Getting things fixed in a rented flat

pamelamalcolm

Consult the landlord first before making any arrangements or repairs in your flat.

biggsy137

Ok, Just had a look on Lambeth Council's website and it would suggest it is a HMO... it says they will come and inspect it etc etc. It would also apear from their website that the house is FUBAR.

Now, if I contect them, is there a chance of eviction, either from LL or from the council and if so where would we stand? I'm sure they could advise on this but I want to try and find out what I can before making calls as I feel that once I do all manner of hell and brown sticky stuff is going to hit a very large fan...

Being that the LL is not around and we deal with and would seem to be lodgers of another tenant should we write to him (the other tenant) regarding this first or go straight to the council...?

The other tenant has also hinted during conversation that as of June/July he is not re-newing anyones contract and is 'off and washing his hands of the place' this says to me he just wants to keep his head down and get through the next couple months then if we are still there then its our look out...

With regards to the poster above who suggested just moving out, we are looking, trust me!! but budget and time and lacking of suitable places are a big factor with having to stay put at the min.

lynzpower

1) your council COULD issue a prohibition notice, but honestly it would be really really bad for that, given the list of items I think this is pretty unklikely after all the landlord or council will need to house you if they prohibit- rare as ( alth still happens)

regardless whether anyones contract is "renewed" you are still on your normal contract, it goes to periodic tenancy- unless you really are lodgers in which case your contract would have meant little, its hard to say without seeing the paperwork.

Id call this morning and see what they say, they have a duty to come and look around- they are there to help you and they have heard all this about retaliratory evictions, and counci;s monitor. Indeed they will work out whether this other tenant - who to all intents - is a good enough "property manager" and whether he is a "fit and proper person" to manage the HMO under the regulations. as I said they have a range of tools from making sure the works get done, licensing it as a HMO or even managing the building themselves! ( ie you pay rent to the council, they manage repairs etc) this is rather a last chance scheme tho.

Good luck xx

biggsy137

Well, just spoke to the council. As things are they cannot do anything much on my behalf as I would not be known the the Landlord. They have got the name and number of the tenant who we deal with as apparently they have to go through him.

Not that I don't trust the guy, but if he fobs off the council that yea its all going to be fixed would that be the end as far as the council are concerned or as I've raised this point will they follow it up i.e. keep on til there is proof things have been done?

Just thought too, should have asked them, anyone have any ideas roughly how long it takes them to do anything?

Oh, and the woman on the end of the phone did not seem a massive help tbh and I only really got to mention the boiler/cooker, mice and leaky roof... should I phone them again an reel off the whole list to the poor sod on the other end or just wait out and see what they do?

biggsy137

Oh joy, just been told that there is no record of the owner of our place with the land registry...

The more I think about this the bleeker it looks for us...

G_M

mad_madam_mimm wrote: »

.....
For further clarification, in our house is us as a couple in one room and 4 singles each with their own rooms. We each have separate contracts. !

I really don't understand - please clarify. Who is your contract with? Whose name is on your contract? What kind of contract is it? Who showed you the room? Who do you pay rent to?

Are you sure this 'middleman' is not in fact the owner/landlord?

Just to clear up with the leaking ceiling thing...I notified the middle-man/leaseholder guy who lives in the house with us the very second it happened -..... He was very good and organised for a "builder" friend of the LL's to come and fix it the next day,

How come he did this if he doesn't know how to contact the LL?

just been told that there is no record of the owner of our place with the land registry...

Told by who? Has the LT Title been downloaded? Are you saying the property is unregistered?

Stop phoning and start writing. Get official. WRITE to the council, referring to your telephone conversation. List ALL the defects.
Point out it is an illegally unregistered HMO and that there are safety violations. Ask how long you can expect to have to wait for an inspection.

Ideally get this letter sent by the middleman (if you trust him) but I suspect he either IS the LL, or is in cahoots with the LL, so I would do it yourself.

gingertips

biggsy137 wrote: »

Much thanks! Several of the jobs I could do my self, its more the principal that we pay rent so anything that the landlord should be fixing, I'm not spending more of my money on.

I will have a look over at shelter now then.

I would say that talking to downstairs wont get me very far as they most likely wont understand what I say...

I have a feeling that calling the council/environmental health might start an avalanche of problems for both sides. From my point of view I would like to keep things as easy as possible for me but I do want these things fixed.

On the topic of boilers, we have a gas boiler and cooker - I've never seen a gas safety certificate which I believe I should have... but should carbon monoxide detectors be fitted by law? I'm pretty sure with 6 people living here we should have mains linked smoke alarms (which we haven't but that could be another days crusade) but not sure on CO detectors. If they are not required by law, can we still try to get the landlord to pay for them or would it be off our own back?

The more I think about this the more I realise why the place is cheap (relatively speaking) and wonder why we are here...

Thanks again for the advice

You shouldnt be spending ANY of your money - thats why youre renting - its their responsibility!!!

Put it all in writing - demand CO detectors too...

Can I suggest that you visit the local CAB office - they should be able to provide you with a framwork of a letter. They can also advise you on what steps you can go through if the letter is ignored.

lynzpower

Not having a property on the land registry is not relevant, I know of cases where this has happened and EH has had to go around the houses fopr a bit but it gets sorted in the end. It just means the prperty has not been bought and sold in a long while and or/ changed hands with family members or the address may be diffent between the post office/ local authority/ land registry. it doesnt mean the property doesnt exist, it does.

I think you possibly got stuck talking to the call centre? this is b***cks if it is a EHP hat has told you this as it contradicts the HHSRS and the HHSRS enforcment protocol - both of which are freely available online.

If you are really calling lambeth, send me a private message as I have someones extension in EH that might be able to help.

biggsy137

News!!

After a chat with the lead tenant, we had British gas around last week and are due to have a new boiler fitted by the end of this week! (however I'm not holding out much hope of this actually happening if I'm honest)

So I was waiting to see it said boiler materialised this week then if it didn't was going back to the council begining of next.

But then yesterday I got a call from a council surveyor who is now comming to inspect next week too!

just gotta wait out now and see what happens next...

Thanks for all the help and advice so far!!

prudryden

This situation is quite common. One person rents a house and then sublets to other people from his own country. As far as the owner is concerned, he has only rented to one person and will claim no knowledge that others have moved in.