Tennancy rights?

walshy252_2

Hi guys,

Not sure whether this is the right place to post, but hopefully I can get a bit of advice about where we stand as tennants, and our current rights with this situation.

We are a group of 5 students living in Cardiff renting accomodation for the time we are at uni, we arranged our property through a letting agency and unfortunately the stereotypes seem to be true. It's easier to list the issues we've had from start to finish and then explain as I go along I suppose:

• We paid half rent over the summer, and were then told that from September (once we had started paying full rent) we could move in, which is fair enough.
• Immediately after moving in, we found that there were electricity and gas bills for the summer months when the property was supposed to be vacant, totalling £120. Agents reckon that we are required to pay these bills, because "we are responsible for the property". Surely they can't expect us to foot these bills, because we haven't used any of that gas or electric?
• There are various damages and little bits that are wrong with the house, and we have been on to the agents to get it sorted, only to be told that they are "aware of it"...
• I moved in at the start of September for work, and was told by the agents that they still had to get keys cut. I found this odd, as there were five previous tennants, so there were obviously five sets of keys originally, so why did the agents only have one which they need to cut from. As far as we are aware none of the locks have been replaced since the previous tennants moved out.
• We were not supplied with the individual keys for our rooms, as apparently "the landlord has them", and he is in Pakistan currently. We were told by the agents that they would be round last saturday to give us the keys. THEY NEVER CAME
• On Monday night, we were burgled and four laptops were taken from the premises, no signs of forced entry.
• Agents, when told, arranged for the lock on the front door to be changed, but still have not supplied the keys to our individual rooms.

I'm led to believe, we have the right to "enjoy the property" and at the minute we just don't feel safe, and are obviously not enjoying anything. As far as I'm concerned, if the agents had came round when they said they would, we would have keys for our individual rooms, and potentially still have our laptops safe and sound.

Basically I'm looking to see if there is any way we can take any action against the agents, or what our rights are in terms of demanding stuff from them. Realistically, they should surely have made sure that they had all of the necessary keys to our property, inside the agency, BEFORE we came down to move in. If we could take action against them it would do alot towards shaving some money off the cost our replacing our laptops

These guys are running a total sham of an operation, its not professional, and we feel like we are being totally messed around, and basically throwing our money away! HELP

tbs624

Your best bet with this is to get in touch with the private sector housing team at Cardiff Council 029 2087 1762 or email privatesectorhousing@cardiff.gov.uk

Check whether this house has been registered as an HMO (House in Multiple Occupation) There are very specific rules on the management of HMOs, particularly on fire safety etc

EPC (energy perf cert) provided? Gas Safety Cert provided? ( both should be shown to you before you sign the tenancy agreement)

Was this house on the Uni list at the Accomms Office?
(From 2011 only LLs and LAs who have been accredited by LL Accreditation Wales will be listed). If it was let them know.

On the topic of utilities - hindsight and all that, but you shuold have gone to the property on Jul 1st ( or formal start of tenancy) and obtained meter readings. When were you first given keys to the property?

If you paid a deposit, has the LL scheme registered it yet and given you the scheme's prescribed info?

Cardiff Council has helpful webpages, unlike some councils who seem to hide their PRS advice - have a look here and here

G_M

First of all, have you put your concerns in writing? If not, do so. To the LL direct using his address on the contract, and copy to the agents.

I am assuming you (none of you) did not get keys till Sept? If so, point this out in your letter and explain that as you were not given access over the summer you are not liable for the utilities.

Who's name is on the utilities accounts? All of you jointly? And from what date? At some point you must have contacted the gas/electric etc to take over the account. That is the date from which you pay (you should have given them a meter reading when taking on the account).

List the "various damages and little bits that are wrong " in your letter, and ask for a timescale for them to be fixed.

Ask if tghe locks were/were not changed. Ask who might have had access to keys if the locks were not changed (eg previous tenants). Once you have this, pass names to the police.

Also in your letter ask for keys to your rooms.

As tbs says, if you have not seen the following, then ask, again in writing:
Deposit protection scheme
Gas Safety certificate
EPC

Do you all, or any of you, have insurance? Or your parents (some contents insurance policies include student belongings away from the [parents] home)

As for the agents liability - unless you can prove it was the agent who entered and stole the laptops, they are no responsible for the thefts. Yes, they should have given you keys, though by the sound of it that would not have stopped the theives entering.

What kind of locks are on your bedroom doors? Yale? If so, you can buy a replacement barrel for a yale lock for about £5 (but keep the old one to put back when you leave).

walshy252_2

Thank you for your detailed and helpful replies.

No safety certs or any extra documentation have ever been shown to us, and I agree that since we did not receive keys 'til September, access wise we surely cannot be liable for the bills. Energy company also agrees upon contacting them and they have said they will forward the bill to the agents instead.

As far as liability goes, agreed that we cannot prove anybody was 100% involved, however the fact that there was no forced entry and no signs of tampering with the doors/windows must suggest a key of sorts was used. In which case is it not the responsibility of the landlord and agents to ensure that it is only us, and them, who have access to the property; by changing the locks.

Update, the locks on our bedroom doors were refitted today and we have been supplied with keys.

RAS

Have you reported the burglary to the police and got crime numbers?

tbs624

walshy252 wrote: »

No safety certs or any extra documentation have ever been shown to us, and I agree that since we did not receive keys 'til September, access wise we surely cannot be liable for the bills. Energy company also agrees upon contacting them and they have said they will forward the bill to the agents instead.

The key handover date was obviously important as arrangements under "summer retainers" vary from LL to LL: some allow students to store belongings and have the occasional stop over.

No gas safety cert = crim offence - google HSE landlords gas safety
No EPC - local Trading Standards can slap LL with 200 quid penalty.
Get the GSC sorted ot asap = the council can enforce on your behalf. *All* gas appliances must be covered by GSC. Audible carbon monoxide detctor recommended.

Do check out HMO status - without wishing to be a doom-monger, poor fire safety, lack of gas safety etc can cost you your life . See the thread on here called "evict a rogue landlord"

walshy252 wrote: »

A
Update, the locks on our bedroom doors were refitted today and we have been supplied with keys.

When/if you replace your laptops get those cable locks and make sure they are fastened to something sturdy. Also have a look here