Renting: liability for descaling drains

questionsquestions_2 · 27 June 2017 at 4:00PM

We have been renting a house since April last year. In August the drains blocked and we ended up with raw toilet waste on the patio. After a couple of weeks this was fixed (or so we thought). The agency arranged for the works and it was paid for by the landlord. The pipes blocked up again in January this year, we were left with raw toilet waste outside our kitchen door for weeks waiting for the agency and landlord sort out repairs. The agency continually implied that we had to pay for this work ourselves or it would not be done. Eventually I contacted the council's private lettings team who contacted the agency, after the council intervened the work was done. We were not informed that we would have to pay for this or consulted on options and costs or contractors.

Now our contract is up for renewal and the landlords say they will not agree a new contract unless we pay them £700 for the work on the drains... obviously this seems like an outrageous amount for drain unblocking! The agency told us that the contractors have told them we were responsible as the blockage was caused by misuse, in particular baby wipes. This is odd as we don't use baby wipes, however we have found out that the previous residents have a young child. In conversation with us, the contractors have told us that the problem could have been caused by neighbouring properties or previous residents and that they have told the landlord that they think he is liable. When I asked for proof from the agency that we were liable, the agency sent me a letter from the contractors which states that "baby wipes were a contributing factor to the blockage". After some weeks nagging, I eventually managed to get a copy of the invoice for the work from the agency. It says that the pipes were repeatedly blocking and paper and wipes catching on pipes as they required descaling and the £700 is for full descaling and also CCTV survey of the pipes.

I am just interested in your opinions as to who is liable for this - in my view the landlord is responsible as the pipes were scaled up and this was not caused by us, and the landlord is responsible for checking the structure for the pipes with CCTV.

I also wanted some advice on the renewal issue. It seems to me we are effectively being blackmailed - give us £700 or leave.
This seems crazy to me as we are good tenants. However legally I see that the landlord has the perfect right not to renew the contract at the end of the next fixed term. Any thoughts about this? We do not intend to pay, we would rather move than pay blackmail, but wondered if there was any way of avoiding being forced to move?

harrys_dad · 27 June 2017 at 4:13PM

The Landlord can issue you with a Section 21 at any time, after the end of your original fixed term contract. How long was that? You say that "it is up for renewal" but you have been there 14 months, which is an odd length of time. Can you share the details of the original contract please?

Assuming your fixed term has ended, and you have moved to a periodic tenancy, your landlord can give you 2 months notice without any reason whatsoever. The landlord has no obligation to offer you a new fixed term contract, and you have no obligation to sign one, irrespective of any £700 payment.

Guest101 · 27 June 2017 at 4:15PM

Don't pay, don't move out - leave the ball in his court

pinkshoes · 27 June 2017 at 4:16PM

Write to them stating that you have never used wipes so cannot be held responsible for the drain blockage.

Then do nothing and ignore them.

You can just go onto a rolling contract. I believe they are not allowed to do revenge evictions.

Guest101 · 27 June 2017 at 4:18PM

pinkshoes wrote: »

Write to them stating that you have never used wipes so cannot be held responsible for the drain blockage.

Then do nothing and ignore them.

You can just go onto a rolling contract. I believe they are not allowed to do revenge evictions.

Not that simple, so might be best just to remove this bit. The legislation wouldn't cover this type of claim

aneary · 27 June 2017 at 4:22PM

You may have the additional issue of having problems claiming your deposit back.

Not that you aren't entitled to it but more that the LL may try and claim the £700 from your deposit.

questionsquestions_2 · 27 June 2017 at 4:23PM

Hi Harry's dad, sorry that is my mistake, we originally signed a 12 month contract in March not April, then when that ran out we got a 6 month contract which is due to end in just over 2 months... so my feeling is that perhaps we will get notice that the landlord wants possession any day now!

We would have been happy to go to a periodic tenancy last time but according to the agency the landlord wanted a 6 or 12 month contract so we went along with that, we were also in dispute over getting the drains fixed at that time so it seemed easier to go with the flow and the council and CAB advised us this would give greater security against retaliation.

questionsquestions_2 · 27 June 2017 at 4:25PM

aneary wrote: »

You may have the additional issue of having problems claiming your deposit back.

Not that you aren't entitled to it but more that the LL may try and claim the £700 from your deposit.

Yeah I thought about this and I'm not worried, I feel confident the TDS would decide in our favour as the landlord does not have proof we caused damage. But of course it will all take longer and I'm sure they will try other means to squeeze money out of us.

questionsquestions_2 · 27 June 2017 at 4:42PM

Thanks pinkshoes, my understanding is that you are formally protected if the council formally intervene to force a repair to be done, but this was all informal, the council just spoke to the agency informally and that was enough to get things moving. As far as I can tell there is nothing we can do to stop him sending us notice once the current 6 months is up.

We have repeatedly told the agency that we don't use wipes, I think they are just parroting back to us what they have told them to do since there seems to be no evidence we have damaged or misused the place.

I don't think there's anything else we can do but restate our position and wait and see if they send notice.

FBaby · 27 June 2017 at 4:44PM

In August the drains blocked and we ended up with raw toilet waste on the patio. After a couple of weeks this was fixed (or so we thought). The agency arranged for the works and it was paid for by the landlord.

What was done then? If the drains were unblocked then, it seems odd that the subsequent blockage was still due to previous tenant, almost 12 months on 6 months after the first clear up, which they did not challenge.

From the perspective of the LL, if they have been renting the place for years before and never had an issue with the drains, it is not unreasonable to assume that the problem was due to your lifestyle. You might believe that it isn't and you might be right, but in the end, it's their choice whether to keep you as a tenant or not.

aneary · 27 June 2017 at 4:47PM

FBaby wrote: »

What was done then? If the drains were unblocked then, it seems odd that the subsequent blockage was still due to previous tenant, almost 12 months on 6 months after the first clear up, which they did not challenge.

From the perspective of the LL, if they have been renting the place for years before and never had an issue with the drains, it is not unreasonable to assume that the problem was due to your lifestyle. You might believe that it isn't and you might be right, but in the end, it's their choice whether to keep you as a tenant or not.

The contractors said neighbouring houses could have also caused this, I wonder if a family down the road has just moved in or had a baby....

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Renting: liability for descaling drains

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