Landlord/Letting Agent troubles.

danwiseman

I wonder if some of you can shed some light on a situation I find myself in with my landlord and letting agent.

My wife and I have been renting a house since July 2009 and have had nothing but problems with it.

Structurally, things have been falling off like skirting boards and coving. There is also a massive damp problem that we have reported numerous times but no-one has ever come to fix it. This has cause my wife and I to become ill frequently.

There have also been a number of problems that haven't been rectified and in the nearly two years of renting, only 2 jobs were ever completed (albeit to an unsatisfactory standard).

It has got to a point where we have handed in our notice as we feel the landlord is breaching his end of the agreement and it's not fair that we live in a house where the landlord and the letting agent do nothing.


Anyway, we paid in a heavy initial fee to rent the property (about £1,300) and we have asked that we be paid back what we paid in at the the start. Is this unreasonable or are there any other steps we can take to claim anything from having such a shockingly bad landlord?

rexmedorum

This makes me really angry and voting with your feet is the best you can do!

Would this initial fee be made up of the following components?
- agency fee (though I think usually paid separately)
- deposit
- 1st months rent?

You can only expect your deposit back, not any agency fees, or rent. The deposit should be hold in some sort of secured account (not sure what it's called) and be registered. You should have received a copy of that within 2 weeks. I think this is to cover dispute and the eventuality of LL going bust.

Normally you should leave the place in the same clearn state and condition you found it in minus fair wear and tear.
So neglected maintanace would not be your responsibility I don't think.

G_M

Have you been reporting all the issues formally ie in WRITING to the landlord? If so, have you then followed up the procedure for enforcing repairs?
Have you been to Environmental Health about the damp?
Might the damp be condensation caused by lifestyle, or is it penetrating damp?

What was the "initial fee" for? If deposit, then follow the rules for reclaiming deposits (are you in Eng/Wales?)
If for credit checking - no chance.
First month's rent? - no chance.

What contract do you have? If you have a (renewed?) fixed term, you cannot end the tenancy early without the LL's consent. Repair problems are not a reason for early termination but should be dealt with as above.

If you now have a periodic (monthly?) tenancy, then of course you can give notice whenever you wish, provided you follow the appropriate rules/timescales.

danwiseman

the upfront fee was £800 for the deposit and the first month's rent. I know that asking for the full initial fee back is asking a bit high but sure there is compensation as the landlord and letting agent haven't held up their end of the bargain according to our agreement.

The damp has been an ongoing issue, it was minor when we moved into the property and has steadily got worse. It's an end terrace house and the walls get incredibly cold. Because the house is big with very few radiators, it is very expensive/difficult to heat. This has been the major problem that's been leading to the damp. That and the fact there is a constant draft coming through the house as there is a minor collapse in the floor of a room near an outside wall that's letting moisture and air in.

All of our problems have been reported and acknowledged by the letting agent, they have records of when we have called. Talking to someone there today we have called about a total of 36 problems and only 2 have been fixed, with someone coming to look at, (but not fixing) a further 10.

Obviously the landlord/letting agency are in the wrong and I feel that my wife and I deserve a little more back than the deposit for have to live in such a s**t hole where nothing has ever been fixed.

G_M

Sorry. No.

You should have been more pro-active in enforcing repairs as per the link I provided.

Sounds also like you have not even been reporting a) in writing or b) to the landlord.

There are procedures for reapirs, and they are totally unrelated to rent. You have paid rent, and received a place to live in return. So your first month's rent (which was NOT an 'upfront fee' - it was rent) is non-refundable.

The deposit, of course, IS refundable (subject to normal deductions if appropriate).

Just to clarify, you paid a deposit of £800, plus 1st month's rent of £500 = £1300? Correct?

rexmedorum

danwiseman wrote: »

Obviously the landlord/letting agency are in the wrong and I feel that my wife and I deserve a little more back than the deposit for have to live in such a s**t hole where nothing has ever been fixed.

Of course you feel like this, but simply demanding an arbitrary compensation from the landlord (equal to your first months rent incidentally) is unlikely to impress them.

danwiseman

G_M wrote: »

You should have been more pro-active in enforcing repairs as per the link I provided.

Sounds also like you have not even been reporting a) in writing or b) to the landlord.

Just to clarify, you paid a deposit of £800, plus 1st month's rent of £500 = £1300? Correct?

With enforcing the repairs, surely this is the reason of the letting agent? I make them aware of repairs that need doing, it becomes their responsibility to contact the landlord or arrange for the problem to fixed themselves. I have been told by the agents that they report all the problems through to the landlord so there's two parties aware that it's going to them. As the landlord lives abroad for most of the year, all of the agency's correspondence has been in writing.

And yes £1300 (a little more as the deposit was 850 and the rent was 575) was what was paid up front