landlord repairs

yellowmellow123

Hi

We have been renting a property via a letting agent with the landlord being responsible for maintenance for approx 18 months. For just over a year we have had a large patch (approx a 1/4 of the area) on the living ceiling where water from our ensuite shower has leaked through the ceiling. We informed our landlord at the time and the ceiling was checked and found to be structurally sound despite the leak. The ensuite was found to have been built using the wrong materials and thus causing water to come through. The landlord promised that the ensuite would be redone and the ceiling repainted. Approx every 1-2 months we asked the landlord when this would be done and we were told that they were waiting for the insurance company to pay them. Later on when they had informed us that they had received money from the insurance company they then informed us that they were waiting for quotes from different building companies. However, it has now been over a year and nothing as been done. We have also recently been given notice to quit as the landlord wants to move back in. Do we have any rights for reimbursement of part of our rent due to these repairs not being carried out during our tenancy?

We had not informed the letting agent of these problems as we were asked in our tenancy agreement to inform the landlord of any maintenance issues. We also do not have anything in writing as we naively thought the landlord would be true to his word.

Can anyone offer any advice on this matter?

yellow mellow

clutton_2

""Do we have any rights for reimbursement of part of our rent due to these repairs not being carried out during our tenancy?"

..... what exactly has been your financial loss through having a stain on your ceiling ?

poppysarah

Presumably they have not used the ensuite?

yellowmellow123

The ensuite was temporary re-sealed while the landlord was waiting for it to be re-done, so we were able to use it.

I did not sign a tenancy contract and pay rent stating that we would live in a house with a big stain on the roof which we have for most of our tenancy.

Surely the landlord has a legal responsibility for the house to be decorated as when we viewed it and should carry out any maintenance to the property as agreed in the contract. He has also been slow to carry out more minor maintenance issues that have still not been fully resolved at the stage in our tenancy

For the landlord, renting this property is purely for financial gain whilst we just want a suitable home to live in with our family.

We have two very small children and have not actually received anything in writing that the ceiling was structurally sound, the landlord simply got a 'builder friend' to come round and check it

Yellowmellow.

clutton_2

so if you have been able to use your bathroom... what financial loss have you incurred for which you think you are entitled to claim ?

princeofpounds

You don't have a right to rent rebates. You do have a right to having repairs completed in a reasonable amount of time.

What it reasonable can ultimately only be determined in court, but if you are confident that the LL has been unreasonable (and it seems they have given the length of the delays) then you have a right to effect repairs and deduct from future rent under the judgement of Lee Parker vs Izzet 1971.

There is a procedure to follow as laid out in the attached link.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/repairs_and_bad_conditions/repairs_in_private_lets

You do not have a right to have a stain removed as that is cosmetic, but you do have a right to ensure your ensuite is accessible.

You do not have to inform the LA if you inform the LL of problems, although if they are involved in the management of the property then it's practically a good idea to do so. From a legal point of view as a tenant a managing LA is the same legal entity as the LL in terms of communications as they are the Landlord's agent and represent him.

You were foolish not to complain in writing and keep a record of the problems. If you had done this and come for advice after a month this all could have been fixed at the time. Retrospectively there is little you can do.

yellowmellow123

Hi

Princeofpounds: Thank you for your reply. I agree in hindsight, we were possibly foolish not to keep a record of the problems. We naively thought that the 'accidental landlords' we are renting from (family with small children like us) were reasonable people. When chatting to us when we moved in, they told us that we should not hesitate to contact them regarding maintenance issues as they had previously rented and understood what some landlords can be like!

We also thought that by waiting for the insurance money to come through and waiting for quotes we were being reasonable.

Obviously, they have had the insurance money for quite a few months and have keep onto it, possibly waiting until they move in again and get it fixed.

Clutton: It is obvious you are a landlord! The financial loss has been the fact that we would have moved to a different property which was cheaper and without this problem. However, we paid more money for a property that was decorated to a higher standard. If they were to show any other prospective tenants around, I very much doubt that a tenant would move in with a huge stain on the ceiling without some deduction/discount on the rent.

clutton_2

if yo think you have a good enough case for financial loss-- then go for it via the Small Claims Court

Fire_Fox

How exactly has a stained ceiling negatively affected your life??? If you want control over the decorative state of the property you live in, save up and buy your own! Have you ever lived through a bathroom refit? It is filthy and incredibly disruptive to your life. Sounds more like you are annoyed that you have been served notice to quit.

yellowmellow123

Thank you for your reply FireFox.

As I mentioned previously, I did not agree to pay to live in a property with a big stain on the ceiling.

The decorative state of a property does have a negative impact on the inhabitants to some extent and if it doesn't matter about the decorative state of a property, then why did you have a bathroom refit? Why didn't you just 'put up with' its previous state? Maybe I should just live in a mud-hut if it doesn't matter about decoration.

We are actually saving money by renting since house prices are extortionate (especially in the south-east) and renting is almost half the cost of a mortgage on the same property. So with house prices falling we have already saved money by renting!

Fire_Fox

Perhaps you could re-read my post, I did not say the decorative state of property does not matter. If you think a stained ceiling is affecting your quality of life, don't ever buy anything other than a new build! People refit bathrooms for many reasons - to add value to a property, because something breaks or breaks down, because a water leak is damaging their own property, because the layout is impractical or, as you say, because the decoration does not suit.