Problems with property renting - LL not resolve issues

richard-

Hi,

I have recently moving in a house, sharing with a number of other people, it is through an agency. There are a number of problems with the property such as:

- Front of house window does not lock, lock broken therefore not closed fully
- The cooker needs the ignition sorted, does not work
- The hoover is broken
- The boiler seems to cut out, the ignition or flame light goes out every 1 minute, and the water goes cold before it warms up again, this happens every 1min.

- I want a lock on my room, however i'm told that I would be considered seperate resident if I wanted a lock, I don't believe this is correct as I have never had this problem before. Unless you have seperate addresses, such as 22A, 22B for example then I am not considered seperate?

The items should be fully working and are included, such as hoover because it is fully furnished, the boiler is very annoying esp using the bath/shower.

I have only paid the people I live with the money towards the deposit they paid for the house and the agency a reference fee of £60. I have not signed any contract because I moved in later than the date the property was let from, mid way through the month.

So does this mean, that I can leave before I sign the contract at anytime and I have not caused any damages so I can request full deposit back? and secondly the people already living here have told the agency in writting of the problems however they still persist. If I tell them in writting too, and give them for example 7 days in order to resolve else my contract is terminated and all money owed (deposit) is returned.

poppysarah

I can only assume you don't have a gas safety certificate.
You can ring the local council's private tenancy support officer and they will assist. The gas needs urgent attention.

You paid for a reference but not on the tenancy. That's odd.
And who did you give the deposit and do you have a receipt?

richard-

Deposit to the housemates by cheque, because they paid the agency for 4 people and only 3 moved in, now I made the 4th, so I paid directly to them.

I haven't seen a cert for the gas, you are right

Premier_2

It sounds like your housemates are possibly sub-letting the property by allowing you to lodge there.

As a lodger you have very few rights, and even less that can be proven without a written agreement.

I wonder if the LL/LA knows that their tenants have taken in a lodger? That's normally not permitted under most ASTAs.

You contacting the LA will certainly inform them and possibly result in all of you out on the street.

If you don't like where you are living, and it doesn't sound like you trust your housemates if you now want a lock on your door, then move out. If the other housemates won't give you your deposit back, you'll have to sue them to recover it.

mlz1413

How did you find this property and how did you get the keys to it? Was it all through the people living there or was it through the agents?

Who told you that you cannot have a lock on your door - the other tenants or the agent?

If Premier is right and you have sub-let a room via the tenants and not via an agent you probably do not have a vaild contract and therefore can leave earlier, but the refund of the deposit will be down to asking the people you paid it to.

In future you really need your tenancy agreement to be in place before you move in and you should be doing a 'walk-through' with the agent before moving in, this is where you and agent physically walk through the house the agent telling pointing out all the things on the inventory and you being able to check things like the windows shutting, the shower working etc. Also in a house with many others which are communal areas, which are private and how the spliting of the bills and council tax is handled.

tbs624

Premier wrote: »

It sounds like your housemates are possibly sub-letting the property by allowing you to lodge there.

As a lodger you have very few rights, and even less that can be proven without a written agreement.

I wonder if the LL/LA knows that their tenants have taken in a lodger? That's normally not permitted under most ASTAs.

You contacting the LA will certainly inform them and possibly result in all of you out on the street.

<sigh> Don't be so hasty Premier - if you read the OP's info again you'll see this:

richard- wrote: »

I have only paid the people I live with the money towards the deposit they paid for the house and the agency a reference fee of £60. I have not signed any contract because I moved in later than the date the property was let from, mid way through the month.
.

My highlighting.

tbs624

Richard - are all the tenants in this property signed up to one joint contract, and you are replacing another tenant who has left early?

Or did they start off with a reduced occupancy, looking for an extra person to join up?

Generally, if you are in a shared house on one contract there will not be locks on individual rooms

Are they on individual contracts?

Did the LA give permission for you to move in?

If the other tenants moved in & paid their deposit after 6 April 2007, then that deposit should be scheme registered. If you are paying a deposit you need to be safeguarded too by being properly listed as a tenant with the deposit scheme's admin dept.(Eng/Wales only)

You should also be on a proper tenancy agreement.

Depending on what was agreed with the LA and your fellow tenants when you moved in, how long you have been there, and what you signed when you paid your deposit/admin fee , you *may* be able to move back out without being liable for anything else but you should get qualified advice from a local law centre, private sector rentals team at the council or from Shelter 0808 800 4444 - you will probably get several posts on here that are opinion only, regurgitating other info from other threads, with an incorrect interpretation of the law. It is likely that you will lose your reference fee, and you may have to pursue the other tenants to court to try to recoup any of your deposit.

You do need to check all these sorts of repairs/maintenance issues out when you view - the boiler one is obviously harder to check than other things but at the very least you should insist in seeing a valid gas safety cert before ever paying out /signing up to anything.

richard-

tbs the below is what happened

They started off with a reduced occupancy, looking for an extra person to join up.

I got the key from the agency.

I'm not a lodger, the house is joint, all names are on the agreement except for mine which will be added 28th oct. The housemates paid my rent plus the deposit to the agency and I therefore paid this equally to the housemates in form of a cheque to each of them.

I have been to seek some advice which including a council housing officer, and she said that although you are sort of now in a contract because you have paid an amount you are not legally bound to any contract that would stand up in court, because you do not have a tenant agreement as of yet.

She said you can move out but you would loose your deposit if you can't work it out to recover it all with the other housemates, but I would try and give them some amount and only recover part of the deposit. Or mention that you will try but not guarentee to help fill the room space with another person.

poppysarah

You should stay and kick some butt to get the issues resolved.

Did you make enquiries with the council officer about the gas cert and dodgy boiler?

richard-

I like the other place better than this one. Officers can inspect problems by an invitation from one of the other housemates on the agreement only, so if nothing is done by the agency, the other housemates are able to have the council get the matters resolved.

Premier_2

Why is your name not going on the TA until the 28 Oct?

Did the LA expect you to pay rent without an agreed TA?

Why did you pay the rent to the existing tenants rather than the LA if you think you have a tenancy agreement with the LA? This seems even more strange because you wanting a lock on your door suggests you don't really trust the other tenants.