Landlord ignoring me

forresthump

I think I have the worst luck in the world with regards to apartments. I'm really starting to believe London landlords are the spawn of the devil.

I moved into a 1 bedroom flat one month ago which had a few issues but which I was assured (and have in writing) would be repaired within the first 2 weeks of my tenancy. It is now over 1 month, and still nothing has been done.

Two issues I could deal with (a shower-head which reached only as high as my knee & curtain blinds in my lounge which would not close), but the one I discovered last night was an absolute show-stopper.

Basically, I received a whopping £100 electricity bill from British Gas, which I thought was highly strange as I'm only at home during the evenings and am also highly conservative with my electricity usage (I'm a bachelor).

After much scouring, I discovered that the water-boiler had been set to "on-peak" since I'd moved in. So I switched it off, and activated the "off-peak" setting...and then to my horror this morning, found the water in my shower to be bleeding ice-cold. The off-peak timer is obviously broken.

Regarding my first two issues, the landlord simply told me that his builder was not available at this time and that he'd keep chasing him. He ignored the blinds problem altogether. As for this one, I was unable to get him on his phone so I sent him a text message but have not received any feedback yet.

I'm hoping he does get back to me before the end of the day but if not, what options do I have? Surely landlords are obligated to carry out repairs to boilers? I will pester as much as possible, but I'm treading as carefully as possible so I don't turn into the tenant from hell.

Any advice??

ormus

dont you have your own meter?
as regards the bill, my auntie lives alone and has an electric only 2 bed flat.
her bill for the last quarter was 660 quid!

forresthump

ormus wrote: »

dont you have your own meter?
as regards the bill, my auntie lives alone and has an electric only 2 bed flat.
her bill for the last quarter was 660 quid!

OMG! You aunt is getting seriously screwed! At my previous place, my monthly average was between £30 & £50 max.

I do have my own meter but guess what - I don't have access to it. Only the carertaker does. And here's the fun part. To get through to the caretaker, you've got to ring up the building group, explain your requirements to them, they get someone else to call the caretaker in order to extract the reading and finally he slides it into your mailbox.

The_Blue_Hatter

forresthump wrote: »

I'm hoping he does get back to me before the end of the day but if not, what options do I have? Surely landlords are obligated to carry out repairs to boilers? I will pester as much as possible, but I'm treading as carefully as possible so I don't turn into the tenant from hell.

Any advice??

I would imagine a late payment might get his attention!

forresthump

The_Blue_Hatter wrote: »

I would imagine a late payment might get his attention!

Unless I'm mistaken, I think that can get you evicted.

00ec25

assuming you are in England (if not change the webiste to Scotland) follow the very strict procedure for initiating repairs yourself.

You must report in writing, phoning or e mails are not acceptable.
Letters should not be sent recorded delivery as they may be refused and therefore are "not" delivered, send them ordinary mail but get proof of posting

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

expect that your tenancy will not be renewed when it ends, so look for a new place in good time

The_Blue_Hatter

forresthump wrote: »

Unless I'm mistaken, I think that can get you evicted.

Judging by the OP that might be a bonus!!