Private Tenancy...Urgent Help Needed Please!

[onlyhereonce]

Hi,

Looking for some urgent advice.

We've been renting this property for 18 months. Our current tenancy started June 2013 and was for 12 months. We rent through an estate agent. The owner of the property only wanted to do a 6 month term but we needed more stability than that. We offered to replace the toilet and sink if she made it to 12 months (the bath was damaged when we move in and she replaced it with a different colour one so we thought it would give us another 6 months stability so would repay that by replacing them items for the owner). When we signed the new contract in June 2013 we signed a document to say that if we didn't replace these items then the landlord reserved the right to end after 6 months if she so wanted to.

Well , we have had lots of things going wrong in the house, kids bedroom windows stuck and wont open (a fire risk for sure), garage roof leaking and soaking our contents, heating not working, when she had the bath fitted it was not sealed properly and now looks black and leaks. We notified the estate agent in mid November 2013 about it and now over 10wks later, still no repairs. I put it in writing to them approx 14 days ago that if they weren't done in 14 days we would get them done and deduct it from the rent. We had a phone call yesterday off a plumber (the same plumber who is a family friend, who fitted the bath , who is very slap dash and leaves the mess for us to clean up) saying that he can either come today at approx 7-8pm or its going to be at least 2wks. We said that 7-8pm is not suitable as we have young children , 2 of which would be in bed at 7pm).

We have spoken to the estate agent today and advised him that we are fed up of being messed about and by Monday we are doing the above. Also we have advised that we are NOT replacing the items in the bathroom as we are more than happy for her to terminate now and if she doesn't , come June we are looking for a different house anyway. He mentioned that she may try to withhold the deposit that's with the DPS. I advised that this is not fair as the document we signed mentioned nothing of the deposit , and only mentioned that if the bathroom wasn't sorted, that she reserves the right to terminate after 6 months.

Can somebody please help and tell me if we are within our rights to get the stuff done on Monday and deduct from the rent. Also , is there any chance that she will be able to convince the DPS to retain our deposit?

Matt

[girlynut]

Use the Housing Repair Pre-action Protocol here -
//www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/protocol/prot_hou

If you don't want to get embroiled in legal action, move.

Don't withhold rent. That's asking to be evicted.

[specialsubject]

the agent THAT WORKS FOR AND IS PAID BY THE LANDLORD advised you to with-hold rent?

wow. I know agencies are unregulated but this is incredible. You do of course have a dodgy landlord (which is why everyone says 'move') but don't use this agent again either.

[onlyhereonce]

Specialsubject,

I withheld rent 12 months ago ,as advised by the estate agent due to her not fixing the leaking overflow pipe for months. I wouldn't withhold rent without the estate agent saying its ok to do it anyway.

[specialsubject]

...and if you do with-hold rent, good luck finding a new property with a record of non-payment.

give notice and move.

[onlyhereonce]

Thanks for that. Ive already done most of the steps to withholding the rent so may do that if its not done very soon.

[LIZS]

actually it does - see here regarding Repairs and how you codul , legally, arrange to pay and be reinbursed or you can ring them today england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/how_we_can_help/housing_advice_helpline .

[onlyhereonce]

LIZS,

I don't think for a second that it buys me loyalty, im just merely saying that the estate agent seems to understand where we are coming from as he knows we treat houses very well. He has also told us that we have no problem at all renting a different house off them. Ive been on the shelter website and it doesn't seem to offer any advice on my issues. Im going to just call the environmental health on Monday and see whagt they have to say.

[LIZS]

and a lot of flat roofs have suffered in recent weather . Have you called Shelter or looked at their advice online yet btw ? You could request the local fore brigade come and evaluate the house and escape routes but as longa s there is a window which opens on that floor then it may be ok. You are getting all these issues confused, deal with one at a time . btw don't assume 7 years with a particular agent buys you any loyalty when you come to move .

[onlyhereonce]

On the same thought ,

She cannot force me to wait months to fix issues as she has a legal obligation to fix things in a reasonable amount of time.

She cannot force me to fix her house up for her. (contributing to her electric in the garage cost)

She cannot force me accept shoddy, make shift fixes on things that go wrong.

She has rights but so do I. She wouldn't accept the rent months late, she wouldn't accept rent with amounts missing.

I will be moving this June. Ill continue to pay the rent until then and contact the council regarding the issues to see what my rights are.

Cya

[onlyhereonce]

HettiePetal,

Why the attitude??? Your posts aren't helpful, they are sarcastic. Ill sort this out myself. Thanks to all that offered help.

[onlyhereonce]

I love the house, I hate the landlord and how she treats us. Its always a one way street, we pay the rent on time and never ill treat the house and she treats us with such contempt. The window is double glazed and on the first floor up the stairs. Of course the kids are young and trying to teach them a fire drill isn't workable at their age but I think I would rather them try to jump out of a window than to be trapped. Its so unlikely to happen anyway but its not the point.

[HettiePetal]

Er.....contact EH re: the window. That's the best advice. Why aren't you listening?

If you want to withhold rent, fine, it's your life - do it.

But be aware that a) you have no legal justification at this stage, b) you would be regarded as being in arrears with your rent, which could lead to c) a S8 eviction which would mean that d) your deposit could be reduced and if you needed help from the council you'd be regarded as being intentionally homeless and they wouldn't help you.

But it's your call.

Personally, I would sort the seal myself and contact EH on Monday re: the window and leaky roof.

[onlyhereonce]

Why would I want to withhold rent??? Ive been with this estate agency for 7yrs so don't know why you would think that. I don't want jobs to take months to fix. Our longest is 7 months which was a leaking overflow pipe, that poured down the side of the house by the back door , which meant you got wet if you used that door and also as we have a water meter , we ended up paying for the water. Its just not fair that we DO pay the rent on time every month yet the owner thinks its fine to make us wait months to fix issues.

[onlyhereonce]

Your basing your whole advice on the bathroom seal. What about the window and the garage? The door opens to the room with the stuck window yes but what if a fire was on the landing?? The bath seal is the least worry of these jobs. The garage was leak free when we moved in. We had the electric go faulty in the garage 6 months after moving here and she told us that if we wanted it repairing then we would haver to pay £100 to contribute or she would rip it out. In the end the estate agent told her to do it.

[HettiePetal]

Fine - then do it yourself. I am no DIY-er but even I can manage to put a seal around a bath. Sounds like you really want to withhold the rent for some reason, tbh.

[onlyhereonce]

HettiePetal,

I've come here for advice, whether I agree or not is a different thing. Your basing your comments on no experience of dealing with this landlord. She takes months and months to sort issues out , and they never get sorted out fully. What time do you get up in the morning?? 3:50am??? Im not being unreasonable to ask for someone to come during normal working hours. Where would it stp if not, 4 in the morning having a job done?

[eurochick]

I think you're being a bit silly. A bit of noise for one night would hardly have damaged the kids and it would have got that problem sorted.

Withholding rent makes eviction easier for the LL.

[onlyhereonce]

Also, regarding coming later at night, the last 2 jobs he has done has not been completed in 1 visit. A shower he fitted (which I had to wait 4 months for with no shower) took him 3 visits as he forgot a part one time and had problems getting it to work (it kept leaking by the pipes). I work very early (up at 3:50am and out for 4:30am so tbh don't want kids to be delayed in going sleep as it then knackers it for me then.

[HettiePetal]

I see. You came here to be told what you wanted to hear, and you're getting pissy because we don't agree with you?

Let the plumber come on Thursday night, and stop being silly.

[HettiePetal]

Does it matter that much that they come on Thursday night? Just once? Do you want this sorted or not?

If there are other concerns that the LL is not dealing with, then contact EH.

You are not justified in withholding rent at this stage.

[onlyhereonce]

Hettiepetal, Why should I take responsibility for her getting friends to do shoddy work??? My responsibility is to keep the property in good condition and to pay the rent on time, which we do. When this plumber does work , he wakes the dead up, clanging, banging , talks at silly volume levels, I don't want my kids listening to that. I'm not being unreasonable to ask that a workman comes in normal working hours. If she got a real workman to do that, then I would have. The only reason she insists on him coming in dodgy hours is to do it for free, I'm sure. The last job he did (the bath) he made a right mess, left screws, dust, wood chippings where he had to chisel in the wall, and moaned constantly about how he was missing time with his wife whilst doing this job. I had to clean it up.

[onlyhereonce]

The plumber didn't ask to come Saturday night , he offered to come Thursday night at 7-8pm and then the only other opportunity is in 2-3wks time. Also , it isn't just the bath seal , we have a bedroom window that is stuck shut, has been since early November, Its a fire risk, and waiting 3 months isn't acceptable in my opinion. We also have a leaking garage roof, that has SOAKED most of our stuff over xmas. Regarding the bath seal , it wasn't done right when she had this "plumber" fit it and within 2wks was black, badly shaped and leaking when showering.