Advice Needed, Flooded Out Of Rental Property

confusedami_2

Urgent advice needed please.
Sister has privately rented with two young daughters for nine years. Property is in very poor state of repair and she struggles to get landlord to deal with repairs.
Property above her has been empty for a couple of months we believe. Last night they were flooded out from the water tank in the roof. Fire Brigade had to force entry to property above and also had to bring down the ceiling in the lounge to prevent further damage. Whole house is affected. She ended up in the street with two kids in pyjamas, terrified. She got hold of the landlord, who lives opposite who informed her that it was nothing to do with him.
What rights does she have in this situation, we think the house will take several months before it dries out but we think the landlord will simply opt out of any responsibility. She, unfortunately, has no contents insurance and everything is ruined. We think the landlord may have buildings insurance but has said he will not be claiming on it.
Is she within her rights to demand her deposit back immediately if landlord does not arrange alternative accomodation?

Sorry for the long post.

moromir

Is this a house or a flat? It isn't clear from your post, you refer to it as a house but also talk about the property above?

Geenie

Chuck everything at the LL. Citizens Advice, local Council, even get onto a solicitor. How the LL can state that a tenant being made homeless in these circumstances has nothing to do with him is beyond belief!

You do not state who owns the above flat, but at the end of the day the tenant has no where to live, and even if the tenant had no insurance for their own things, the structure of the place is the LL's responsibility. I hope he gets taken to the cleaners for being a complete to**er. :mad:

cathryn107

Shelter's advice line is 0808 800 4444. Their website also contains a lot of information which may be of use. www.shelter.org.uk

Your local Council will have someone in its housing department covering private sector tenancies, and they may be able to provide support. They could have an emgergency helpline.

A four day weekend, when the weather is atrocious and the people who can help you (CAB etc) are not working, is possibly the worst time for this to happen. It may be worth posting on the Landlord Zone forum - which has quite a few decent and clued-up posters on there who are the complete opposite of your sister's LL - as they are always happy to advise tenants.

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/forums/forumdisplay.php?3-Residential-Letting-Questions

The Department for Communities and Local Government also has a lot of advice. Here for examples
http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/pdf/138307.pdf

poppysarah

Move.

..

Wings

Find out who owns property above by doing a Land Registry search, also contact the local Council's Environmental Health Department, Council's Housing Department and CAB.

If the rent is being paid via Housing Benefits then the OP should make contact with them forassistance/advice on alternative premises.

Hammyman

confusedami wrote: »

What rights does she have in this situation, we think the house will take several months before it dries out but we think the landlord will simply opt out of any responsibility.

The landlord is responsible for paying the cost of alternative accommodation while the repairs take place.

It won't take several months to dry out from a burst tank. Depending on how quickly trades are brought in, it could be sorted in a week to a fortnight.

My LL insurance takes care of covering the cost of temporarily rehousing a tenant in cases like this, this is why I got it.

confusedami_2

It's a lower cottage flat, so one property above hers. Rent is paid by housing benefit so don't think anyone will be available until Wednesday. I will try to see landlord with her tomorrow, just wanted to get my facts straight first. We think it's possible he won't even have buildings insurance and we'll find out who owns the flat above as well. Just couldn't have happened at a worse time with everything closed for the holidays. She knows she has lost everything, all furniture, even beds and bedding, water running down the walls etc. Not pleasant.
Thanks for replies.

princeofpounds

My sympathies!

There is good news and bad news here.

The good news is that the law and all the resources are on your side.

The bad news is that it is going to require work to sort it out, and with a landlord with an attitude like that you might find the relationship continually difficult from here on in.

Firstly, apart from here and landlordzone, your best resources are Shelter and the local council's private sector rental team (and their housing office more generally, such as environmental health and so on) and CAB. And potentially a solicitor later on.

OK, so what should be happening here?

Under section 11 of the landlord and tenant act, the landlord is responsible for keeping the property in good repair. Repairs are meant to be done within a reasonable amount of time.

If the bad conditions and repairs mean the property is temporarily uninhabitable, the landlord is responsible for providing reasonable alternative accomodation. This must be to a reasonable standard, and the tenant must still pay rent.

I keep using the word reasonable as that is the word used in law. Only a court can decide what is reasonable and it is left loose to allow the judge discretion. Thankfully judges are sensible people, so broadly speaking if you imagine what a reasonable LL/T process should be, they will back you up on enforcing that if you later have to claim costs and damages from the LL.

The landlord cannot use the uninhabitable nature of the property as an excuse to escape his obligations. Although there is a concept in law called frustration (where a contract ceases because it cannot possibly be fulfilled), that only applies when the house is literally washed away or similar!

The clock only starts ticking when the landlord is made aware of the problem. Living over the road this is easy, but as a court claim is a possibility you need to document EVERYTHING. So follow up any conversations with a letter hand-delivered with a witness, or with proof of postage. Keep all receipts of costs incurred and perhaps even a diary of the time taken to solve the problems (as you can even claim for this). Keep all reports from officials and tradesmen, and ask for them if you are not offered them. Take photos of what has happened.

So, go and see landlord. Take a letter with you that very briefly outlines what has happened (NO emotion, it just needs to be a record of facts). The letter should remind him of his obligations under the landlord and tenant act to repair the property and provide suitable alternative accomodation.

Ask him to sort both out. If he tries to brush you off, then you should point out that you will sue him for costs and damages as well as involving the council housing authorities to enforce repairs. Don't get in a shouting match - let him know you are serious, offer him one more chance to do the right thing. If not, then you have to move to plan B.

Plan B basically involves going through on those threats.

Speak to the council (probably you will be in touch anyway for general advice) and ask for an environmental health inspection of the property under the Housing Health and Safety Rating Systems (HHSRS). This is the standard that houses have to meet, and the EH can issue legally binding repairing orders which if ignored becomes a criminal offence.

There is another method to enforce repairs which was established in Lee Parker vs Izzet 1971 - the tenant can follow a procedure where they pay for repairs and deduct from future rent. I don't suggest this though as someone on HB is unlikely to have the resources to find this upfront cost.

Sort out alternative accomodation. The council or shelter might be able to help you with this, but if it comes down to it use a modestly-priced B&B in the area (or a relative if you want little outlay up front, but keep a record of costs incurred).

Then using shelter or CAB or a solicitor, you would go through the process to sue the landlord to recover costs and damages.

Unfortunately you cannot just move and abandon the tenancy unless there is little left to run before you can give notice, as the tenancy does not finish and the LL could still come after you for rent you don't pay. You should also not be witholding rent.

Hopefully it will not get that far once a landlord realises you are serious!

princeofpounds

Re-reading your post, it may be that the condition IS so bad the tenancy is frustrated if it will really take months to fix (Is a drying-out property uninhabitable? I don't know but environmental health can express an opinion). If the LL and T agree to surrender the tenancy with no further liability from either side then you can move on (best get it in writing!).

Also forgot to mention, her contents are her own business most likely, the landlord is only responsible for the building. However if there has been active negligence on the part of whoever is responsible for upstairs then you could look at suing them for these costs. Keep records if you think you might!

princeofpounds

And, for future reference, here is the general guide from shelter on repairs so she will never have to 'struggle' (relatively speaking) to get repairs done as she will know how to ask for them and enforce them.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/repairs_and_bad_conditions