Problems with rented house - help please!

mrpop

I agree I'm feeling sensitive, but I did feel criticised. OK storing in the garage isn't ideal, but I honestly thought it was water tight (in the middle!) and thought stuff like outgrown toys etc would be ok in boxes in there.

I apologise for taking it so personally......I honestly just wanted advice as to how I could go about tackling my landlord.

IF I were to claim on my insurance (as of yet there's nothing really valuble damaged, just pictures and books that are wet and swollen, and wood from cots that have gone all grotty) I have to pay an excess of £100 - I feel it's wrong that I have to pay this as the damage is caused by landlords faulty garage.

My landlord really IS a cow....I'm not imagining it :rotfl: - when we asked if we could have a stair gate fitted she was demonic in her reply but knew we had a toddler..... she seems to be letting it as though she still liives here, and seems to have a lot of attachment still to it.

Again I do appreciate any help - yes, I may have been foolish storing stuff in the garage, but the query was more as to what to do regarding landlord as opposed to my stuff.

Back to the soaking wet floor (with puddles, how nice!) I go.... and thank you to those of you have offered help.

Sensitive S

clutton_2

the landlady cannot reasonably refuse you permission for a stairgate. this is unreasonable. She could be liable if your child was injured as a result of a fall. as long as you return the property to her, in the same condition that you received it in, she cannot dictate how you live your life. did she do an inventory when you moved in ?

Dumbledore55

Hi

I rent a property and I do my best to repair everything I'm asked to, but I let it out for financial reasons when my circumstances changed drastically so I don't have lots of money to spare.

I've recently repaired the tap to the bath and the shower (essential) and now my tenants are saying the garage roof is leaking (non-essential) and to be honest I just can't afford to have it done immediately. I've explained this to them and told them I'll try and get it done next month - they don't store any personal effects in there and I do allow them access to the loft!

I too have refused certain things, like allowing them to have a cat and putting a carpet down on my lovely wooden floor so perhaps they think I'm a cow too...but I'm still attached to my house and intend to sell it to my daughter so I look after it as if I were going to move back in. Your landlord may decide to move back one day which is her right to do or she may be short of money herself. I don't think so though because she'd look after things better if she intended to do that.

The only advice I can give is to calmly explain your situation to the landlord and ask if you can store things in the loft until she can get the repair done. Not all landlords are purposefully not doing the repairs they may be in my situation and struggle a little bit for money. She may have a very valid reason not to want a stair gate put in e.g damage to the wall or staircase.

There's always two sides to every story and if she really is that much of a cow - try and find somewhere else to rent and give her the minimum notice you can when you leave.

clutton_2

dumbledore, i am sorry to say that ""like not allowing them to have a cat and putting a carpet down on my lovely wooden floor "" would almost certainly be deemed "Unfair Terms of contract" and would not be enforceable in a court.

simply because you rent a house out, does not mean you can say how a person lives in it. as i said before, if a tenant returns a house in the same state as on day one, it is none of our business as to what they do in the meantime - within reason - and not allowing pets and carpets would for sure be deemed unreasonable.

This is very hard for you i am sure, particularly as you have lived in it yourself. i never have lived i any of mine, that makes it easier.

Generally speaking tenants simply do not take the same care that home-owners do - having said that one of my houses is cleaner than my own home - they keep it like a little palace and do all their own DIY - hence i have not put their rent up for 3 years.

BobProperty

clutton wrote:

dumbledore, i am sorry to say that ""like not allowing them to have a cat and putting a carpet down on my lovely wooden floor "" would almost certainly be deemed "Unfair Terms of contract" and would not be enforceable in a court.

simply because you rent a house out, does not mean you can say how a person lives in it. as i said before, if a tenant returns a house in the same state as on day one, it is none of our business as to what they do in the meantime - within reason - and not allowing pets and carpets would for sure be deemed unreasonable.....

I, like Clutton, used to go to landlords meetings and the like. When the Human Rights Act came out and case law started to be established, it was a regular topic of conversation as to whether a tenant had a "human right" to keep a pet. If I, as a tenant, were to prevent or reinstate to the initial state any part of the property damaged by a cat, or lay carpet tiles and take them up when I leave, then where's the problem?

Dumbledore55

BobProperty wrote:

I, like Clutton, used to go to landlords meetings and the like. When the Human Rights Act came out and case law started to be established, it was a regular topic of conversation as to whether a tenant had a "human right" to keep a pet. If I, as a tenant, were to prevent or reinstate to the initial state any part of the property damaged by a cat, or lay carpet tiles and take them up when I leave, then where's the problem?

The Human Rights Act only applies to Public Authorities - an individual cannot breach another individuals Human Rights.

My contract says 'no pets' so quite rightly refused the cat and it also allows me complete say over changes to the property including carpets - they can have a large rug but no grippers put down on the wooden floors - perfectly reasonable, I think - carpet tiles - fine, just no grippers nailed to the floorboards.

I have a good relationship with the tenants which is why they ask before doing anything and also why they are happy to wait a month for the garage roof to be repaired - communication is a wondeful tool!

silvercar

I have fitted new 3 year batteries to smoke alarms and got the tenant to sign that they won't remove the battery.

BobProperty

Dumbledore55 wrote:

The Human Rights Act only applies to Public Authorities - an individual cannot breach another individuals Human Rights.

My contract says 'no pets' so quite rightly refused the cat and it also allows me complete say over changes to the property including carpets - they can have a large rug but no grippers put down on the wooden floors - perfectly reasonable, I think - carpet tiles - fine, just no grippers nailed to the floorboards.

....

Public Authorities like councils that rent out houses? Do you think you "human rights" should be different if you rent from a council? There is no case law AFAIK hence this theoretical discussion, but I don't see it likely that a council tenant could win a case for being allowed a pet and it not applying, or being taken into consideration, if a private tenant took up a similar case.

...and I think it would depend on your floorboards. If they are sanded and varnished then using grippers nailed to them would be damaging. If you had carpet in the room several times and you've taken it up and the tenant has put some down, then you'd be hard pushed to show any damage.

clutton_2

it all boils down to what is fair and reasonable with regard to Terms of Contract.

But, you cannot put something in an AST which is illegal elsewhere, in the hope that it will become legal by its inclusion in the AST.

for example, many agents put "tenants must allow access during the last month for the landlord to show round prospective new tenants"

there is nothing in Any landlord/tenant act that says this is law.

Even tho a tenant has signed it, they do not have to abide by it, as it would be deemed an "unfair clause".

Dumbledore55

BobProperty wrote:

Public Authorities like councils that rent out houses? Do you think you "human rights" should be different if you rent from a council? There is no case law AFAIK hence this theoretical discussion, but I don't see it likely that a council tenant could win a case for being allowed a pet and it not applying, or being taken into consideration, if a private tenant took up a similar case.

...and I think it would depend on your floorboards. If they are sanded and varnished then using grippers nailed to them would be damaging. If you had carpet in the room several times and you've taken it up and the tenant has put some down, then you'd be hard pushed to show any damage.

Yes, councils can breach Human Rights but individuals can't - so that particular law couldn't be used against an individual landlord. No there's never been any carpets on this floor so grippers would damage the floorboards.

Not going to keep on about this or contracts because it isn't helping the OP. I was only trying to point out that the landlord may have a legitimate reason for not doing the reapirs right now and I was recommending speaking to them to see if a compromise could be reached.