Estate agent/landlord drama - perspectives please

[Wavypurple]

Hi all, I know that there are many estate agent disputes across the country probably going on right now but still want to keep this as anon as possible. Keeping the situation the same but changing certain details. Sound so paranoid sorry.

Also please please no 'well aren't you silly', 'you're in the shit' replies we are really, really stressed about this situation.

DP and I rent privately through an estate agent. Rent is £700 a month which includes a £150 charge for an essential service. The essential service is owned by another company but is paid for out of our rent which we pay the estate agent.

To access this essential service, we have a key card. A month ago we went to access the service using our key card and were told that it was invalid. We contacted the provider of the service and were told that our pass had not been paid for and so we could not enter.

We obviously contacted the EA about this via email and were told they would sort it out for us.

A few days went by so we called and have called almost every day since and been told we would get a call back. We have never been contacted by the EA, all contact is what we have made with them.

This service is absolutely essential to our daily living and there is not an appropriate or available alternative that we could use, so we have continued to use the essential service by paying a daily fee which has now amounted to over £500.

We have been told that this issue is 'being sorted' and that we will likely be given all of this money back and another sum as a 'good will gesture'. That was about two weeks ago.

I finally have had enough and called the EA yesterday and (I must stress, never ever raising voice and being firm but understanding) asked what was happening. The EA that I spoke to on the phone shouted at me and said that there was nothing they could do as it was not them personally dealing with the issue (the EA I personally spoke to on the phone that is) and that the employee dealing with it is on his honeymoon for another week.

With the thought in mind that the landlord might not even know about this situation (citizens advice advised this) I said okay, please could I have the landlords name and was laughed at and told no. I said (rightly) that this is my legal right once I ask in writing and was told that I would under no circumstances be given this once I have submitted my request in writing.

I am just really stressed about this. DP and I are in very low paid jobs, the rent is high for us as it is, we are looking to move to a different part of the country because of it.

Does anyone have any advice on what we could do/ should do now?

We quite literally cannot keep paying for this essential service on this basis as we are now because we are pretty close to actually running out of money.

I'm sorry if I have left out anything. Thank you for reading.

Look up the property on the land registry.

Without knowing what the essential services is it's hard to say, toilets/running water trash to Shelter.

Gym/swimming pool wait for EA to get back to you but in the meanwhile look on Lands Registry as above for details of the owner

My actual landlords name is also in my tenancy agreement. Check yours.
However I would be VERY annoyed as a landlord if I was contacted privately about an issue that wasn’t an emergency so please bare that in mind.
I’m trying to think of what your talking about and the closest I can come to is your land has a tennis court and you are a tennis instructor etc but that’s not actually essential? Although it is to your livelihood.

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/renting-privately/during-your-tenancy/complaining-about-your-letting-agent/

Parking would be my guess.

Assuming this is washing/cooking/ heating related. Some renting set ups can be odd. It sounds absolutely awful for you OP.

Definitely speak to Shelter and the Citizens Advice, or perhaps seeing local solicitor if you can find 30 mins free, so you can feel confident in your rights.

Could you search the net for the gov’s Right to Rent guide? That might have some basic info and signposting.

You should have the LL name in your tenancy agreement though.

You could also contact the property ombudsman/ letting agents association (sorry I forget their name) and ask advice and mention raising a complaint.

Depending on what the service is, you could also try calling the environmental health department at your local council. Eg is it access to a bathroom or washing facilities? If it falls in their remit they should advise how to proceed. Also raising a relevant issue to Environmental Health helps in protected against revenge eviction, if your LL is difficult.

If I was a LL in this situation then my anger would be with the agency and whoever failed to pay for the essential service not the tenant. If you cannot get any help from the agent and the costs are mounting up so quickly, this is a kind of emergency.

If this isn’t resolved sharpish, then go to your MP and state the urgency and level of cost you are incurring.
Thanks

Sorry that was a very rogue predictive text ‘thanks’. 😳

Hope you manage to get it sorted asap

What TheCanyon said.
Also @Duxiejhrhrvjz
So five hundred pounds down the drain is not an important issue?
Landlords=dregs of society confirmed, not that it needed to be.

Ah, parking. Hadn’t thought of that. I’ve seen lots of very strange things with heating and cooking etc. but parking would be a nightmare too in some circumstances.

You shouldn't have just paid cos you can't trust them to refund the money all the time.
You need to tell them that you're paying this money in order to access this service and get the money from them in advance
And just keep hounding them.

I'd guess parking too.

Is it a national chain of estate agents? Is there a head office to contact?

I'm not rooting for her

*wrong thread

However I would be VERY annoyed as a landlord if I was contacted privately about an issue that wasn’t an emergency so please bare that in mind.

Really? If I was a landlord I’d absolutely want to know if the agents I paid to manage my property were screwing over my tenants with their laziness and incompetence. I’d be mortified!

You can serve notice on the estate agents under section 1 of the LTA 1985. They have to legally then provide you with the details of the landlord within 21 days. It is a criminal offence not to and punishable by a fine up to £2,500

CAB, definitely.
But also ask at the Landlord zone forum. Despite its name, they are very helpful to tenants too.

I’m a landlord and I would absolutely want to know about this asap.

I am seriously so, so grateful for all of the replies thank you so much.

Tried contacting CA but couldn't get through so will try to talk to an online adviser now.

It's such a stressful situation because even though we see this as our home it's not ours and we are at the mercy of the EA/landlord

Does the EA have an office you can go to and try and speak to a more senior manager?

I'm guessing parking in a city, they are out of order and need to sort this ASAP

I hope you can get it sorted. You’ll be doing your landlord a massive favour by letting them know what a crap job the agents are doing. It’s very telling that they’re refusing to give you the landlord’s details.

Whatever happens I would definitely be serving s.1 notice on them to discover the identity of your landlord, in case of future incompetence. Although as @Duxiejhrhrvjz has pointed out, the landlord would usually be named on your tenancy agreement.

Your legal relationship is with the landlord. The agent is in a similar position to a staff member of the landlord. If the agent is not doing their job you are entirely right to go over their head to the landlord. And as it is the landlord who will ultimately bear primary legal responsibility for any fuck ups, any sensible landlord would want to know.