Renting student house, what should there be?

TJ27

Hi, As a worker in such an environmental health department I can tell you that your house is probably an HMO and as such must meet certain standards, particularly relating to means of escape from fire. You can almost certainly therefore do something about the smoke alarms. Without seeing the house it's difficult to be sure, but you should probably have interlinked smoke detectors upstairs and down. These should be mains powered with a battery backup. There's probably not much that can be done about having a CO detector but certainly you need to see a CP12, which is a certificate relating to gas safety.

If your house is 3 storey then the standards are much higher.

I shouldn't give too much advice without seeing the place though. As has been mentioned, phone the council and ask for the department that deals with privately rented houses. You might get a visit from an Environmental Health Officer, or it might be someone similar.

Oh, and we too generally advise against witholding rent but that's worth finding out about. Again, there may be a council department who can tell you your rights. It's not really my field.

musey

The council in my area has a department called Private Rented Standards and a seperate department called Housing Aid. Check your council for similar departments, I have worked closely with the officers to ensure my 1 licensable HMO is up to standards. These departments are extremely helpful to both tenants and landlords as they are interested in ensuring accommodation is safe and fit for purpose. Rather than approach the landlord first I would seek advice as to what (if anything) is required to bring the property up to standard then at least you know what you should be asking him/her to do. In my HMO I was not obliged to fit CO2 detectors so they may not be necessary.

Shelter is another good place to approach for advice, in some areas they have drop in offices, if there isn't a drop in office in your area then use the telephone helpline, they are excellent for advice.

It is my understanding that tenants CAN withold rent to pay for essential repairs without fear of eviction under section 8 grounds as the amount withheld is not classed as arrears. If you do go down this route bear in mind you will need to be able to show you have been reasonable, eg. writing to your landlord asking them to repair the issues within a reasonable time frame, getting 3 quotes and paying the remainder of the rent due on the property. This however leads again to your needing to know what works are required hence my advice to contact the local council or housing advisors at your university.

missk_ensington

musey wrote:

It is my understanding that tenants CAN withold rent to pay for essential repairs without fear of eviction under section 8 grounds as the amount withheld is not classed as arrears. If you do go down this route bear in mind you will need to be able to show you have been reasonable, eg. writing to your landlord asking them to repair the issues within a reasonable time frame, getting 3 quotes and paying the remainder of the rent due on the property. This however leads again to your needing to know what works are required hence my advice to contact the local council or housing advisors at your university.

Thanks, this is what I was trying to get across. It is all very well writing to here and there but if its December and your boiler packs in (worse if your on a combi boiler!) and your Landlord is avoiding fixing it, what if you have a baby or kids? You can't manage without heat ot water and can't wait so much as 12 hours without it let alone several days it would take to write letters and get responses.