Student House Problem

DoktaUH

Hey Guys and Girls,

Just to start, i'm currently a 2nd year student living in off-campus privately rented accomodation with 2 other students, we are all in short term tenancy agreements and paying £300/month.

Lately there have been 2 major (in my opinion) problems crop up with the house;

1. The bath/shower leaks through the hallway ceiling whenever someone uses it
2. The back door (which happens to be a patio sliding door) isn't lockable and only has a small hook keeping it closed.

Both of these problems have been reported to the landlord, the patio door was reported before my contract started in september (another housemate had paid to live here in august.) The ceiling was reported around the 20th October.

In our contracts is a clause that states, and i quote;

(5) The Landlord agrees to carry out any repairing obligations as required by s11-16 of the Landlords and Tenant Act 1985[FONT=Tahoma,sans-serif].[/FONT]

This is where i'm having my problem, the act itself doesn't specify a time frame as to how long between a problem being reported and it being repaired by the landlord (or his appointed agent) before it can be classed as a breach of contract.

Considering the Act states in S11.1.B that the landlord is obligated to;

(b)keep in repair and proper working order the installations in the dwelling-house for the supply of water, gas and electricity and for sanitation (including basins, sinks, baths and sanitary conveniences, but not other fixtures, fittings and appliances for making use of the supply of water, gas or electricity)

Surely our Landlord either has, or is soon to break the contract.

If anyone can help in clarifying the timescale allowed for repairs to be made and/or actions that I, and the other tenants should take, i would be very grateful.

Thanks to anyone who managed to make it through my monologue and also thanks in advance to anyone who is able to help.

Rob.

poppysarah

Find the council's private sector rented team and ask to speak to someone there.
It'll probably be in their housing department somewhere - should be a contact number/email for them on their website.

They can assist with repairs.

The door issue is pretty serious as it almost certainly null and voids your contents insurance.

Premier_2

I don't think the council will carry out any repairs on a privately owned property, but if you mean by 'assist' they'll look in yellow pages to find some trademen will carry out repairs (for a fee!) then they may do that.

DoktaUH, you say you reported at least the leaking ceiling around a month ago. What has been the repsonse by the LL? If none, have you tried following it up? Perhaps the LL didn't receive the original message?

richard-

If landlord not fixing the problems, as above go to council and speak to a housing officer who will organise a visit to look at the problems and will then enforce that the repairs must be carried out in a timezone by your LL. Council are not going to repair the problems.

poppysarah

Sometimes they even have grants available for properties in poor state of repair. Annoying as it is for homeowners who have to stump up, if you're a slumlord you can often find they'll grant you money to do the repairs.
They will however fix a timetable for repairs to be done - and I assume they can take landlords to court for not behaving.

PasturesNew

In the meantime, today, right away, find/borrow/buy a length of wood that fits into the patio door frame base, so it can't be slid open. Should be easy enough to pick up a piece in any DIY shop/woodstore.

kazwookie

Get on to the LL again, do you have a phone number for him /her? if so ring and ask if they got the email / letter / whatever about the door and shower, and ask them to come round to look ,or when are they sending trades people to fix the problems.

Pasturesnew, I've just looked at my door, and the only way I can do that is to have the wood on the outside, (if I had a problem) so it kinda defents the object, but I accept not all doors are the same, but I like the idea.

Prize_fighter

Please read my thread - Tenants - fewer rights than other countries in western soci... as this could apply to you. It is important you check how long your tenancy agreement as your landlord may not take to kindly for kicking up a fuss and may evict you as soon as it ends if it is in the near future. Sorry to worry you but it is a reality and if it happens you have no legal defence.

mizzbiz

Well, they should do somehing about the leak. In my last year at uni, our shared house had the same problem and one day the ceiling in the breakfast room under the bathroom fell down.

Cost them a fortune to put right in the end!

lostinrates

Is it advertised through the university? Some university rental schems impose higher than normal standards of safety etc on 'their' landlords, and although this isn't ncessarily the sort of thing they are focused on (more Carbon monoxide and fire alarms etc etc) it would certainly mean they might look less favourably on recommending the landlord to students and they might have a scheme or a rep to help you negotiate repairs.

DoktaUH

Premier wrote: »

You say you reported at least the leaking ceiling around a month ago. What has been the repsonse by the LL? If none, have you tried following it up? Perhaps the LL didn't receive the original message?

The LL responded by sending around his favoured plumber (about a week after) who, upon arriving said that he'd been told to coat any leaks with whatever was cheapest, think he said silicone of some sort. Then he saw it and told me that a new bath would be needed and told the LL's agent, then covered the problems with silicone as a temporary measure.

Had a bath later the same day and it was still leaking so told the LL again, responce was "OK thanks for informing me" then nothing up until about a week ago saying he was having a bath delivered/fitted sometime in the week just gone....nothing since.