unlivable housing/ leave tenency agreement

[heather27]

Hi, i have been living in this property for 9 months, I moved in there where alot of problems that he said he was going to fix within the first month. The bedroom carpet clearly used (they all are but the bedroom is disgraceful) also even paid for a carpet cleaner, that did not improve much. the cold top in the bath doesnt turn on, the plug sockets are falling off or you can push the socket in to the wall, there are no fire alarms, and a gap in the window that let's cold air in and since the day I moved in there has been a leak in the bedroom everytime it rains (a lot in the uk) and I found out off the naighbors that the last tenant (elderly lady) moved out because it was leaking for 3 years with nothing solved. I just dont want to be there anymore as I can move in with my friend, I feel like I'm working so hard to pay a house and all the bills, it's making me more and more depressed. I have 4 months left on my tenancy can I leave? what will happen if I do? what should I say to him?

he is a privrate landlord.

Thank you in advance.

Tbh if you leave then nothing will get fixed at all and the next tenant will suffer the same issues. What I would do is plan to leave at the end of the tenancy and in the meantime I would get environmental health out as then it is recorded and he will have to fix the safety issues at least. He will be given a set time frame to comomete these issues, so at least it would be safe for the next tennant.

Ask Shelter for advice. It depends on wording of your agreement. It does not sound uninhabitable though, just poorly maintained. Has ll otherwise met his statutory obligations re deposit, safety certificates etc.

Hi, thanks I completely understand where your coming from and wouldn't want anyone else to ever have to deal with him but I really cant live like this anymore I sleep on the sofa when it rains because of the dripping noise and that affects my sleep and work, I just want to leave and get what i pay for and my rent is 50 pound more per month than the streets average. he doesnt even have a fire alarm and I know that is 5000 fine and also with the electrics, I got told off someone that works for the council (unofficial) that he wont take me to found with only been 4 months left it would not be worth his while taking me to court but I would like more opinions

and yes he has my deposit I'm not expecting that back, and I cant imagine he had all the checks with the state of the house boiler ect.. it's been 9 months and I'm pushed to the edge I'm thinking about letting him take me to court because at least I wont be here.

You should know if the certificates and deposit (in a secure scheme) were correctly handled as that information should be passed on to the tenant by Law.

Hi liz, he has shown me no certificates of any kind, this is the first house I have rented and may have been slightly (or a lot) oblivious, I was with agency at first but the agency went bust so now I deal with him directly and hard to even get a text back if it's not about rent.

Did the agency give you anything? If not Shelter can advise you whether the terms of the lease have been broken as it puts you in a stronger position and he can be heavily fined.

hi liz yea they did but I signed a new contract since then, il go to shelter.
I honestly wish I smart enough to not listen to his bs that he will fix things in the house after move in, definitely a lesson learned.

Certificates etc are only annual so the previous ones may still apply as would the deposit scheme, if used.

If you don’t have fire alarms he is breaking the law and you don’t have to continue the tenancy.
PP saying the house “isn’t uninhabitable” are not necessarily correct - the legal definition is different for tenanted properties and is held to a much higher standard than owned properties. Landlords have a legal duty to ensure there are no health and safety breaches which includes dodgy electrics, leaking roofs which cause damage and damp,and you are not expected to live in a property you cannot affordably, adequately heat- which you can’t if the windows are so ill fitting. Draughty is one thing , if sounds as though you are experiencing much worse.
Environmental health will usually try not to help as you have legal recourse to tackle this yourself, however, you just need to word it correctly so they know it is a health or safety issue and you are unable to deal with a tribunal case yourself. You will be expected to have asked for the repairs to be done and given landlord reasonable time to carry them out.
However, in your case, as there are no fire alarms and no electrical safety certificate (which there won’t be if sockets are hanging off), the landlord is in deep legal shit. If you have an agent send them an email saying the property is not habitable under current regulations and you want to immediately end the tenancy. You can try shelter to help with wording etc but ime it’s very hit land miss as to their usefulness depending on area, and I have received incorrect information before from them regarding landlord responsibility. I would try them though.

Call the council and call your MP. Your MP should help you.

I would talk to shelter, I'm pretty sure you have the have the gas safety certificate and the electrical report certificate available for the tenant to view. If he hasn't wouldn't ring the council to check as it's up to £30,000 find for not doing the electrical report, no gas safety is an unlimited fine. I would ring the council if he hasn't, your safety isn't worth risking.

Also check if you deposit has been protected, shelter have a webpage to show you how to do this. If he hasn't you can sue him for up to 3x the deposit.

hi dancingwithWillard your message immediately made me feel better, I know I think it's pretty unlivable, and I have proof that I've asked him for months videos, messages and photos and a woman who used to live here left for the same reason and one of my naighbors is trying to get in contact with her just to know how long these problems have been there. she moved out because of the leak in the bedroom, thank you so much

hi ffsffsffs
thank you, I am on the council website as we speak, and more I dont want anyone to have to deal with this. its unnecessary stress especially with what is going on now. and @gmailconfusion2 il look in to that and your right my safety isnt worth risking I will definitely be taking your advice thank you made me feel so much better about the situation.

The landlord is in breach of a bucketload of laws. You definitely have rights here!

I’m glad it helped. As shitty as it is right now for you, you actually hold all the cards here so keep strong. The best thing is you have somewhere else to go. Give shelter a call on Monday but start packing ready to get the hell out of there.

@DancingWithWillard thank you. after a heated discussion today the agreed to let me leave...I just tried not to listen to empty threats, feel free now Haha I tried the same thing on reddit as I have done here and just got loads of landlords replying to me saying I have to pay, think people need to know how much power they have over these slumlords.

@FFSFFSFFS

Call the council and call your MP. Your MP should help you.

Unless they are a Tory, the party that voted against making rented properties fit for human habitation

If he tries to keep your deposit you have the right to take it to the deposit protection service. If he hasn't registered it with that he will also be in trouble...

Is your deposit in one of the deposit protection schemes? If so he cannot just keep it, you have to agree to deductions or get the scheme to judge if the deductions are reasonable (they often side with the tenant). If it isn't protected you get claim 3x the deposit back.

Shitty landlords should be held to account though. They really ought to be licensed IMO.

Shelter
Council
MP
Media
Social Media

Leave, secure in the knowledge that in not maintaining his investment that he is devaluing it.

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

Great news heather27 I can imagine you feel great today. Keep all the messages and anything other that complete professionalism and good manners threaten to report him for harassment on top of illegal practices.

I’m a bitch so I would be taking photos and reporting him for non compliance to fire safety (call your local fire station and ask them to do an inspection for you, most are more than happy to do this then you will get an official note of it). He should not be allowed to let me his property out again without bringing it up to standard. It’s appalling that the onus is on tenants to deal with it, rather than as PP said them being regulated and licensed. Some other poor sod could be walking in to that and might not have the options and mental strength to deal with it.