Renting Advice Needed

rchrisp

hi

we've just taken possession of a house we are renting for the next year. we have found a number of problems and was just wondering if anyone knew what rights we had/what we could claim back from the estate agents?

Firstly, we were due to get the keys on the 22nd, however the agents cancelled due to the snow. They agreed to give us the keys on the 23rd, however cancelled the Inventory Check In and asked us to do it ourselves. According to our tenants guide, if one party cancels this appointment they are liable to pay £70.

I went to the property on the morning of the 24th to wait for Virgin Media to come and install my cabling. I put the heating on and immediately smelt gas coming from the boiler in the bathroom. Turned it off and rang Transco who thankfully sent an engineer in 45 mins.

Transco turned the gas off and told me there was a leak in the boiler and to get a heating engineer to fix it. I had a rummage through the kitchen drawer and found a Gas Safety Certificate from 1996, ie 3 years out of date (legally have to be completed every year).

I rang the estate agents, helpfully every branch is closed until the 2nd of January. I rang the ermergency number on their answer phone, however they only operate "out of hours" (the agents obviously didnt bother telling them they were closing for 2 weeks).

I ended up ringing the guy who did the gas certificate and after much begging he agreed to send one of his blokes out and bill the agents. Engineer said that the gaskets in the boiler needed replacing, which could take two weeks.

Luckily we are not moving in until the 2nd, however we may have no heating when we do.

Whilst waiting for the numerous engineers to arrive, I started going through the inventory and over three hours found numerous problems not mentioned, ie doors almost off hinges, sagging cracked ceiling in the kitchen (bath is above), etc.

Am I entitled to any compensation/rent refund due to these problems?

We potentially will have no heating when we move in and if i had of left the heating on timer who knows what would have happened.

I am planning on sending them a lovely letter outlining all the problems but if anyone can advise I would be most grateful.

thanks

bigoggy2007

rchrisp wrote: »

hi

. I had a rummage through the kitchen drawer and found a Gas Safety Certificate from 1996, ie 3 years out of date (legally have to be completed every year).
.

thanks

don't you meen 13 years?

rchrisp

bigoggy2007 wrote: »

don't you meen 13 years?

yeah! it was actually 2006...

BitterAndTwisted

Take dated photographs of EVERYTHING damaged immediately for future reference. These will come in handy if/when the landlord tries to charge you for any of them when leaving the property.

It's the landlord's responsibility to arrange any repairs of the boiler and other equipment supplied as part of the inventory. Moving in a day or two before Christmas is unfortunate and you are going to have to arrange some temporary heating until the landlord does so themselves. Trying to get hold of the landlord at this time of the year is going to be problematic and it really depends on what kind of contract the LL has with the Letting Agents and this will affect whether the LL or the LA is the party to speak to about the repair to the boiler. What is not in doubt is that it is a CRIMINAL OFFENSE to not have a valid Gas Safety Certificate for your gas boiler and both the LL and the LA should be aware of this so if you wanted to make trouble for the LL you could use this as leverage. Your Local Authority's Private Lettings Dept (or whatever it's called in your area) will be most interested in this information, as would Environmental Health.

In your position I would be very concerned indeed about what else the LL has not done or will not do regarding maintenance and repairs of this property.

DO NOT communicate with the LL or the LA by phone: put everything in writing, sending all letters by Recorded Delivery from now on and keep a copy. It sounds like you are going to need them.

rchrisp

brilliant, thanks. what you've said were pretty much my worries summed up.

according to my contract everything is done via the agents, which is helpful when they're closed for two weeks.

am i entitled to claim/ask for any money back?

clutton_2

just because an out of date certificate was found, does not mean to say that a current one is not available - ex-tenant may have thrown it away - gaskets can fail at any time.

first thing to do is talk to the LL and see if s/he is going to repair things... before going to the council - at least give the LL the opportunty/time to repair things.. he may have thought the LA had done all these things...

then draw up your own inventory in writing so that there is a record of what the state of the property is - get LL or LA to sign it if possible.

""am i entitled to claim/ask for any money back? "" - for what ? what financial loss have you suffered ? (except the gas engineers fee)

Esqulax

maybe look for another place?
from what i understand, there is a grace period.. especially if the place isnt livable.

PasturesNew

Esqulax wrote: »

from what i understand, there is a grace period.. especially if the place isnt livable.

First I've ever heard of it.

If a property becomes uninhabitable then it's the LL's responsibility to re-house the tenant while things are sorted, but that can't even be ascertained for some time as the OP only has a bunch of random evidence, some specific instances to himself and a cr4p inventory. So it's still got time to play out.

A grace period would make the bad ones buck their ideas up a bit though

clutton_2

there is no grace period - OP must discuss his/her needs with the LA/LL at the earliest opportunity

princeofpounds

- As mentioned, take full dated evidence of all faults.

- Report in writing immediately. Clock doesn't start ticking until you can show you have done so.


- Repairs are landlord's responsibility under section 11 of the landlord and tenant act 1985. They can contract with agent to help them organise it, but they cannot contract away their responsibilities.

- Those responsibilities are basically to ensure all repairs are completed in a reasonable time. What is reasonable would be decided by a court if you decided to sue for compensation, or if you effected the repairs yourself and deducted from future rent (see below) and ended up being sued for that rent.

- There are elevated responsibilities for heating and hot water - LL has a duty to supply a source of both, and alternative sources or alternative accomodation at their own expense if they break down. Failure to fix these problems within a reasonable time is a criminal offence, not a civil matter.

- Gas safety certificates must be provided, and it is a criminal offence not to have one, and also to fail to give a copy to the tenant. You have massive leverage here as the landlord will be in big trouble with the council if reported. Seeing as there already was a gas leak, point out to them that if you had been hurt as a result they would have been in jail already.

- There is no cooling off period for rental contracts, but you might be able to use the many problems and legal leverage over the gas certificate to negotiate termination if you wish. Just make sure you get agreement in writing.

- There is no automatic system of compensation, but if the landlord is unreasonable you can sue them through the court for losses (such as buying heaters, extra electricity if they take unreasonable amounts of time to fix the gas, finding alternative accomodation if necessary).

- An unlivable house can 'frustrate' a tenancy but we are talking really unlivable, like collapsed ceilings, not a broken boiler.

- There is a procedure where tenants can effect repairs established by case law (Lee Parker vs Izzet 1971). Search the forums and you'll find out all about it. Make them aware you know this so that if they don't do the work, either you will (or the council will force them).

carolt

Nightmare situation, esp just before Christmas.

Poor you.

Good luck with gettig it sorted.