Landlord problems and advice please

[TheHumanCatapult]

I moved into property March 2010 and the orginal part was done by agent who put deposit etc in Deposit scheme as correct.

When moved in bathroom ceiling needed doing as is a false ceiling but had been damaged due to burst pipes but Landlord said be done in a month ,Ensuite shower not working turns out had not been conected drainage wise for ages carperts were not clean as was not the oven etc took pictures and made sure I emailed them to landlord .Agent also took pictures and noted it .

Landlord has never lived in the property he brought it with land which lets out as breakdown yard .House did not rent out before me he had loads of his drivers sharing .

When moved in was no saftey paperwork etc .Is no gas to the property though .Should there be checks done yearly

now 15 months on bathroom ceiling still not done .
Ensuite shower still does not work.
The Eletrics are iffy as they often cut out and you have to reboot the fuse box .Couple of the plug sockets do not work .So on a double socket only one will work .
Boiler often cuts out infact one time we did 3 weeks without hotwater !! as he was on holiday .Boiler is outside in workshop so I can not access it but its often needed to be rebooted average once a month and can mean I go 24 plus without hotwater or heating
Hotwater takes ages you have to run tap for 5 minuted before comes through and even then is not always that hot .

I have reminded him several times about work that needs doing but still not done .took him 2 weeks to come look at ensuite toilet when i called him saying I think pump is going ( it is the sort that chews up before pumping waiste down and out)
in the end while waiting for him the pump burnt out( we was not using it as knew was problem ) pump burnt out and well the sewage that was stuck flooded bathroom .I had to clean it and it kept pulling sewage up from the main sewage pipes downstairs .and then we waited best part of 2 weeks.

Now on the postive side , he does not ever bother me and is quite happy for me to decorate or do what i like with house and gardens .

But how do I get him to step up a bit to his responablitys am wary of rocking boat to much as if he gives notice I am stuck as can not rent anywhere else as am in a wheelchair ( waiting on council housing but going to be a long wait no 4 beds at all thats even before any adaptions needed )) Also am aware that landlords here are not keen on HB and Single parents.

Oh and I ahve never been late with the rent he gets £1200 on the 1st every month (Hb covers most I top up £150 a month )and I paid £1800 Deposit up front

Sorry, I was replying to this last night when my LeechBlock locked me out of MN, and I lost my reply!

Have a look, first of all, at this advice from Shelter:

on rights and responsibilities of landlords/tenants

on repairs

Knowing your legal position should help you feel better to start with, so you can start planning how to get things finxed.

Sorry you have been so long without a reply, and good luck!

P.S. Do write back if you are in Scotland, and I will find you the links under Scottish law (ditto N Ireland or Wales).

thank you

looks like can insist on the eltrics being looked at and the boiler well he does repair it but just when he is read but then read have this bit

^Shorthold/rolling tennacies
This means that your landlord can probably evict you by giving you the correct written notice and then either:

◦using one or more of the grounds that can be used during the fixed term, or
◦giving you two months' notice at any time - if they do this they do not need to prove a reason. This is sometimes called the 'shorthold ground'.^

Makes me wonder if I am better just staying stum as chances finding anywhere suitable are less than zilch and can not afford the money up front again .I had to beg and borrow and use the money my dad left me to pay the montsh rent in advance and 6 weeks deposit and have a gurantor

What role does the agent play in all of this? Was it just a letting agent, or is it a managing agent?

no they just did the introductions took money for deposit ( that is in a deposit protected schem) and carried out the finacial checks .Though they did take pictures of things that had not been done as did I and emailed them to the landlord and I made sure he acknowledged my reply .Dirty carpets and I mean Dirty ( massive stains etc , bits of wall not plastered , bathroom ceiling etc.I ahve been carefull and made sure I do in email when asking him things

if it was manged by agent .I would be more inclined to push for things to be fixed .AM just worried about rocking the boat

oh and no rent book but since I pay either by bank transfer or bakers draft .I do have a record of it

It sounds as though you need to speak to the Citizens' Advice Bureau, for more specific advice. I was hoping someone more qualified would jump in if the post were kept bumped!

Why don't you get some quotes from different tradesmen and see how much all of the fixes would cost - make sure each job is individually priced.

Then see whether you would be able to deduct a certain amount from your rent to go towards these fixes. If the house was unrented for a long time, then chances are the landlord wouldn't be able to rent it again very easily.

It may well be that he is just very lazy about it all, and if you could deduct about 30% of your rent and put it towards someone to fix the job (or maybe 2 months of full rent or some such) then he would be ok with that.

When talking to him, stress that you understand how busy he is and that you understand that it's very difficult for him to arrange the fixes to the property and in those circumstances you would be more than happy to do the running around to make sure it all gets done. (Or something like that!)

It would be very easy for you to pass the receipts for the work onto the landlord so that he could see that the money was properly utilised.

thank you

Have spoken to cab and they said can push him on the boiler but they said considering situation and type of tennacy I am probably best just putting up with the rest .

at least you can sort out the boiler, which sounds like a major inconvenience (re-starting, waiting fot hot water, etc.)

But as for "best just putting up with the rest ." - that's really rubbish and I'm sorry. Tenants' positions in this country are pretty crap, aren't they?

Have emailed the landlord asking that he ha sthe boiler properly serviced

Pluperver we did 3 weeks in March with no heating and hot wwater may only on 3 of those days and was not on for long even then and i had to buy plug in oil raditors and nope no discount on rent etc .Landlord was on holiday and person He left in charge cam eout fiddled with it few time sin end said your have to wait for LL to come back

Wow, that was quick work!

Didn't CAB say a discount should be offered on rent if a boiler is not working in cold weather? I am shocked. People can be sent home from offices (paid) if the temperature is above or below certain levels. (and I'll be really sad if that is not required by law and just a civilised gesture.... that short of thing should be law!)

legally it should be fixed within 24 hrs according to Cab but she also said it is hard to enforce I can give him 7 days and say that if not done i shall get done and take of teh rent .And no private landlords do not have to discount the rent at all
But then warned yet agaun due to type of tennacy it can make things akward .Bascically Rocking the boat could lead to me being given noticed and becuase of sort of house I need I will sturggle to find anywhere.

So is put up shut up and hope the council offer me somewhere soon

Looking back through the catalogue of things wrong with the place, I wondered what the CAB said about the broken pump which led to sewage spillage. Surely there has to be some sanction for THAT?

What about copying the Council department in on all your correspondence to do with the state of your housing? Cold and sewage are surely aggravating factors to your need? Also, the Council need to know he is not a landlord whose property should be endorsed. I gather that HB is no longer paid directly to LLs, so there is no longer that element of direct contract (and contact) between a local authority and LL, but surely the Council housing section can blacklist landlords like him, otherwise they will be in the position of subsidising shitty housing - not exactly public service, is it?

i am first and only one he has on Hb he was not keen at all .Have talked to council and they are aware that havin problems but yet again according to them I am adequadtley houses .They said I need to put in writing that he ahs 7 days to repair certain things.Apparentley is down to me to clean sewage and inform Landlord .
.Think I got 10 extra points becuase of the issues .But considering a 4 bed is normally around 180 points .I only have 110 points am hoping that since I cna not get into bathroom without crawling i may get some extra points

Truth I am fed up .I dream of a house where I turn a tap on and have hot water and when cold i press a switch and have heat .Not praying i have either or both and infact when it is working wish was more than luke warm .Bungalow could be lovely really could size wise it is great

"Apparentley is down to me to clean sewage and inform Landlord ."

Okay.... what about your local councillors, or your MP (with all the fuss about reductions in HB, surely it's of interest what this very political money is being spent on)?

Am going to be talking to mp becuase am going to argue not being able to get into bathroom withour having to crawl in means my housing is no where near adequate.
Have sent email to LL listing all the problesm major and minor and will see what happens now .
Was just not sure what a LL resposiblites are

Think Cab/shelter are overwhelmed at the moment .Mind a pipe goes again I can not be cleaning as it is upstairs and can not get up there