Too much...?

emilyxxx8

Hi,

My partner lives in a rented top floor flat. It is in the Worcestershire area. He pays £600 a month rent, which includes electricity and water bills. He has to pay council tax etc. as normal.

It is a two bedroom flat, rooms are all large but the decor (if thats the right word) is awful. The kitchen window is about to fall out as the frame is rotten. Neither of the two storage heaters work at all, the carpets are about 20 years old and desperately need replacing, there are no smoke alarms / fire escapes, the cooker broke earlier this year which was built into the kitchen and he refused to replace it, my boyfriend did it himself. The booster thing that is meant to heat the water up doesn't work anymore. I could go on...

Anyway, my query is this... the landlords partner had told me that the electricity bill last month was almost £1000!!! I can't believe this because my partner leaves for work at 6.30am and doesn't get home until 7pm so during the day there is no one there and he always turns lights / tv off. Weekends he is there a bit more but is often out and about. The landlord is saying now that he might have to increase rent from £600!! My Mum lives in a 3 bedroom house, front and back garden for only £450/mth and reckons her bills altogether come to about £150/mth.

My boyfriend pays them £150 cash a week but does not keep a record of this and as far as i know nor does the landlord. He is now saying my boyfriend is 3 months behind, he says he isn't... There is no signed agreement...

My questions are.... Is £600 for this type of place expensive... i think so and others i have spoke to seem to but landlord thinks its dead cheap??? Can the electric bill for the small amount of electric used come to almost a £1000?? If my boyfriend were to move out / query the '3 months missing rent payments' where does he stand??


Sorry its so long... neither my boyfriend or i understand this stuff much...!

Thanks, M

Doozergirl

I rented in the Worcestershire area. I had a large three storey, three bedroom, two reception room brand new build with a garage and a two car drive. It was £750 a month and our energy bills would have been in the region of £100 a month.

You can very easily find a two bedroom house for £550 in any part of Worcs. And the energy bills would be lower, especially if you pick a new build than mine as well as a) my house was bigger and b) there is someone in this house nearly all the time!

So he is definitely paying too much if the decor is bad.

BitterAndTwisted

Why would any sensible landlord allow their tenant to get into three month's of arrears without referring to it well before now?

Who else lives in this property who could be using so much electricity? Ground-floor flat run as a cannabis farm?

In your b/f's place I'd get the hell out of there if the place is so unsatisfactory.

I can't comment on whether the rent is high or not as I don't know the market-rates in that neighbourhood.

theartfullodger

My boyfriend pays them £150 cash a week but does not keep a record of this and as far as i know nor does the landlord. He is now saying my boyfriend is 3 months behind, he says he isn't... There is no signed agreement...

Tenancy does not have to be written, but enforcing unwritten agreements is harder (obviously...)

When did the tenancy start??

Was a deposit taken??

In paying £150/wk cash does BF go to bank to take £150 out each week (which could be seen as evidence)???

Rent paid weekly requires a rent book. Next week ask for a receipt & rent book (ask in writing, keep copy) or hand over a cheque (photocopy 1st) - with covering letter & ask for receipt.

Sounds very dodgy, the cash, no records & no smoke alarms. I suspect LL is fiddling his tax.

In your shoes I'd want out quickly... If you don;t want to leave & want to apply pressure ask for receipts, install smoke alarms yourself (TODAY!!!) and involve local council "Environmental health" dept

If feeling vicious report LL here...
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/tax-evasion/

It is surely the duty of all citizens to ensure taxes are not evaded...

If electric is included then electric bill is LLs problem: End of.

Cheers!

Artful

Sharon87

The electric bill - does your boyfriend submit meter readings? If not this could explain the high energy bills as they'll be estimates.

If your boyfriends paying £150 a week, that's £600 for 4 WEEKS not 1 month, so depending on how long he has lived there he may be 3 months behind in rent. Ask you LL to explain how he's worked it out.

Do you have a deposit? If so and your boyfriend moves out you wont see this again with the overdue rent.

The house sounds awful, I would suggest getting the LL round to the flat to point out the problems. Does your boyfriend have heating on a lot because of the draft that will most likely come through the rotting kitchen window? Could also explain high energy bills.

Good luck hope you get it sorted

ruggedtoast

My questions are.... Is £600 for this type of place expensive...

Maybe. Have a look around and see what you can get for the money.

i think so and others i have spoke to seem to but landlord thinks its dead cheap???

Everyones entitled to an opinion I suppose.

Can the electric bill for the small amount of electric used come to almost a £1000??

If he used £1000 of electricity then yes. From what I gather bills are inclusive, your boyfriend has no agreement either with the landlord or the electric company, so it isnt really his problem.

If my boyfriend were to move out / query the '3 months missing rent payments' where does he stand??

Somewhere more salubrious hopefully. How are they going to go after him for the three months rent? There is no signed Assured Shorthold Tenancy, no receipts, no signed agreement. Thats why landlords usually want them.

Doozergirl

£525pm in Worcester:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-26993890.html

£525 in Bromsgrove
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-28138678.html

£525 in Droitwich
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-17086143.html

Lovely little place in Pershore for £600
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-31310390.html

Redditch £500:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-30836342.html

Jowo_2

Perhaps the electricity meter has been misread. I once received a gas bill for 1k plus for precisely this reason.

Or perhaps the supplier has been under estimating the bills for a very long time and has only just had an accurate reading so the big bill is a result of long term underpayment aggravated by the landlord not monitoring consumption. You say the storage heaters don't work but they are notoriously expensive, btw.

I can't comment on whether the rent is high - it is unusual for a self-contained property to have the water and electricity included which can add on another £50 or more, so make sure you factor this in when comparing it.

By the sounds of it, it is unsatisfactory that the landlord is being negligent about repairs and safety. The landlord is obliged to keep the heating, hot water and infrastructure in good repair. See the Shelter website for info on how to chase repairs, including reporting the property to the local council who can issue a notice to force compliance on the repairs or your BF should serve notice and move out into a better property with a more competent landlord.

Did he pay on a weekly basis?

Doozergirl

Sharon87 wrote: »

If your boyfriends paying £150 a week, that's £600 for 4 WEEKS not 1 month, so depending on how long he has lived there he may be 3 months behind in rent. Ask you LL to explain how he's worked it out.

It might make a difference if he was paying monthly and the rent was weekly, but he is paying weekly which mean that if the rent is £600 a month, he's actually paying for 13 months every year.

That makes everything I posted even cheaper because they are genuinely per month, not per week, which is more expensive.

emilyxxx8

Thanks for everyones comments... very helpful... i will make him read all this and see what he thinks now...

tbs624

Emily - 150 per week equates to 650 pcm.

He is entitled to have a statement of the basic terms of his tenancy agreement and ,as Artful says, rent paid weekly=legal obligation for LL to provide a rent book. The info provided must include the start date of the tenancy, th elength of any Fixed Term, how much the rent is and when it becomes due, and how/when the rent figure may be changed. Your partner should ask for this info *in writing* and the LL then has 28 days in which to provide it.

If the LL claims that your partner is in arrears then your partner should ask for a written rent Statement for the entire tenancy. If he has failed to get receipts/adequately maintain his own records he should not mention that at this stage.

The LL has specific repairing obligations under S11 of the LL and T Act 1985 and T should write listing our all repairs that need attention ( keep a copy) . The LL is responsible for maintaining the exterior of the property, including window frames, and for ensuring that the systems for providing space heating & hot water and kept in working order.

His best bet is to contact the local Council's private sector housing team as it sounds as though this LL is trying to let "under the radar". It sounds as though he would get a better deal elsewhere but does obviously need to sort out those rent payments