leaving tenancy early

bigredhen

Thankyou debt free chick....this is the full story:

We moved in November 2007 with a fully functioning gas central heating system which operated the heating and hot water (the house is a new build and we are the first tenants ) It had a fully working timer which ensured we had heating and hot water on waking and when we got home.In november 2008 the timer stopped working and we rang the landlord direct 4 times and were promised an engineer would conact us....nobody did.
2 weeks ago we contacted the letting agent from whom we found the property even though they only act as tenant finders and they agreed to contact the landlord and he told them again that an engineer would conact us....we are still waiting and quite frankly i have had enough.....our rent has been paid by direct debit on time and we are excellent tentants

bigredhen

poppysarah wrote: »

Combatting excess cold
Excess cold is the most common hazard found by local authorities when they carry out HHSRS assessments. Excess cold is a particular issue for older properties which may not be well insulated or which lack modern heating systems.
http://www.residentiallandlord.co.uk/safetyratingsystem.html


It's well worth asking them - as there may be grants available that the council know about to bring heating systems up to standard.

I do not think that programmable/controlable heating is too much to ask for in this day and age.
The OP will have learnt a valuable lesson when they come to pick their next rental property.

Thankyou poppy sarah...it is actually a repair and we live in a newbuild...only 14 mths old!!

poppysarah

bigredhen wrote: »

Thankyou poppy sarah...it is actually a repair and we live in a newbuild...only 14 mths old!!

Still go the PRS team at the council - they should be able to nudge things along for you.

What sort of boiler is it? Ours has a 2 year warranty so the parts wouldn't cost them anything either...

clutton_2

""yes i do have heating which takes 2 hrs to heat the house""

this is most odd in a new build.....

but, nevertheless - you have heating - and giving notice and doing repairs are two entirely separate issues - the LL appears to have asked engineers to come - and yes he has been slow in getting it fixed - but this is no reason, legally, to ignore your contractual agreements to pay rent and give proper notice


OP says "" and the landlord can just ignore my requests to fix problems he is responsible for!!""

the LL has asked for 2 engineers to come - he has not ignored you

bigredhen

clutton wrote: »

""yes i do have heating which takes 2 hrs to heat the house""

this is most odd in a new build.....

but, nevertheless - you have heating - and giving notice and doing repairs are two entirely separate issues - the LL appears to have asked engineers to come - and yes he has been slow in getting it fixed - but this is no reason, legally, to ignore your contractual agreements to pay rent and give proper notice


OP says "" and the landlord can just ignore my requests to fix problems he is responsible for!!""

the LL has asked for 2 engineers to come - he has not ignored you

The fact that it takes 2 hours to heat is because it is a very large house....do you think it is reasonable to wait 3 months for repairs then because i don't ....and if you read my posts properly you will see that i have already said i will pay the rent as i have signed a contract that says i will, although i am fulfilling my part the landlord isn't which is very unfair

franklee

Well I think we can all spot the landlords posting here.

To wait 3 months and counting, especially over the winter, for an engineer to even come out at all is not acceptable, of course it's not.

My worry is that you have only been phoning the landlord and agent, you really should have followed up with letters or even emails so you can show how long you have been waiting.

The landlord must keep the heating in repair.

He has probably passed the message on to the builders where it has got lost. I've has this with a new build it can be hard to get the builders to do repairs they are obliged to do.

But that's not your problem, it's the landlords and he should either make the builder get on with it or arrange for his own engineer to come out and argue with the builder afterwards.

Do you even yet have a date for the fist visit from an engineer?

I'd put a complaint with all the details of all calls etc. in writing to the landlord now, copied to the agent.

It would be tricky leaving 6 weeks early without paying rent, can you ask them to hold the new property for say three weeks and then leave three weeks early but aiming to pay rent till the end while at the same time saying you want a refund of rent to compensate for lack of repairs?

bigredhen

Thankyou Franklee

I am going to put my request in writing outlining the numerous phone calls and one email that i sent to the letting agent.

The new property that we want to move to is currently being redecorated by the landlord and i am going to ask them if they are prepared to wait a few more weeks....in my home country this problem with the landlord wouldn't have been allowed to happen as I would have been allowed to withold my rent....roll on next year when I can go home to far better tenant protection and better weather!!:j

Thanks again for your help

clutton_2

""leaving our tenancy 6 weeks early." - IS depriving the LL of rent for a fixed period that you have signed a contract to pay rent

bigredhen

clutton wrote: »

""leaving our tenancy 6 weeks early." - IS depriving the LL of rent for a fixed period that you have signed a contract to pay rent

But i have already said i am prepared to pay until the end of my tenancy


Have you actually answered my question as to whether it is reasonable to wait 3 mths for repairs....no you haven't but as you are a landlord i suspect you think its entirely reasonable:mad:

Debt_Free_Chick

bigredhen wrote: »

But i have already said i am prepared to pay until the end of my tenancy

If you're prepared to pay the rent up to the end of your fixed term, then there's no problem, as this is the deal you struck with the LL.

To protect yourself, you should tell the LL this - that you intend to vacate before the end of the tenancy, but that you will pay the rent until the end of the tenancy.

I guess you have another place ready to move in to ? Consider not telling the current LL until you are certain that you have somewhere to go to.

Good luck