How do you actually get a landlord to fix things in practice?

[Wonderbug81]

I rent privately. A few days ago I reported a leak in the kitchen which means I can't use it right now (having to use washbasin). They have been ignoring me.

In theory I have various avenues open to me as I understand it but in practice if I annoy the landlord too much he can either put up the rent (it has gone up by over 10% this year) or give notice.

If it helps I have kids who stay with me some of the time and the landlord knows this too.

Environmental Health departments are responsible for dealing with issues involving disrepair in assured shorthand tenancies. They can issue enforcement notices. Contact the EH at your local authority.

Thank you. This still leaves me with the issue I mention though. In theory I have various avenues open to me but in practice if I annoy the landlord too much he can either put up the rent (it has gone up by over 10% this year) or give notice.

I should have said I have a dog and he knows there aren't as many rental options available.

If you rent a property through an agent contact them and they will hound the landlord day and night and take the £ from the rent while sending their own guy over to charge double for the work. The reason rents have to go up is to cover how expensive it is now to repair and replace everything tenants break. Whether quality of work is going down or tenants are being less careful it does seem to be an issue that is forcing smaller landlords to have to increase rents. If you know someone who can do the work well and cheaply your best bet would be to get them to quote and approach the landlord.

As Pandasquishy says, if you rent through an agent, go to them. But if you rent direct from the owner, get back to them and say the leak is still ongoing and you can't use the kitchen sink. Ask if she would like you to arrange a plumber to get it done and invoice her directly, or if she'd prefer to send her own contractor. Say you need to plan ahead as you can't use the kitchen properly at the moment, so you need to agree a timescale. It may be, eg, that your LL has a good plumber who's really busy and she's waiting for him to be able to attend.
Give the landlord another chance to sort it out before doing anything like going to EH / housing standards as you're right, that really would sour relations. But if your LL doesn't get it sorted out after you've clearly notified them of the problem and explained its ongoing and restricting your use of the property, then that's the next step.
Sometimes when rent goes up by a lot, it's because the LL had not been putting it up in line with costs before, but had been absorbing costs for a few years, then you get a big jump to get back to near market rates as the LL realises they need to keep a buffer for repairs or to cover increased mortgage and insurance costs. It's more helpful to look at how your rent compares to the going rate locally really.

The rent increases - what does your tenancy agreement say about rent increases? How was the rent increased last time as if it was a s13 it can be increased only once per year?

Are you on a fixed term contract or has it become statutory periodic?

Thank you everyone. I rent directly, now on a rolling contract with 2 month notice. It has only gone up once a year, but it had been significant each year the past few years.

The landlord knows that with a pet and children in the mix that I'm less likely to move so they are relaxed about fixing things. They have now fixed it, took over a week but at least we have a sink we can use now!

Meanwhile, I would start looking for somewhere else. Find a landlord who isn’t a dick.

Wise words! 😁

It took just over a week - have you tried to get an emergency plumber yourself? Sometimes these things just take time and the landlord is at the whim of the tradesmen. When my last tenants flooded the bathroom to the point it made the ceiling fall in I had to bend over backwards to get someone out within a few days and pay top £ for it to boot. If they actually were a dick they wouldn't have fixed it but I'm sure you'd rather be in a block of flats run by a faceless company with mould and hundreds of other tenants all needing work done. I don't see tenants moaning at how so much of their rent rises are because tradesmen are getting £300ph in some cases!
Jeez, no pleasing some people.

Unfortunately landlords have to wait for repairmen/plumbers/carpenters the same as everyone else. So it took 6 days, that's not a long time. I had to wait 2 and a half weeks for parts when my own central heating was broken over the Christmas period.

Thank you. The landlord fixes these things himself and it was a simple fix. For sure if it was something more complex I'd expect it to be fixed over a number of weeks rather than 1 week.

If very simple, what about you having a go at fixing it? I know that it’s down to the LL but needs must sometimes!