Misled by letting agent

Vi7ER

Hi,

We have just moved into an appartment based on verbal confirmation we will have access to the shed in the back garden to store some of our things.

We questioned about the shed when viewing. We questioned it before putting the deposit down and we questioned it when signing the contract. At all points the letting agent staff said things like:

"Shouldnt be a problem."

"Yes the keys should be on the set right there, I think its that one."

"They should be in the house, left there for you."

We have been in the appartment 4 days now and were told today that the landlord will not permit access to the shed. Which is fine as the landlord has a right to keep that private etc

However we have been misled by the agent and are now unable to store our belongings securely.

The landlord has kindly offered to buy a storage unit but it is too small for our stuff, for example a bicycle.

We therefore want to leave immediately and would very much appreciate some advice on how to achieve this.

Cheers

Apple45

suspect if its not in writing you have little redress, perhaps Shelter would be a good source of advice. Good luck and it confirms my view of property agents, which I would not be able to repeat on here as it would be abusive!! Perhaps you can complain about the agent.

CloudCuckooLand

Get your own shed.

£150 http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.203-7249.aspx

Take it with you when you move.

Got to be easier/cheaper than paying another set of agent fees for credit check and references, etc. Or the risk of being in breach of contract, as if the Landlord wants to they can make you pay for the full period.

For future reference, always get essential factors confirmed in writing.

theartfullodger

Sadly, as said all too often here... to become a Letting agent requires..
- no qualifications (not even a GCSE in making burgers...)
- no membership of any industry body
- no regulation by any industry body
- no criminal records check (OOeeeerrr, so the bloke I spoke to & showed me round could be a pervy speed... ..)
- not even decent personal hygiene...


Sigh! And the new Government cancelled plans to regulate letting agents.

Artful

bap98189

Presumably the shed is locked because they store things in it. If the landlord has offered to buy you a storage unit, it seems to me he/she is being very reasonable. If it's not big enough, find one that is bigger and see if he/she will contribute towards it.

If not, buy a shed, you can get a pretty decent shed for less than £200. The reality is that it's going to cost you less to buy a shed than it will to move out, find a new place to live etc.

princeofpounds

If the entire property was rented to you, that includes the shed. The landlord doesn't actually have a right to use it or store stuff in it. If you want you can apply to court for an order to access the shed or for compensation for storage elsewhere.

Write back, tell the landlord that the entire property was let to you under the contract, and that he should be getting the storage unit for himself, funding the storage unit that works for you, or releasing you from your tenancy if that is what you want.

tbs624

princeofpounds wrote: »

If the entire property was rented to you, that includes the shed. The landlord doesn't actually have a right to use it or store stuff in it.

....unless such an arrangement was specifically agreed between LL and T from the start, which clearly isn't the case here.

Agree with the principle of PoP's post, however, sometimes you have to let things like this go, for (a) your own sanity and (b) your own pocket.

You have to balance up which approach will settle things at the lowest expense to you.


If the property is suitable for you in all other respects, bollock the LA in a formal letter, add appropriate notes to any inventory, and copy the letter to the LL and ARLA, if the LA is a member. Then sort your own shed, confirming that this is what you will be doing.

Next time round, insist that the LA confirms such matters in writing to you, or you write confirming your understanding of what has been agreed. Don't ever simply take an LA "at their word" , for the reasons Artful gives above.

angrypirate

Always always always get it in writing. Even if its the most basic small thing. If they arent willing to put it in writing, then arent willing to committ to doing it

westlondonbuyer

Whilst you've had some good advice here, the old landlord/tenant power struggle ultimately doesn't benefit anyone concerned.

Don't lose sight of the end result you *actually* desire. Do you *really* want to terminate your tenancy because of misrepresentation, and move out? With all the expense, effort and distress that involves? Or do you merely want somewhere to store your stuff? You can buy sheds on Ebay for a lot less than £200 quid, and if you're lucky you might be able to get one for free on Freecycle or Gumtree.

And in my experience, being nice to the landlord and the estate agent early on makes life much easier for the duration of the tenancy. Being exemplary tenants also makes it much easier to take legal action if they don't return your deposit in full ;-)

tbs624

westlondonbuyer wrote: »

And in my experience, being nice to the landlord and the estate agent early on makes life much easier for the duration of the tenancy. Being exemplary tenants also makes it much easier to take legal action if they don't return your deposit in full ;-)

However, don't equate "being nice" with allowing yourself to be totally walked over That applies whichever side of the fence you are on.

You have a right to take legal action for the return of a wrongly held tenancy deposit, full stop. Having a good paper trail from the start, including correspondence on issues such as this, stands you in good stead.

Thus, getting agreement to the installation of your own shed prevents arguments about - "the tenant killed my dahlias by putting his 8x6 over the top of them"

BitterAndTwisted

Vi7ER wrote: »

Hi,he landlord has kindly offered to buy a storage unit but it is too small for our stuff, for example a bicycle.

Under the circumstances I think your landlord has been extremely reasonable. If what the LL proposes to buy is not large enough for your needs I suggest you offer to pay the difference for a larger one which does.