Leaking roof, no emergency number for landlord or agent!

Soniclord

Hi all,

You've possibly seen a few of my threads about the forum regarding getting things 'done' by the agency who I'm renting this house from.

Anyway 5.25am Sunday morning, me and my partner were woken up by water dripping through the ceiling onto the window/window sill.



We have no contact number for the landlord only an address, and he's made it clear to the agent he wants everything doing through them! And he doesn't want tenants going round to his house.

The agency have no emergency contact number to ring should something like this happen, they simply work up until 12pm in the office on a Saturday in case of emergencies. Any emergencies after that time are obviously not important to them... Until Monday morning!

Anyway I had a look in the attic and could just hear an intermittent dripping noise coming from somewhere but I couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from. Either way the rain stopped and I got the water up using towels and that was that. I did notice though that the water was dripping through a hole just above the blind near the window, and the hole is extremely close to the window itself, the water was also dripping in 4 other locations close together further towards the left of the window and also near the side window (see picture 1) and it looked as if the water dripping onto the window frame was actually dripping down the wall through a hairline crack at the top of the wall. Hardly noticeable but it was damp to the touch.




Now this has happened I can only assume it may have something to do with the guttering outside the property? Because we had someone knock on the door a few weeks ago saying it looked like the guttering needed clearing out. But I'm unsure if that is the cause of the leak?? Is the landlord responsible for making sure the guttering is clear as mentioned here http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/your_family/home_and_neighbourhood_index_ew/renting_a_home_index_ew/getting_repairs_done_while_renting.htm#The_landlords_and_tenants_responsibiliti

The landlord’s main responsibilities

There are certain repairs which will almost always be your landlord’s responsibility, whether or not they are specifically mentioned in the tenancy agreement. These are:-

• the structure and exterior of the premises (such as walls, floors and window frames) and the drains, gutters and external pipes. If the property is a house, the essential means to access to it, such as steps from the street, are also included in ‘structure and exterior’. Garden paths and steps are also include

Either way I've fired off a couple of E-Mail's to the agent with pictures of what's happened, and I'm hoping to hear back from them sometime today but I'm at a funeral later so won't be around till later on this evening to see if I've heard from them!

Anyway I'm wondering how long should I give them to sort this out? Because I've checked the weather forecast and in my area it's forecast to rain again today at 16:00 and if we have heavy rain like on Sunday morning then the problem will only get worse and we will have more problems to contend with. The below photos are of the artex above the window showing the colour of it before the rain hit and after. It's also slightly cracked the artex but I'm not sure if you'll be able to make it out from the picture I've uploaded.





So I can only assume the agency should get it sorted ASAP!?? As it's not a minor thing that needs sorting, as it's also the landlords property that's at risk not just our belongings! And in all honesty I really don't think this landlord gives a crap anyway. But that's my personal opinion because of how the agent has portrayed him. I've never met him myself so can't be certain. But they say actions speak louder than words and what the agency says certainly matches up with the landlords actions. Let's just say when it comes to repairs a snail could get them done faster....

Cheers.

poppysarah

Ring agency this morning. Put it in writing to them to confirm conversation.

Ask what the out of hours emergency number is , what process is, ...

No roofers work during the night though ... ( ok some might but not just for a little leak)

dorset_nurse

Lovely pictures by the way!
I wouldn't have thought your problem is stemming from the guttering- that was probably someone trying to get jobs. More likely the roof needs looking at or your tanks/pipes in the loft are leaking.
Call the agency as poppysarah says and ask for your LL info.

pinkshoes

All you can do is notify the agent in writing to say that there's a problem, and ask them to sort it out. Your duty is to notify the LL/agent as soon as possible, so that any further damage can be minimised. Perhaps give them call to follow up your email later today?

In the mean time, put a towel on the windowsill until it's fixed. It will absorb the water and prevent loud dripping noises.

Ultimately, it just looks like a little leak, and probably won't cause too much damage. You should see my kitchen ceiling - you can almost see into the bathroom!!

westv

pinkshoes wrote: »

Ultimately, it just looks like a little leak, and probably won't cause too much damage. You should see my kitchen ceiling - you can almost see into the bathroom!!

That reminds me of something that happened back in the 70s. I was with my mum in the kitchen where she had just made a rice pudding and put it on the hob. Suddenly, a chunk of ceiling fell down and straight onto it. Needless to say desert was ruined!

missile

Having an emergency number may make you feel better, but in reality there is nothing the agent could have done until Monday morning - at the earliest.

I hope you have more success than I did. It took me three months to get a leak in my roof repaired.