Students withholding rent - default notice worries

maria90uk_2

Hi everyone,

I am a student living in a house with 3 other tenants under a joint tenancy agreement. During August the boiler was not working for about 2 weeks. One of my housemates was living here, I was living here on and off during that time and my other two housemates visited briefly. We told the letting agent of the fault and he told us to try "adjusting the pressure" on the boiler. Low and behold that didn't fix it. He said he would get someone to fix it asap. Following several phone calls and emails chasing them up we said in one email that we would withhold an amount of rent equivalent to the inconvenience they caused us the longer it took them to fix it. We took this measure because it was very frustrating having no hot water or heating (ok we had an electric shower but I think this is irrelevant) and an uncontactable letting agency. So three of us (not four as the other housemate didn't want to be a part of it) withheld £75 worth of rent each. (Our total rent payment as of September 21st was £1196 per tenant, less the £75.)

They contacted us about 10 days after rent was paid asking why we hadn't paid the full amount. We explained to them that we had threatened to withhold rent. They sent us a very poorly written email accusing us of breaking the boiler and threatening to issue us with a CCJ. We told them we were still holding back the money.

We have not heard from them since. As this has worried us and we are unsure whether they have dropped the issue or they are "taking it to court", we went to the Citizens Advice Bureau for help.

They told us that we are not legally entitled to withhold rent, but that we can claim compensation for the broken boiler.

So we have £75 each that we owe them, but they owe us money too?

My housemate wants to offer them the money back and ask for compensation. I think there is no chance of getting money back from them, and personally I do not wish to give them back the money as I think they would not go to court over such a small amount each. (Ok it totals £225 as it is a joint tenancy.) But when they are receiving another £1196 from each of us in January are they really going to bother?

Another thing, in the house contract it says "interest at the rate of four per cent per annum above the base rate will accrue on any rent in arrears until it is paid." We are concerned that they will try to claim this extra money too.

Any advice on this would be hugely appreciated as it is causing arguments between me and my fellow housemates as to what we should do!

Many thanks in advance,

Maria

BitterAndTwisted

You've already posted this question and received answers, I believe.

You cannot deduct monies from the rent "equivalent to the inconvenience they caused you". The rent and the servicing of the heating and hot-water are two distinct and separate things. Landlords are obliged to address repair issues "within a reasonable time" and during August you had no need of heating and you did have access to an electric shower so were not totally deprived of bathing facilities. Withholding £75 each of rent in this particular instance is not reasonable in my opinion, it's extremely petty.

If you don't pay what you have withheld I expect the landlord will deduct the equivalent from your deposits in any case and I wouldn't blame them for doing so.

If you're not enjoying the threat of court action and a possible CCJ I suggest you pay up.

maria90uk_2

Thanks for your help.

I was told it might be better to start a new thread because I would probably get more replies so that is what I did.

During the period when the boiler was broken I did actually have to dry my washing by hanging them up in front of electric heaters, so it isn't really right to say we didn't need heating in August. Surely the boiler should work all year round irrelevant of the weather conditions at the time?

Anyway would you happen to know the process of CCJs and default notices? As we would like to know how difficult they are to gain and how long the process takes (for the creditor.)


thanks in advance

BitterAndTwisted

You're living in a house which presumably has some outside space for washing and you were drying your clothes indoors in front of heaters IN AUGUST? The damned things would have dried on their own overnight even without a breeze.

In order to acquire a CCJ you will most probably get an arrears notice from the agents before they go down the route of going to court. And before that you will most probably be in receipt of a notice to quit. I would advise you to pay up and then you can stop worrying.

Blacksheep1979

Even if you go to court the ccj isn't registered against you unless the case is found against you and you don't pay within a month.

County Court Judgment (CCJ) records

Unless you pay the full amount of the judgment within one month, your CCJ will be recorded on the Register of County Court Judgments for six years.
Organisations such as banks, building societies and loan companies use the registered information to help decide whether to give you credit or loans, like a mortgage.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/ManagingDebt/CourtClaimsAndBankruptcy/DG_10013083

prosaver

just agree to pay it ---say your really skint and pay 1 pound a week....no sweat........see what they say ps it not worth the hassel

gravitytolls

I wouldn't try the 'needed the heating to dry my washing in AUGUST' as a defence if I were you!!!

If I were you, I'd pay up, and next time, get some advice before you decide to withhold rent.

Out of interest, has the boiler been fixed yet? If not, why not? Check your contract, get some advice regarding the repairs from the letting agent and CAB, then follow the advice of the latter re. action to take.

G_M

Was the boiler breakdown reported IN WRITING? Not text, phone or email but a formal letter?

Was the correct procedure followed for enforcing repairs before you witheld rent (ie repair quotes obtained, forwarded to landlord, work done, workman paid, receipt obtained)?

Read here.

Issue one is the boiler - Shelter's site above shows how to deal with this breach of contract by the landlord.
Issue two is rent - you are in arrears and breach of contract yourself.

clutton_2

pay up and move on

Jowo_2

Witholding rent could lead you to be given a poor reference, or perhaps no reference (same thing, really) which could jeopardise finding your next accommodation.

The Shelter website has good advice about how to get your landlord to deal with repairs and your responsibilities.

clutton_2

""We took this measure because it was very frustrating having no hot water or heating (ok we had an electric shower but I think this is irrelevant) and an uncontactable letting agency.""

so you with-held rent because you had no hot water - but you could shower and the washing machine heats its own water... so what was the frustration ? and just how much "compo" might you want to sue the LL for ? In order to sue for recompense.. you have to show a judge that you have suffered a loss..... so exactly what financial loss did you suffer ?

and as others have said it was august - so heating not required......

re the letting agent being uncontactable "" One of my housemates was living here, I was living here on and off during that time and my other two housemates visited briefly." - you dont sound very contactable to allow access for workmen either

the LA was contactable - just not as fast as you expected / demanded

2 sides to every story