Letting Agents breaking contract...urgent help required...

Torby

I am posting on behalf of my daughter currently at Uni in Newcastle...unfortunately I am 200 miles away and can't easily get there so I'm looking for help here.

She is currently renting a student property which unfortunately has not been an easy let... seems from the word go, the letting agents have been useless at doing repairs and putting things right...the week after she moved in (with 2 others she reported loose (and in my opinion dangerous) panes of glass in her inside front door..."one good gust of wind I told her and..." she has had constant problems with heating, privacy on the part of the letting agents visits and a neighbour she has had to report to the police for harassment (surely the agents knew about this from previous tennants?)

The latest, it would appear that the agents have either sold the property, or it has changed hands and they have asked them if they would like to move out "early"...their tennancy runs 'til June.

It is practically impossible for them to find anywhere at this stage...and too be honest, they would prefer to run out their tennancy 'til its time to come home...they don't really need all the aggravation and upheaval.

Today...my daughter was lying in bed with a temperature and a severe migraine and heard voices in the flat...she woke really scared and slid further under the covers fearing the worst....a man and a woman walked into her bedroom (her flatmates were at Uni and their bedroom doors were locked)...said "oh...there's someone here..." and went into the living room....she says they left about 15 minutes later....she was terrified as no one had informed them by writing or phone that prospective viewers/purchasers would be letting themselves in with a key and wandering round.

A phone call to the current agents by her flatmates (she was feeling even more poorly after this episode !) brought the response..."oh...sorry....my fault...I forgot to let you know"

What should my daughter and flatmates do...I am worried sick about her...I am concerned that this is part of their efforts to get them to move out early and intimidate them...as I say we are over 200 miles away (and there's a big stretch of water in between!) and we just can't afford to drop everything and go over.

Any pointers in the right direction or processes to start/follow to safeguard them would be greatfully appreciated....

Torby

lynzpower

Poor lamb. I rented in newcastle a few years ago and there are some serious charlatans there I tell you! ( or there was in my day). Get the tenants to get thier heads together and write a list of all the occasions when they have been threatened/ someones been in without 24 hours agreed notice.

Then advise/tell her to contact the housing dept of Newcastle City Council. When I had landlords whove done this sort of thing I went to my local authority and they gave me advice about it, its thier jurisdiction. I found thier advice excellent. ( I had trouble getting deposits back from the LL, but they were advising me to take to court and get damaged for harrassment)

Heres some details from the Newcastle City Council website. (under P on the a-z list on front page)

Private Landlords Forum
The forum promotes the views of private landlords in contributing to the improvement of the city's housing. It is a partnership between Newcastle City Council, private landlords and agencies working in the private rented sector and is open to private landlords, letting agents, accommodation officers, advice agencies and members and officers of the Council
Visit Website
See: Community and Housing Directorate Your Homes Newcastle
Top of Page

Private Sector Housing Standards
The Public Health and Environmental Protection Team (PHEP) makes sure that private sector housing is of an acceptable standard. Powers are available to deal with disrepair, dampness and drainage problems and also to ensure that houses in multiple occupation are of a satisfactory standard and properly managed.
phone: 0191 211 6113
email: michael.j.warriner@newcastle.gov.uk
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Private Sector Housing
Contact Richard Beedle,
phone: 0191 232 8520, ext. 25851
email: richard.beedle@newcastle.gov.uk
Top of Page


Good luck with it and try not to worry- this is character building!

wirm

I had similar problems when the house I am letting went up for sale. It said in my tenancy agreement that they had to give me 24 hours notice before entering the house however they would just land. So one day they arrived with people to view the house and I refused to let them into the house saying they had not given me 24 hours. They kicked up a fuss, but I stood my ground and would not let them in.

Tell your daughter that she needs to get in touch with her union urgently. They would be an excellent source of information and advice.

Take a look at this thread that I previously started, people have given me advice on rented house problems.

circuit

unfortunately landlords tend to forget that clause in the contract at this time of year, when viewings are going on. myself and all my friends who rent have this problem at this time of year - we had someworkmen in once that left the front door unlocked and wide open because nobody was in to watch them. anyway, re 24 hours notice - i wrote a stern letter to my estage agent, pointing out the clauses in the contract and offerig them 14 days to dispute my interpretation at which point i would take it to CAB. not a peep since. landlords will always try it on.

it sounds like your daughter's house is in disrepair as it wasbeing sold and current owners didn't care to put money into it so late. as far as i know, she is entitled to give them a deadline before getting workmen in, and invoicing for the money she spends. check with her union or a housing advice centre, and of course, put every communication in writing.

kar

ditto the advice above but keep a copy of every letter signed and dated by someone from the union or student housing advice centre aswell.

ditzymuppet

Poor girly... I really sympathise...

I would recommend contacting her Uni Housing Service (should be available from the Uni's website)... they can back her up... poor lass... Must be really horrible.

If there is a bit in the contract saying "24hrs notice etc" must be given... then photocopy this and stick it to the back of the front door and highlight it. She (and her flatmates) should refuse to let people in without at first at least a courtesy call. ESPECIALLY AS A LONE FEMALE IN THE HOUSE..... :mad: At Uni, these are supposed to be our homes! We shouldn't just have randoms wandering in as and when they feel like it.

Good luck to her... maybe for next years house, she should (and her other flatmates) talk to older friends/people on the course in different years/on course administrative boards... for them to recommend good landlords/agencies.... especially if those people are graduating this year and won't be needing the house next year. If not the Uni housing people should produce a housing list of accredited landlords that have houses that meet the required standards for students...

Good luck to her... and don't let these landlords intimidate her... poor lady...

~ditzy x

P.S if she's prone to migraines... I recommend "Kool and Soothe" patches to stick on her head.... they are amazing! I swear by them! (As a female student in similar circumstances!!) I also changed the pill that I was on...that stopped the majority of my (hormonally and stress related) migraines... (It also stops my spots too!! Hooray for Dianette!)

John_Davros_Cooper

Three simple things can easily help anyone in this situation....

step one :
Go to your students' union and speak to their welfare department immediatly. They are likely to have lawyers who will provide free help advice and lawyery stuff under the guise of "welfare assistant" else some unions have specific housing departments...

Step Two:
Go to the office of the deputy prime ministers website and click here . There you will find all the booklets and information thatyou could ever need about your basic rights. unlike the current holder of the post, these booklets speak in english that are simple to understand. Also they spell out what the responsibility of both sides are. Therefore even better to quote at them what they are required to do as well, a little bit of knowledge in this department suitably scares the living daylights out of the companies.

Step three
Get your daughter to get the mesage out there about how this company is treatnig her, there is nothing an estate agency like that hates more is that others know how crap they treat students.

Hope this is of some help
Warm Regards
John

Middlesex University Students Union Officer
Click on me at https://www.musu.mdx.ac.uk and click on representation . If you want further help then please email me!

StudentSaver_2

If she's at Newcastle Uni, her first point of call should be Sophie White, the welfare officer at the Students' Union. Her office is on the 2nd floor, beside the Endsleigh Insurance branch. She should also alert the University Accommodation Office on Windsor Terrace. If the letting agent is a university approved one, they will almost certainly be blacklisted after these incidents.

kermitthefrog_3

i'm renting accomodation through an estate agency but in canterbury, i thought i was the only one in that situation i can really empathise with your daughter. my landlord has gone to china for the year whilst we are renting the property and put it in the hands of an agency! it horrible!! the house is also up for sale and since september we have constantly had people looking round the house! the other day someone just walked in without any prior notice as they had a key, turned out the house is up for sale with another agency aswell, the landlords wife had told them the house was available for viewing at anytime and neglected to mention that there were student in the house!!! we also have alot of problem also with our house that the agancy are neglecting to rectify! for example our heating (on a timer for the morning and evening) VERY tempramental!!! if it comes on in the morning it then won't come on in the evening! but they say as they have nothing about it on the records they will not do anything about it! and with single glazing it gets very cold with no heating!also the shower has a temperature problem and they just keep trying to fob us off that its a problem with the water pressure, yet i know that the pressure in the rest of our close is fine! it really doesnt give students a very good start to uni life if they cant even keep warm in their house and even worse if they don't feel safe! it just makes me wonder how many more people have keys to our front door! and there are no individual locks on our rooms either to protect our stuff!i'm getting to the point now where i cant wait to move out in june, i just wish it could be sooner! there have been so many problems since i moved in that haven't been resolved..it makes you really aware of the way agencies work i definatly wouldnt deal with them again, whilst looking for my new property i've been very careful about who i'd rented a property from!

topsyturvy_2

I am a letting agent based in Medway in Kent and have been in the industry for 7 years; I'm also ARLA and NAEA qualified. In the vast majority of cases properties are owned by landlords, not the actual letting agent, therefore it is unlikely that the letting agent has "sold" your daughter's property. It is more than likely that the landlord has sold it to another landlord who would rather have it empty soonish so that he can do it up and re-let at a higher amount. However, you have a binding contract, (presumambly in a "fixed" term?) allowing you possession until June and you are entitled to stay there until either the tenant or the landlord serves notice to vacate.

Also, letting agents are not able to authorise repairs without the landlord's consent because they are effectively spending someone else's money. Therefore, if the property has repairs that are required which are not being done, it is the owners fault, not the letting agents. It is very frustrating for an agent to be stuck in the middle with a tenant moaning at them to get work done in one ear and the landlord in the other ear point-blank refusing......

It should also be remembered that repairs are different to maintenance; repairs have to be done, it is the landlord's obligation. The landlord does not have to maintain his property unless the lack of it means he contravenes his statutory obligations. These obligations are usually included in the tenancy agreement and are covered in the Housing Act 1988.

As far as access goes, it would be worthwhile finding out which agents, whether letting or estate, have keys to the property and asking them all to contact you a minimum of 24 hours in advance if they want access. As a tenant you are entitled to a minimum of 24 hours notice, and it is usually included in the tenancy agreement that if the landlord puts the property up for sale, the tenant is required to allow access for viewings. There is also usually a clause in agreements about current tenants allowing access to prospective tenants during notice periods as well.
Letting agents, like everyone else, are not infallible and do forget things, so if the office forgot to call to let the tenants know someone was coming round, it is probably just a genuine mistake, nothing else. However, I would request an apology in writing because it will reinforce the message to the agents that they must remember to phone if they want to book a viewing.

Lastly, I would advise tenants to try and rent through agents who are either ARLA (Association of Residential Letting Agents), NAEA, (National Association of Estate Agents), or RICS, (Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors) registered as all such agents operate a rigorous code of practice and have safegauards in place to protect tenants against rogue landlords.

Savvy_Sue

Thanks topsyturvy, that was a very helpful post, especially from a first-timer! Welcome!

I wonder, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you do a very basic list of what a tenant should expect to see before moving into a property in terms of safety checks? I know, for example, that gas appliances must be inspected annually by a registered CORGI engineer, but I don't know whether CO2 monitors are compulsory, that kind of thing.

Or if there's an idiot's guide of a website you could point us to? Just want to make sure my eldest won't be in serious danger next year ...