tenants right for repairs

korky69

hi, we've been renting our home since february 2009,
we had nothing but trouble in the first few months with faults,
my partner came so close to leaving after the early problems.
however one fault as always remained, the leaking roof!
they must have sent at least 6 builders to "bodge" it up but it keeps on leaking!
it ruined our mattress and the landlords agent at the time refused to compensate,
we saved and bought a new one a few months ago, but we've reported it 3 times since may and nobody as come out (someone due at 5pm tomorrow) though what he could do at that time i dont know?
our bed is now soaked again, plaster as fallen off the ceiling and maybe ruined a quilt, we've got the heating on in the middle of july to dry it out!!!
the few builders who came i spoke to have all said it need a new foof, but they can only do what they're told to budget to.....ie bodge it!
can we force them to repair it with a guarantee that they pay for any further personal damage that may occur?
we are only insured for contents and were told that the damage to our personal belongings was caused under buildings insurance which the landlord refused to claim on last time,
really !!!!ed off because there are other things wrong in the house that we just put up with now, but told would cost a few £££s to repair, but really want to get them to sort them out to just to tits them off like they've done us

caringa

Do you have an Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement? If you have, it should have a section entitled "Landlord's Undertakings" or something similar. In this it states that the "landlord agrees to comply with the requirements of Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 which imposes obligations on the Landlord to repair structure and exterior of the premises.

I suggest that if you have this agreement, then you inform the Landlord and his agent that they are in breach of the agreement and that unless they rectify the problem then you will take further action. It is always worth putting this in writing as well as phoning. The Citizens Advice Bureau may well be able to advise you further. Hope this helps. By the way, I am a Landlord and would never treat my tenants this way. No wonder we get a bad name!!

korky69

caringa wrote: »

Do you have an Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement? If you have, it should have a section entitled "Landlord's Undertakings" or something similar. In this it states that the "landlord agrees to comply with the requirements of Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 which imposes obligations on the Landlord to repair structure and exterior of the premises.

I suggest that if you have this agreement, then you inform the Landlord and his agent that they are in breach of the agreement and that unless they rectify the problem then you will take further action. It is always worth putting this in writing as well as phoning. The Citizens Advice Bureau may well be able to advise you further. Hope this helps. By the way, I am a Landlord and would never treat my tenants this way. No wonder we get a bad name!!

pass on the agreement? we just saw it and rented it!
we've had all sorts of trouble, no hot water for ages, they spent a fortune trying to bodge it, in the end they got a (new) 2nd hand boiler fitted.
electrics in the kitchen were always tripping if we used more than 3 appliances, my partners ex is a sparky and said its the wrong size cable and would need to rip it all out, think they put a bigger fuse in???
the kitchen is also an extension, there is a terrible smell in 1 cupboard there, apparently its been built over a drain thats not been...whatever supposed to have been done anyway, so basically would need the entire kitchen ripping out inc floor, got told to put bleach down sink every night!
as i said, we can live with that, just not rain dripping on our heads in bed!

Blackpool_Saver

I think you will get more replies if you use less silly childish language like tits them off, If you want to be taken seriously, you need to write seriously.

Why did you rent a place which was in such a bad state of repair?

korky69

Blackpool_Saver wrote: »

I think you will get more replies if you use less silly childish language like tits them off, If you want to be taken seriously, you need to write seriously.

Why did you rent a place which was in such a bad state of repair?

childish?? after the grief we've had, i think ive been pretty polite!
and you cant notice electrical faults when you agree to rent if there are no electrical appliances in there,
you can notice "smells" in a cupboard when its been empty for several months,
you cant notice a leaking roof if its not raining?

Blackpool_Saver

OK Korky, but did you take on a place without a formal agreement, and if so why?

Edited to add, did you look at the consumer unit to see if it was a modern one?

Gas certificate?

korky69

Blackpool_Saver wrote: »

OK Korky, but did you take on a place without a formal agreement, and if so why?

Edited to add, did you look at the consumer unit to see if it was a modern one?

Gas certificate?

we saw the place, looked ok, plenty big enough, lovely garden, everything looked ok on viewing so we got it.
and we like it here too, just want to be able to goto bed if its raining heavy!

and there is a gas certificate now, didn't have 1 first year, but a new agent took over

unholyangel

Personally.....if my landlord was the type who skimped on important things - like a non-leaking roof........i'd be wondering what other important stuff they've skimped on........and whether any of it could endanger my life and/or the safety of my family.

korky69

unholyangel wrote: »

Personally.....if my landlord was the type who skimped on important things - like a non-leaking roof........i'd be wondering what other important stuff they've skimped on........and whether any of it could endanger my life and/or the safety of my family.

well to be honest, my partner is thinking about seeking further advice on all the suspect faults,
we dont know whats unsafe or unhygienic if any? but we do know the roofs had it!
the sub-contractors who came out before gave their opinions on other stuff but obviously need work to be authorized and would probably mean ripping out the entire kitchen extension (which i reckon was built before the current owner bought) and would cost a bit.
in the mean time, short of shifting all our furniture, we are on the settee for the night as its still belting it down and the bed has got bin liners and a bucket on it!

snapping_crocodile

In the last rented house me and my OH lived in we had a lovely water feature in the main bedroom. There was clearly a hole in the roof and everytime it rained we actually had water running down the wall like a waterfall and the resulting mould to contend with too. We ended up pulling the bed forward, as it was above our heads and laying towels on the floor to soak up the water. We told the LA on numerous occassions but the LL did not want to do anything about it because the local area was undergoing a regeneration scheme, where the houses were having new roofs, doors windows, chimneys etc and he wanted to wait so that the regeneration fund would cover it. In the end we got so fed up of arguing the point we moved out. On the checkout inspection the LA was gobsmacked at the extent of it. But 3 1/2 years later guess what....the regeneration still hasn't reached that particular road (doing it one road at a time) and there are now new tenants in there, so either they are more patient for the time being, or he has done a botch job too!! :rotfl:

caringa

korky69 wrote: »

pass on the agreement? we just saw it and rented it!
we've had all sorts of trouble, no hot water for ages, they spent a fortune trying to bodge it, in the end they got a (new) 2nd hand boiler fitted.
electrics in the kitchen were always tripping if we used more than 3 appliances, my partners ex is a sparky and said its the wrong size cable and would need to rip it all out, think they put a bigger fuse in???
the kitchen is also an extension, there is a terrible smell in 1 cupboard there, apparently its been built over a drain thats not been...whatever supposed to have been done anyway, so basically would need the entire kitchen ripping out inc floor, got told to put bleach down sink every night!
as i said, we can live with that, just not rain dripping on our heads in bed!

Didnt you sign anything before moving in?