Question for landlords

[wowwee123]

I rent a house i an relatively happy with and unless circumstances change dramatically am likely to be there for a long time (been 18months so far).

Rent is very reasonable and although the house is nicer than our last it is far from perfect (damp, shared yard, down and alley).

All of these i can cope with but our shower is terrible and due to an ill fitting shower screen leaks every time it is used.

As a landlord, would you ever look to improve something like this if your tennant brought it to your attention? Not the leak but the useless shower?

It has 0 power the plug hole always block and it never really gets hot.

I think we are good tennants, look after the house, never bother the landlord, have tidied up paint work etc when needs be. Would that affect your decision?

Yes. The leak is something that will eventually cause a more expensive problem. The poor shower I would deal with to keep a good tenant happy.

Yes! The leaking would damage my property and I would always want to keep good tenants happy within reason as the longer they stay put the better for me! Is it an electric shower? They are fairly easy to replace. I would expect the tenant to unblock the plug hole themselves (and contact the letting agent if they can't to arrange a plumber)

yes, as above I'd like to get it sorted rather than have a huge expensive problem or make it unsafe/ not comfortable for my tennant.

Yes - of course. Any issues like that are likely to damage the property so should be fixed. Have you told the LL about the damp?

Yes I like to look after my rental property and would want to keep a good tenant happy. Good tenants can be hard to find so your landlord should be happy to have a look at your bathroom. Plus any improvement in the bathroom may add value and increase future rental potential.

thanks for all the responses.

i am compiling a list of the damp issues (it seems to be every where!) then will get onto the landlord and will bring up the shower issue.

we have tried unblocking the plug hole but nothing has worked so far so will mention that too.

thank you so much for speedy responses. i didn't know if we were being a bit cheeky.

it is an electric shower. just doesn't get hot at all and as it is now cold i am really struggling with it. dp likes a luke warm one so is happy

ooh as you are all so helpful, the toilet seat is loose too. i've tried to get at it myself but can't seem to get to the fixings. Is it reasonable to mention this?

God yes, the LL should fix the shower and the loo seat.

I'm a landlord, yes, definitely report leaking shower and mention that the shower doesn't get hot. Electric showers can only be changed/fiddled with by a qualified electrician so he will need to get someone in to look at it.

our landlord is really lovely and gets onto everythinf straight away i just don't want to be cheeky but if mnetters have given me the green light i may as well ask.

Will report shower asap. Thank you everyone

Yes, mention these.

Please make sure you're not contributing to mould (sometimes incorrectly identified as damp) - don't dry clothes on radiators, ensure adequate ventilation, use heating properly. I'd also point out to landlord that the damp seems to be damp, not mould.

we have a condenser dryer and use the ventilator thing (i think thats what they're called when cooking. Don't dry on radiators and have heating on three times a day.

the extractor fan in the bathroom doesnt and has never worked so i guess that could be a contributor but in all honesty its an old end of terrace house that is probably just prone to damp.

we usually leave bathroom door open when showering. small bathroom that is tiled black. this probably doesnt help so we need to learn to close it it's just so claustraphobic

Make sure you open the windows to ventilate too even if just for a while on the coldest days.

We have a Karcher window vac to "suck" up window condensation in our Edwardian house.

As a landlord if my tenant says there is a problem with the electric shower (as long as it is over 2 years old) I just get it replaced as my electrician can fit a fairly decent Triton for under £150

Yes, I would absolutely look to sort out a rubbish shower for a good tenant.

Yes. The shower I'd try to do something with as you're a good tenant.
The screen id really want to know about as it'll damage the floor below. Please also mention the sink - my tenants didn't, it backed up and flooded the flat below.
I get frustrated that tenants dont mention things that need fixing!

thank you again.

Also, although i say we are good tennants (rent dd, never missed, house clean and tidy no real damage, not bothering landlord etc) she permitted us to have a small dog and he has ruined the downstairs carpet.

we are going to replace it after christmas with like for like or better as we intend to stay here and obviously she is going to have to be made aware of this now.

will it put us in the bad books?

I think if you are upfront about the carpet and have a plan for how it will be dealt with (e.g. replacement by x date, or happy for LL to replace using deposit funds) the LL hopefully won't be arsey? These things only become a problem when they are left or hidden, and end up causing worse problems. I would appreciate your honesty.

Yes i will be letting her know before she comes along with our plan to replace.

Unfortunately it was just the weave of the carpet with dogs nails that caused the problem. Lotss of clicks which later led to holes.

i was thinking if we replaced and she wasnt happy with it if we moved on then its more than fair to dock our deposit.

Hoping to section kitchen off with large gate once new carpet so the dog has that area to themselves.

if you are replacing the carpet your dog has wrecked, and leave a reasonable condition carpet as and when you leave, you could not be more reasonable.

and please report the faulty shower, toilet seat and screen immediately if not sooner. Stuff goes wrong, landlord expects to fix but can't fix if not told.

thank you made me feel a lot better. we had a crappy landlord in last place so i wasn't sure what was reasonable or not. will get onto it asap.

We are landlords & we would fix everything you mentioned. We had one tenant who didn't do anything & we even had a guy put a lightbulb in a side light for her- it was in the living room & straight bulb change.

Carpet wise I would discuss it with her. I'm not bothered if someone ruins the carpet or even paints the walls black as long as it's fixed before they move.

oh thanks. as long as it's all reasonable i'm happy to raise it.

when i contact landlord i do it via text which she seems ok with, would it be ok to text and say i have some problems i'd like her to have a look at or is a phonecall better?

i always think a text is good because gives them time to take it in but it does seem a bit informal i suppose.

I generally prefer text or email- maybe text and say you have a few minor issues/requests and ask when would be a good time to speak on the phone.

great, thanks.

i have an embarassing update, this morning in the shower i was thinking i can't cope with these luke warm showers so inspected the dial and dp has only turned the temp down so it does get hot but the pressure is still terrible so will mention anyway but obvs the main issue is the damp and leak.

If it is an electric shower it might be pretty hard to sort out the pressure - so maybe don't get your hopes up too much about that.

Glad it is at least hot now!