DD having problems with her LL

[balia]

She's a student, moved into a new shared flat in September. They had problems at the beginning with various fixtures and fittings - showers, heaters etc, but they seemed to get sorted eventually.

But now the central heating isn't working, hasn't been since before Christmas. DD has phoned the letting agency numerous times and is always told they will send someone round. The girls are running the tumble dryer to try and keep the flat warm. Also, the bulb in DD's bathroom blows every time she replaces it. Obviously there is something wrong with the electrics. Nothing done about that either. There's no natural light in the room so she can't use it.

What should she do now as her next steps, and if it isn't fixed, can she get out of the contract? She's had enough.

she needs to contact the landlord - she is entitled to his/her contact details. It is possible that the agency are ignoring her (it happens a lot). It is also possible that the landlord is ignoring her, in which case they need to take it further. Perhaps speak to the uni accommodation office for advice.

meantime running the tumble dryer to warm the place is NOT smart!!! Tell them to go buy some electric or oil filled heaters for now.

They pay an all-inclusive rent so they aren't running up huge bills and they can't afford to buy extra heaters on top of the rent. If the agency are ignoring her (and it seems like they are) how can she get the landlord's address? I'll suggest she contact the accommodation office.

The agency has a legal obligation to notify ll address along with the gas safety certificate and deposit scheme details within a specific timeframe of the start of tenancy. If property was found via the accommodation office they may be able to liaise or contact the private tenancy department at the council or Shelter.

all-inclusive rent with students? (or indeed anybody)That is an insane business decision and just shouts that the landlord isn't going to do things properly.

they can afford a tenner each for a heater. Running the dryer like this is a fire risk.

DD is going to send a copy of her contract to me and contact the Uni accommodation office. She is going to check if she has the LL address in with the paperwork. Should she write directly to the LL?

The girls found the property themselves - it was a bit of a rush job as the flat they had organised months before still had tenants in when they turned up to move in, so it has been very stressful for them all. They went from estate agent to estate agent until they found something, so they probably didn't look at all the details as carefully as they should have before moving in. Will pass on the ideas about the council/Shelter, that's very helpful, thank you.

Cross-post, specialsubject will tell them about the fire risk. The all-inclusive supposedly justifies the really high rent for the area, £480 per month (each, there are 5 of them), DD's loan doesn't even cover it, but they were desperate.

well, I suppose at least they won't get a big bill for the extra electricity for the heaters...

sounds like they've been scammed twice and I feel very sorry for them.

tell her to go at it from all angles; uni accommodation office first, write to landlord and then Shelter. Landlords are obliged to ensure heating systems work.

Hmm not so sure they are obliged to provide heat, hot water definitely though. Do they have an immersion heater ? Would ll provide convector heaters or oil filled radiators as a temporary measure?

if I was renting a flat which had CH, I might expect to pay £x for it.

If I was renting a flat with no CH, I might expect to pay £x minus something.

So I am sure that the CH ought to be working. A few days delay if a part has to be ordered might be tolerable.

I always think that phone calls can get fobbed off or forgotten or denied, when you are dealing with crooks incompetents, so send a very very short letter confirming CH has not been working since (date), agency was first notified on (date) and there has been no action taken, you require to know when it will be fixed. Should be sent to agent and to landlord. Agency is legally obliged to provide name and address of landlord.

I would suggest they all go to the lettings office and refuse to leave until a heating engineer has been booked.

if the letting agency refuse to give you the LL home address or contact details (as mine did) then you can still find the info yourself free of charge.

their deposit should be held in a protected scheme. contact them and they will be able to advise on the issues the students are having and where to find LL address.

i'm in scotland so not sure if it's the same for england but here LL are required to register with their local council. i checked with mine, all i had to do was type in the address i was living at and up came the address of the person (LL) the rented property was registered to. i cross referenced with 192.com to make sure i had the right person.

so i sent her a letter (recorded delivery) informing her of the problems in the flat and the lack of action from letting agency. Turns out LL didn't want to put her hands in her pocket and the letting agency made excuses for her instead of just telling me straight out they were having problems with her.

if the flat was rented with no heating or hot water system, that would be different (and it should be cheaper)

but if it has hot water and heating, the landlord has to keep it working! Obviously he/she can't produce a plumber at an hours notice but it has been a lot longer than that.

this place sounds a dump, without even the slight saving grace of being cheap. This was the reason it was available when everything else had gone. But no matter, they are still entitled to have things fixed.

lettings agencies are completely unregulated and there are a lot of crooks.

take no prisoners, OP. The uni should certainly get involved.

Thank you so much for the input - am meeting DD on Thursday so will discuss it with her then - they do have hot water, it is just the heating not working, and the electrics in one of the bathrooms. It is a dump, however. Modern, but clearly designed by someone who usually works on prisons and other institutions of that type.

I had no idea letting agencies were unregulated, I'm really surprised.

shocking, isn't it? All the bile goes at landlords, who are subject to legal obligations ( and should be) but absolutely anyone can set up as a letting agency with no legal or financial cover at all.

there are voluntary organisations - ARLA is one - but they are a bit toothless.

Running the rumble dryer will cause horrible damp and mould, so that's ridiculous. £10 halogen heaters will warm the place up.
Sadly, student houses are often dumps.

I would contact your local council to report this. They will come out to inspect the works, then write a letter to the landlord giving him 28 days to complete the works if he fails in that time the council will complete and send him the bill.

This is bang out of order and I would have left already. Gumtree is a great place to search for room lettings.

If they are paying an all inclusive rent, they should spend £10 on a fna heater each and keep their rooms warm at the landlord's expense.

Just an update - DD followed the advice and both the problems have now been fixed! Result, thanks everyone.

excellent - thanks for update!