Rental house Disgusting Can I get my £5000 back?

sequence

The more detail you're giving us the more it sounds like a typical British rental! :eek: You shouldn't expect a clean house no matter how much you pay

Don't forget to post when the landlord lets himself in uninvited.


Best thing you can do is to put all of your issues in writing to the landlord as a starting point.

Fire_Fox

Sundowner1 wrote: »

Hi Firefox

Thanks for your reply, I will only contact the council and environmental health if the agent cannot sort out these issues.

It says on the contract To be let under the terms of an assured shorthold Tenancy. I just cannot see these issues being resolved any time soon, the laminate flooring wants ripping up, the stench has obviously seeped through and the carpets upstairs stink! It needs a contract oven cleaner (not just a bit of Mr Muscle) and the house wants cleaning from top to bottom. The mattress is unspeakable. All these things want sorting out and will take time, I haven't got time to wait around for the landlord to get all these things done.

Unforunately the caravan is a static one and is sited 75 miles away from the school. It would also be hard for us to find any alternative hotel accomodation etc as we have an elderly dog.

I really just want the money back and try to get something else as quick as I possibly can. It is really upsetting my Daughter who has had to leave our previous house as we had to take her out of school as she was bullied. She thinks the house is horrible, especially when the neighbours told us the tenant stabbed her husbnd in the bed and the police, ambulance and social services were called.

Thanks again.

My understanding is that if the house is uninhabitable it is the landlord's responsibility to find you suitable alternative accommodation, and your responsibility to continue to pay the rent (which you have already done). Sorry but unless the landlord agrees - you must get this clearly in writing - to release you immediately from the contract with no further obligation you are going to have to ride this out. It may be that he will be willing to do so as this could be cheaper than trying to find you a property large enough, close to your daughter's school and willing to accept your dog.

I know it's easy to say as it sounds awful, but try not to worry as there are people on this website who will support you all the way to getting this issue resolved. Plenty of the regulars are professional landlords so they know the law better than I. You *may* be able to say the tenancy is 'frustrated' if the house is uninhabitable but I am not sure how that works. Do you have an address for the landlord himself on your AST or just the letting agents details?

m1ntie

Sundowner1 wrote: »

Hi Firefox

I really just want the money back and try to get something else as quick as I possibly can. It is really upsetting my Daughter who has had to leave our previous house as we had to take her out of school as she was bullied. She thinks the house is horrible, especially when the neighbours told us the tenant stabbed her husbnd in the bed and the police, ambulance and social services were called.

Thanks again.

I am sorry to hear of your problem. I think it is most unlikely that you will get any money back. Try to get the L/L to pay for cleaning, if he wont, do it yourself or pay someone to do it. Buy a couple of cheap mattresses.

Good Luck

Blackpool_Saver

I know that this is not helpful but why did you pay 6 months up front? especially on a property which you had not looked at properly? you could have stayed in a holiday rental or temporary let until you found somewhere decent..........

Britwife

Blackpool, if you don't have credit or a background here you have to pay the lease up front if you want to live here. We had to do the same.

I hope things get sorted for you. Go to the estate agent first thing in the morning and insist something get done before you leave. Contact the school first thing and find out what books they are using and get some for at home until you get situated nearer to school. We actually had to wait nearly 4 months to get our kid into school because they wouldn't allow him to apply until we had our council tax bill and there was some kind of backlog at our council.

Sundowner1

Hi I payed the money up front as this was a requirement from the letting agent as we don't have any employment yet. I can't believe that I don't seem to have any rights and that I can be palmed off with this disgusting hovel and then expected to clean up years of grease, grime, rubbish and the ex tenants husbands blood!!! I signed up for this property in all good faith and just feel ripped off. It really is not just a case of pushing a hoover about a bit, the laminate floor and carpets will need to be ripped out and a specialist cleaning firm employed.

I am furious that the letting agent has passed it as clean!!! I have looked at what other houses the agent has in the area, they don't have any that accept pets or that are available now! I just don't know where we are going to live while all this is being resolved.

I will post tomorrow when I have travelled to the agents office. They have been uncontactable all weekend - I supose tenants only have issues Monday to Friday between 9 and 5 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for all your replies and advise.

grey_lady

Personally I think you should sit in their office and refuse to leave until they get a satisfactory outcome. Either an immediate cancelation / refund or alternative temporay accomdation arranged for you to move into until the landlord has rectified the issues.

Is the letting agent a member of ARLA?

Was there anything in the tenancy agreement about it being in a clean condition when you move in and likewise you have to leave it clean when you move out? if there is then that clause isnt valid and you may have a case for breaking the contract. The citizens advice bureau may be able to confirm that for you or your local council's Housing Standards enforcement officers.

Britwife

I would fight it and try and get my money back. I'm sorry but what they did was wrong and there is no way they couldn't see it.

As mentioned before, document everything. I hope to hear a good update hun and best wishes to your daughter's first day of school here.

Sundowner1

Hi

Just an update on where I have got with the letting agent. I went back to the house on Tuesday (Agents were closed at weekend). The woman that does the viewings was really snotty about it and only agreed to visit the property to look at the problems when I started getting angry!

She said she could see nothing wrong with it! But that maybe the cooker wasn't as clean as it should be! She offered contract cleaners for an hour and to have the cooker cleaned. She told me to buy my own mattress and that I would have to store the mattress (Blood and pee stained). I went mad and she left in a huff.
Anyway a neighbour at the house came passed and asked how it was going, I told them rubbish and showed them around, they could not believe what they saw. Anyway the neighbour knows the owner of the letting agents and kindly rang them to fill them in on what had happened between me and their member of staff.

The owner of the lettings agency has agreed to contract cleaners coming on Thursday (more than an hour I hope - needs about 3 days)!!!! Also they will buy a new double mattress and fix a balustrade around the stairs which has gone missing since I viewed it. They will have the sofa, mattress and manky drawers taken away. I cannot get out of the contract as people who kindly replied on here thought but hopefully it will be livable until the contract expires and we can get the hell out!

Anyway we will have to wait and see if they are as good as there word, but I must say I thought it helped when I said if they didn't do something I would be round to the council and the environmental health to discuss the fire retardency of the sofa and mattress!!

Thanks to all that replied.