Is there anyway in which i can get out of this tenancy agreement?

ajones28

If it is really that bad I wouldn't even consider moving in, putting yours and the babies (together with your partners) lives at risk. OK you have a legal contract there. And I know I'll be berated for saying this but I would not put mine or my childs life at risk for nothing. The best thing to do is take as many photos, as previously advised, of the state of the place. Go to your local authority Environmental Health dept and the dept dealing with Private Landlords, explaining whats happened. Advise the landlord, in writing, that he has 1 month in which to put the property right to make it habitable. List all things that need doing in the property (go through it with a fine tooth comb-you don't want to keep on having to add things to the list because it won't look good). Explain that you will be ending the tenancy with immediate effect if the property is still in bad condition as it endangers your health. If he doesn't like it the worst he can do is take you to court, and I can't see a court in the land making you stay in that property or making you pay anything either. At the moment there's a big crackdown on these kind of dodgy landlords letting property out that is not worthy of being called a home, so I would say the law is on your side. The others posting on here may say I am totally wrong saying this but I'd take a court order demanding money any day(if for any reason it did go against you, which hopefully it won't when they see the conditions you were expected to live in) over putting myself or my childs life at risk.

Oh and by the way the landlord cannot say that you can't EVER move out, that is total crap. Sounds to me like a dodgy landlord who needs investigating by the local authorities, and if he has other properties they'll be investigated as well. If I was you I would look into this man a little further...something you perhaps should have done previously...but then again we all do things in life we wish we hadn't done... and if he does have other properties he may realise he really doesn't need you kicking up a fuss and may just relieve you of your tenancy without any hassle, if he knows you're going to cause him and his other properties (if he has any) to be investigated further.
Fingers crossed for you anyway. I've had my fair share of troubles with my landlord and have become a stronger person for eventually standing up to them. Don't just accept this, hoping it will eventually sort itself out, stand up to him and hopefully it will all work out for you in the end.
Good luck, hope you get it sorted out.

123mcg

Thankyou for the post. Yup, there is no way im going to put our health at risks, especially a new babies. If the worst comes to the worse we are just going to have to pay the rent and stay at home for now We're going down to the office tomorrow as the landlord has previosuly told us 'that he is very understanding if people have problems'. The whole place isnt even safe, as the tenant upstairs told us that the building was broken into a couple of days ago. Its my own fauly for being naive and jumping into the chance of getting my own place.

123mcg

oh and he has about 300 other properties, as my boyfreinds mum pointed out it is clearly just buisness for him and he is doing very well for himself.

real1314

123mcg wrote: »

oh and he has about 300 other properties, as my boyfreinds mum pointed out it is clearly just buisness for him and he is doing very well for himself.

Of course it's a business. What else would it be?

Get the council out to assess the rat problem - if they can conclude that the problem was present before you took out the tenancy, you might be able to do something. Also speak to your local council "private letting team" and/or environmental health about the state of the property.

You could always walk away, and ask for your deposit back via the scheme it's in (is it in a deposit scheme?), citing the state of the property. Ultimately you could see if the LL wants to take court action to enforce the tenancy if you walk, so you need evidence of the state of the flat.

I'm not sure what area you are in, but I'd be astonished to get a decent place for £400 buit having said which, ANY rented property should be habitable.
Pests can't always be prevented, but they should lead to very prompt action to sort them out.

princeofpounds

yes, get environmental health in. complain in writing with proof of postage about ALL the issues. This is to record the situation early on so he doesn't blame you for the rats etc. later on.

You can get repairing and health and safety issues fixed by using the procedure establish in Lee Parker vs Izzet 1971 and/or environmental health inspections. The Shelter website contains a complete guide to repairs and bad conditions in private lets that covers all of this.

You might wish to point out to him that you will get EH involved before you do it. He might not want the fuss and release you from your contract. Get anything agreed in writing.

ajones28

123mcg wrote: »

oh and he has about 300 other properties, as my boyfreinds mum pointed out it is clearly just buisness for him and he is doing very well for himself.

If he has about 300 properties then I can only presume that if 1 is this bad then the others aren't going to be palaces. Landlords with that many properties know the law about the condition properties must be in before they can be rented out. He obviously doesn't really give a sh*t as long as he gets his rent each month. Yes you have a contract with him but that contract is on both sides. His side being that the house he is renting out must be habitable and safe. Neither of these words spring to mind when reading bout the condition of this property.

Like I said previously I would try to see if you could go down the route of telling him that you're going to have to go to the Environmental Health because the flats is more or less inhabitable. It may not work but it's worth a try. REMEMBER though you need everything photographed and documented and send ALL correspondence by registered mail so that he can't try to say that he knows nothing about the problems.

£400 a month would get you a 3 bed house, in Stoke-on-Trent, near to where I live. And a 2 bed terraced in Newcastle under Lyme. So you can get a decent-ish property for your money, depending on where you live. The only problem is we have one of the lowest salaries in the country, so it's swings and roundabouts.

BitterAndTwisted

I would advise the OP NOT to send any correspondence by Recorded Delivery. Posties often just bung them through the letterbox without gaining a signature so you have no documented proof that it was received. RD letters can be refused at the door as well, so proof of receipt there either. I would be minded to do the usual: i.e. send two copies of the letter from two different Post Offices getting proof of postage for both. That way, there can be no denying that one of the letters was received. A judge might accept that the PO could lose or mislay one letter but two sent on the same day is so unlikely as to be almost impossible.

If this is an experienced landlord who owns 300 properties I would expect him to be more slippery than a well-greased eel. They will probably know every single way of trying to defeat the OP but that does not mean that it's impossible.

AnnaV

Did ou do an inventory check out?