claiming rent back from estate agent - anyone done this?

[pinkyp]

Hi me and my partner have been thinking of claiming rent back from the estate agents we rent our house from. Has anyone done this or knows where i stand? They have failed to fix the lights for over a year, said there was 2 parking spaces when there wasnt any, said there was a gas fire in the room (there is but its capped) and lots of other similar things. We had a new kitchen fitted by them (after 3 months of waiting) and got told we had to move the old kitchen ourselfs. They have just wrote to us to tell us we have broke our tennacy agreement as we have altered the garden - we got permission from them to do this but the lady who gave us it no longer works there.

Anyone with any advice / tips etc? My dh says to phone CAB but not sure what to say?

I think you should go to CAB with a list of dates and problems - you may be able to got through small claims . Alternatively Shelter or even the council could advise you. However it isn't actually the EA but your landlord who is ultimately responsible for maintenance, even if the agents are managing the property, the EA is just the facilitator for repairs. Are the agents registered with ARLA or NEA as they have complaints procedures.