant has managed to repeatedly break one household fixture which has meant hundreds of pounds a year for three years now and HMRC don't believe me when I declare it because they always email me back saying that the expenses seem to be very high! I have never wanted to be a difficult landlord so I have gone without things for my own family in order to keep the house up and running in a good and respectful way (as I would if I were living there but frankly I would put up with things for longer). Finally, echoing what a previous poster said about getting tradespeople. My house is in a big city close to other cities, but we've been trying for months to get someone to look at a particular unsightly aspect of the house and just cannot find anyone who will even bother to turn up for a quote!

Lol, I’m in the exact same boat. The pipes to our boiler sprung a leak about 10 days ago. I told them immediately - I’m having to top the boiler up once a day and the growing wet patch on the ceiling is disgusting and worsening everyday. Can’t fit anything under the pipes to catch the water, and I’m chasing every other day, with no answer.
I doubt we will get anything fixed until new year. And even then I know it will be a makeshift ‘bodge’ and not a proper fix.
Can’t wait to get out of here.

Actually, I'm sorry but you should not be a landlord. You need to have the money to repair things as soon as possible, and it isn't acceptable to say you don't have the money.

It certainly took me a while to get repairs done, but I provided my tenants with a portable hob so they didn't have too much inconvenience, plus a bottle of prosecco to show good will. If they had asked for a rent reduction I would have knocked something off the rent because it wasn't their fault the item could not be repaired in good time, that was on me. Even though the parts were ordered, they were not delivered in a reasonable time. And that's on me too, which is why I provided a brand new hob.

Thanks for your comments.
Alicia, I do understand that landlords are not all made of money and they have to budget and save like everyone else. I get that, but the point is there's a binding contract signed by both tenant and landlord, and (obv I don't know the terms of yours) but mine states the landlord hereby agrees to certain standards of repairs. You shouldn't sign that contract if you aren't able or willing to stick by it.
Imagine if you went to Tescos, put all your shopping on the conveyor, the assistant scans it all through and you pay the full amount. Then as you go to leave, another assistant steps up and says "ok, you can have this this and that, but we're taking these three bags back, sorry!"
"But I've paid for it all!"
"Sorry, we're not making enough profit this month, you can't have these things"
"So can I get a refund for the stuff you're not letting me have, then"
"No, not a penny"
Like, that wasn't the deal you thought you were signing up to when you walked into the shop, right?

Do they need a licence in your area to be a landlord? If so contact the council?