Student House - Problem?

amber24_2

My daughter is sharing a house with 3 other girls and going into 3rd year at uni. They put a deposit down on the house last January, began paying rent on 01 July and were able to move in on 01 Septemer.

However, on 1 September, there were a quite a few things not right eg. the oven was not working yet (new kitchen was put in over the summer and it had no socket); hot water boiler wasn't working; keys given for their individual room locks didn't unlock their doors; my daughters bed is broken; the back door is rotten and has a big gap at the top (not very secure); it was dirty ie not been cleaned for new tenants arrival.

Since moving most of their belongings in, the girls didn't stay there very long and came home for another week or so. In that time, the landlady's contractor had access to the property to finish off some work in the kitchen and my daughter has had her tv/dvd stolen from her room. Also a digibox and dvd player belonging to other housemates.

We've reported this to the police and obviously spoken to the letting agency. I've sent in a letter of complaint and made numerous phone calls/emails but there are still things on the list that they haven't sorted and September is nearly over.

Wondering what advice people on here would give on how to deal with this. I've now let the agency know that we're not prepared to continue paying rent until these issues are resolved; and asked for a refund on rent; cost of TV/DVD combi back. Do you think we are within our rights to withold October's rent?
Thanks.

Lokolo

I would hold back anymore rent until it gets sorted, however I don't know the legailities. If you want to know you should repost here: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=16

katieso

Does your daughters university also have a dedicated section to help people with living issues? I know that mine did, and they helped me write a letter to our agents, luckily that sorted all the big issues out and the uni would have helped us to take it further. I'm sure others will offer more help but I know from my experiences that the uni knew what the agents and landlords were like so knew how to deal with each one to get the correct outcome.