Private Landlord Property

theatretony

I don't know if this is the correct forum for this, but here goes:

I rent my house from a private landlord (sort of a friend). I am in Leeds they are in London so do not see them often. And I have a few problems with the house.

1. The front door keeps sticking (had to take a morning off work to shave a bit of the door off). Landlord (LL) said they will sort it in the summer. This has happened again, so bought a sander to sort it out.

2. The taps in the kitchen and not fastened securely, need to tighten them quite often.

3. The bath sealant is not very good and the shower leaks into the kitchen through the light fittings if you don't put towels around the bath to stop this.

4. We only have one window that is double glazed - all the others are single glazed. Is that legal?

5. All the light fittings - you struggle to get a lightbulb in them as they look very old.

6. The plug sockets are the ones without switches - is this legal?

What are my rights on this.....

cattie

As someone who lived in private rented accomodation for many years I'm constantly amazed at how little responsiblity some tenants feel regarding minor repairs around their homes.

Who'd want to be a landlord when you have tenants not willing to do something basic like replacing the sealant around the bath.

theatretony

We did redo the bath sealant - but whoever put the bath in did not put it in right so the water does not run back into the bath like it should. It actually runs on the floor which causes the leak.

I even made a little tunnel for the water to run back into the bath, but that did not last very long !!!

dougk_2

1. The front door keeps sticking (had to take a morning off work to shave a bit of the door off). Landlord (LL) said they will sort it in the summer. This has happened again, so bought a sander to sort it out.


Unfortunately if it is a wooden door they are prone to this as wood expands and contracts with the weather - this is really just a genreal maintenance thing.. its a 50:50 split as to who is responsible in my opnion

2. The taps in the kitchen and not fastened securely, need to tighten them quite often.

This is a normal occurance - taps work their way loose and I would expect a tenant to sort this out and tighten them - a little silicon sealer around them will help also.

3. The bath sealant is not very good and the shower leaks into the kitchen through the light fittings if you don't put towels around the bath to stop this.

This is something that I would ask the landlord to sort urgently as it is potentially dangerous if it leaks into the light fitting below. - what sort of flooring is down? Perhaps a lino type flooring would help? I do agree that resealing the bath with sealent is a task for the tenant - this again is routine maintenance/upkeep as sealent realistically needs redoing every couple of years

4. We only have one window that is double glazed - all the others are single glazed. Is that legal?

Nothing wrong here - Double Glazing is not compolsory and there is no legal requirement for it. If you want the landlord to do this and rep[lace all the windows expect to pay a higher rental charge per month

5. All the light fittings - you struggle to get a lightbulb in them as they look very old.


Are you responsible in your agreement for decorating the property and general upkeep? If so I would class basic light fitting as part of this. Are they safe (i.e. securely fixed) and functional?
Basic light fitting are very cheap (a couple of quid) so consider replacing them yourself if you are ok with DIY.


6. The plug sockets are the ones without switches - is this legal?

Not all houses have switched mains sockets - And as far as I know there is no legal requirement for them. Again Sockets are cheap to replace (see above).





There are a few questions - do you have a proper written agreement? If so what does this say about maintenance.... if not you should get one sorted out.

Do you pay the market rate , or do you get it cheap? This is an indication of what you as a tenant are being asked to do in terms of upkeep and what facilities you have.

If you rent for a bargain price this reflects the condition of the property - if you are paying the market rate consider moving, insist that the landlord updates the property or ask for a rent reduction based on its condition.

Remember any improvements will have to be paid for somehow and normally that would be by increasing the rental charge to you.

At present I am just a homeowner , but have being doing lots of research into rental as I have a property that I am currently remortgaging to let (BTL). The level of maintenance and upkeep expected by the tenant varies - for instance one agency i spoke to writes into the agreement that the property must be redecorated by the tenant every 2 years if they are in the property for that length of time.

thaylock

I currently rent 2 properties in Bristol & manage them myself. You should check your tenancy agreement, my agreement with my tenants state:

Subject to clause 3.(3) herof to carry out the repairing obligations in relation to the Premises imposed on the Landlord by the Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 as amended by section 116 of the Housing Act 1988 and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing more particularly to keep in repair the structure of the premises & installations contained in the Premises...e.t.c, e.t.c.

If you are not satisfied with the response from your Landlord & it is costing you time/money to make the repairs then contact them stating you will carry out the work & deduct the cost of the work (including materials) from next months rent - get them to agree this before doing anything.

If carrying out maintenance on the property is a problem for them then advise them to use a management company in your local area to take care of this for them.

Sounds to me like they are being completly irresponsible by not providing you with the service you expect, when my tenants need something repairing I visit the property within 24 hours & give them an estimate of how long it will take to fix the problem.

thaylock

Don't carry out any work on the property without your Landlords permission, no matter how simple the job (like replacing light fittings). If you do this don't forget to get your expenses back from the landlord - possibly by deducting from the next month's rent.

theatretony

Thanks for all the advice. It has been really helpful. Will look at my agreement again to see where I stand.