What is a reasonable amount of time to wait for repairs to be done?

Soniclord

Hey all,

It's taken 8 weeks for my landlord via the agent to sort out having the shower replaced in the house I'm renting, it finally got done last Wednesday. The blind in the kitchen has been unusable and unable to be opened or taken down by us since we moved in (every little thing that we want to do has to be put to the agent!!) but we requested for it to be replaced 3 weeks ago today and it still hasn't been done. Am I being reasonable sending the below response via E-Mail to the agent who E-Mailed me? And what do you think is a reasonable amount of time to wait for repairs to be done?

Your colleague phoned me and left a voicemail message shortly after 12pm today and she also E-Mailed earlier on today as well. I responded to the E-Mail then phoned her back sometime after 3pm because I'd not seen her E-Mail/heard her voicemail till around that time.

The gas engineer who will be calling on Friday the 6th of May is from British Gas I'm told and he will be here between 1pm and 6pm.

With regards to the blind, I sincerely hope the landlord gets in contact with you soon because it will be 3 weeks tomorrow since I got the E-Mail from yourself saying someone would be contacting me shortly with regards to measuring up and fitting a new blind in the kitchen. Presumably this contact of the landlords is just as busy as the landlord due to whoever that person is not contacting me nor my partner in the last 3 weeks. I will give it 1 more week (it will then have been 28 days) then I will take it from there.

So I look forward to the blind being sorted out as soon as possible, because I'm sure you'll agree 3 weeks (and however much longer we have to wait) is much longer than we or anyone anticipated (including yourself, as you did say someone would be contacting me shortly and that was on the 13th of April) it just makes me wonder why it takes so long to get anything done.

It took 8 weeks until we got the shower sorted out. And so far almost 3 weeks to get the blind sorted out which has still not been sorted. And I'm also sure you'll agree 8 weeks to get the shower issue sorted and 3 weeks for something as simple as replacing a blind isn't acceptable. I can honestly tell you that if there are any issues in the future that if they aren't dealt with promptly by AGENTS NAME WILL BE HERE via the landlord then I will wait a maximum of 28 days for things to sorted out (which in my opinion is more than reasonable for any repairs to be done) and if they haven't been done after those 28 days are up then I will have the repairs done myself and deduct the cost of having them done from the rent.

I don't want to nor will I do that if I don't have to, but the landlord expects his rent on the same date every month (presumably you pay him on the same date each month due to our rent date always being the same?) and I'm sure the landlord wouldn't wait as long to get his rent as we do for repairs to be done.

Thanks for E-Mailing.

My name here.

Thoughts please, and it's also worth noting the damaged blind is listed in the inventory as having no pulley and is listed as broken.

princeofpounds

That's very long!

'Reasonable' is only defined in law by a judge's common sense. But a good rule of thumb is that if you were an owner-occupier how long would it take you to sort things out, then add on a bit of time for the inefficiencies of LL/LA communication and so on.

For example, a blind fix on a non-overlooked window is not urgent. But a boiler breakdown in the depths of winter is.

Here is a guide to repairs. I suggest you read it:

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

The procedure to enforce repairs yourself was established in Lee Parker vs Izzet 1971. I suggest that you start this process, if only to give them a boot up the backside. Write a letter stating *briefly* what you have been waiting for and how long since your first written communication. State that you think this delay has been unreasonable and that you may look into your rights to enforce the repair and deduct from a future rental payment under this principle. Enclose some quotes as per the process.

You can delete about 50% of all the complaining in your letter, it's not relevant. Especially that 28 days stuff. If your boiler breaks down, you'd want it done in 2 weeks maximum.

Edit: Given the shower has been done that issue is in the past. Forget about it. So you only have a blind problem which isn't that important.

chocdonuty

Why not telephone the agent and ask if it's ok for you to replace the blind in the kitchen with a new one and bill them for the cost (confirm in writing of course) It's hardly rocket science and you can pick them up for less than £20 in wilkos, it's simply not worth complaining about tbh.
I've done this as if i could repair/replace something myself easily it was better than waiting for a handyman to find the time to pop in, wait around for him to arrive, then again if he had to come back with parts ect.
It may be worth asking the agent for their timescale on repairing items in your house so you do know what is and isn't acceptable.

Alias_Omega

We know with our rental, the tenant contacts the agent, who then will get permission from ourselves to carry out the work. The agent will then task an engineer to come price the work, and if its above a set limit, they seek our advice further. This will take its time as the agent only works mon-fri, so it will drag on. We dont allow the tenant to contact ourselves direct, this is why we pay the agent over £50 a month to manage the property.

Shower - It is unclear if the house is fitted with a Bath, if so then the shower problem is not as bad as it seems. The landlords usual plumber was/is probably busy, and does not warrant an emergency plumber etc.

Blind - The blind is optional, if the tenant really pushed on this, i would instruct the agent to remove it straight away. Though if the tenant reported it, i would happily have it repaired / replaced the next time my handyman was around/available.

Just my views..

Alias

Soniclord

chocdonuty wrote: »

Why not telephone the agent and ask if it's ok for you to replace the blind in the kitchen with a new one and bill them for the cost (confirm in writing of course) It's hardly rocket science and you can pick them up for less than £20 in wilkos, it's simply not worth complaining about tbh.

I've spoken to the agent and they said they can't authorise for me to do it myself, that they have to get permission from the landlord for anything/everything.... And they still say they've not heard from him.

Alias_Omega wrote: »

We know with our rental, the tenant contacts the agent, who then will get permission from ourselves to carry out the work.

That's exactly how it is here and with respect I find it pathetic, why not just let the tenant contact you directly regarding any repairs and cut out the middle man!!, we have to contact the agent we then have to wait for them to contact the landlord to get permission (just like you've got it setup) but are you as the landlord uncontactable for upto 3 weeks at a time....?? Bearing in mind I pass my landlords house every single day of the week when I'm on the bus as he literally lives about 15 minutes walk away from the house I'm renting from him....

Alias_Omega wrote: »

The agent will then task an engineer to come price the work, and if its above a set limit, they seek our advice further. This will take its time as the agent only works mon-fri, so it will drag on. We dont allow the tenant to contact ourselves direct, this is why we pay the agent over £50 a month to manage the property.

Well what can I say, the landlord on the 13th of April simply told the agent he had a 'contact' that would contact me to arrange to come and measure up for a new blind, it's now the 7th of May and no such 'contact' has ever been in touch...

I seriously do have to say though (even though it's your preference) this whole paying the agent £50 a month to manage the property is rather strange, because how exactly are they managing the property if they have to come to you for permission for everything that needs doing? Your simply paying them to contact you, doesn't that strike you (with respect) as a bit stupid! Imagine what that £50 would buy you instead of throwing it away to an agency who are basically doing sod all for the money.

Back to any jobs that need doing anyway, my landlord doesn't allow the agency to do anything with regards to any jobs, he hasn't set a limit because he's basically a tight sod! So the agency makes out, but obviously they haven't said that to me in so many words...

Alias_Omega wrote: »

Blind - The blind is optional, if the tenant really pushed on this, i would instruct the agent to remove it straight away.

Indeed the blind may well be optional but I have in writing that the landlord has already agreed to replace it... And so he should as it was damaged and unusable when I moved in here.

And you saying if the tenant really pushed on this then you would instruct the agent to remove it straight away. To be rather frank with you, you may well instruct the agent to remove it straight away but if you were my landlord unless a replacement blind was installed the same time you instruct the agent to take the damaged unusable blind away then I wouldn't allow it and it wouldn't happen.

Simply for privacy and security reasons, I don't want someone potentially coming into my garden and being able to see into my kitchen whilst I'm doing whatever I'd be doing in there. It just so happens that's my preference, as I like my privacy.