Help with my landlord

llol_slim

musey wrote:

I know I harp on about them but I can't recommend them enough. We use one in our own home in winter as even though we don't dry inside because of the heating that there is a build up of moisture in the air. B&Q do a decent one for about £75 that will deal easily with a 2-3 bed house.

Clutton if you would like a copy of the notice I will e-mail you one. I can't claim the credit though I learnt about it from some one on the Landlord Zone forum about a year ago.

llol_Slim as to the other problems you mentioned my advice would be write to the landlord/agent giving them a reasonable time period to rectify the problems, especially the gas hob (I'm amazed that gets a Corgi certificate), drain cover and shower issues, I would say 7-14 days is fair or you will get 3 quotes and have the work done yourself (choose the middle quote) and deduct the money from your rent. Send the letter recorded (it will be invaluable if they try to retain deposit for this) and then do exactly that. You are quite within your rights to do so and there is no point living unhappily/unsafely anywhere. As to the crack/holes in bathroom, were they there when you moved in? What has caused them, have the appeared gradually?

As Clutton has advised the EHO/Private Rented Standard Dept or your local 'Housing Aid' office at the council are excellent places to contact for advice, they can serve enforcement notices on the Landlord to make them have the work done.

as i said, these problems are new, it just happens we had the corgi certification thing on thursday, he said that it isnt right and has notified the landlord about it.
The holes in the bath room, well the cracks have appeared, a builder told us its lath and plaster (or something like that) and is old, these things happen.
The hols are results of the plaster and the towel heater brackets being screwed onto this and the moisture from the shower softening the plaster and putting towels on the heater has slowly rocked and eventually come away from the rest of the wall.
im going to speak to the agent on monday about the issues.
Im sitting with the backdoor open now, and I can smell the sewage

clutton_2

this sounds as if there is a cracked drain - and, if there are trees nearby, your landlord can probably claim on his insurance to have these cracked drains repaired/replaced. But, this certainly needs dealing with immediately - especially if there are children in the house.

musey - thanks for that, yes i would like a copy - how do i give you my email address privately ?

llol_slim

it is .. the drain cover is rusty and broken. It has been reported to the landlord.
Laurie
rest assured though, no children

musey

Sent that to you Clutton

Re. drain cover, if it is cracked and rusty and you have reported it (in writing - it's always best to do this even if it's time consuming when lendlords/agents are slow to get repairs done) there is an obvious (& potentially serious) Health & Safety risk - imagine what would happen were said tenant or a guest were to step on the cover it break thus injuring them. Some landlord's need a shake up, as they do not realise how open to litigation they make themselves by refusing or being slow to carry out (within a reasonable time frame) repairs like these.

In my area there was a spate of students/their guest suing landlords for burns sustained from the boiler vent (if it was set too low or not covered by a protective cage) EHO only picked up on the fact that all claiments were from the same course at Uni when several had received decent payouts for injuries.

Under the new Health & Hazard rating system (can't remember it's exact name off hand) Landlords need to be increasingly vigilant.

clutton_2

Many thanks indeed Musey, received this afternoon. A very comprehensive notice.

HOUSING HEALTH AND SAFETY RATING SYSTEM (HHSRS)

Under the new Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) the focus will shift to whether a house in poor condition is likely to damage the occupants’ health. This is slightly different to the old “fitness standard” which looked more at issues to do with the building.

Under the new HHSRS, inspectors will now view health and safety hazards according to (1) how likely a risk (e.g. fire) it is to occur and (2) the impact it will have, should it occur.

For shared houses inspectors will have to consider if there is an increased risk because it’s shared, but behaviour of occupants won’t be taken into consideration.

The potential hazards include fire, damp, overcrowding, poor lighting, pests etc.

Inspectors will examine if the property is fit for the widest range of occupants, so even if you let to students, they’ll have to consider risks if the occupiers were elderly people or children instead.

Inspectors will have a range of powers. For serious problems, they can issue Emergency Remedial Action and Emergency Prohibition Orders requiring immediate action.

The HHSRS applies to all buildings not just HMOs. However, all HMOs which need a license will also have to be inspected for hazards within 5 years of an HMO license being granted.

Local authorities can’t use license conditions, to deal with health and safety hazards.

So, whilst it’s possible a local authority may assess an HMO license application at the same time as doing an HHSRS inspection, the HMO application would only depend upon the person applying being a fit and proper person, the management of the building being OK and the property being suitable for the number of occupants""

sorry this is a bit long - you can never sensibly precis these things can you ?