Can i get out of my tenancy agreement?

stanley2642

I hope i am posting this question in the correct place, i looked around everywhere and this is all i could find.

I just rented a property and picked up the keys on monday. The lanlord took us round and then left us to it. When we were looking around we saw quite a few things that were concerning.
The house hadnt been cleaned - bathrooms were particularly bad although out tenancy stated we must clean inside and out when we leave. One of the doors does not open to outside, we cant open all the windows, there are holes from wall plugs in many of the walls, the roof has leaked in one room and although leakage repaired wall is left badly watermarked, the lino in the utility doesnt even reach the edges of the room and underlay/ground is exposed and lino in the entrance is not fitted and starting to mould.
I did look at the house prior to signing of course but there were people living there so a lot of this was hard to notice with their boxes everywhere. We havent moved our stuff in and i send a list to the lanlord with all our concerns to which he basically said i have signed the agreement so he wont be changing anything.
I know legally he is probably right but this hardly seems fair.

Is there anything at all i can if i have been rented a property that has so many faults?

I appreciate any advice.
Thanks,

mj12_2

Have you signed the inventory yet? If not then you need to make sure you document every single fault so you arent charged for it when you leave. Take photographs and detailed notes and make sure the landlord signs it too.

If you contract is proper and legal then it will contain a provision that an inventory be taken and possible provision regarding the state of the dwelling.

In the first case if the landlord wont sign the inventory then the contract will be broken so you're free :-)

In the 2nd case if there are such provisions then you should make the landlord aware that if he doesnt adhere to them you will consider the contract broken.

If the state of the place is that bad you could always put in a call to environmental health and request an inspection, does the boiler have an inspection sticker? if not then the landlord has broken the law already as it must be inspected by a corgi engineer annually.

Check all of the above and i expect you'll find something to get the s***er on :-)

EDIT FOR CLARITY: In response to some comments below, BROKEN = BREACHED, not broken as in dissolved.

mj12_2

Forgot to add, most rental contracts provide that the landlord is responsible for the maintenance of external fixtures and fittings, which includes doors :-) so if he doesnt fix the door, the contract is broken :-)

You could always not move in and find somewhere else, if he did try to take you to court by the sounds of it providing you have properly requested what due to you under the contract anyway he would be found against.

stanley2642

That's so helpful thank you! With regards to the inventory nothing is signed as i didnt realise it had to be but i did request that more things were added to it. I am going round tonight to take pictures and i have a list of everything that is wrong with the house. It probably isnt worth the inspection as it is more holes in wales, water marks, dirt, grime and general neglect. The door thing sounds like my best bet. There is also a window near the door that wont open that is no longer flat is is bloated! I dont know anything about windows but it is literally sticking out the outside of the house and is loose. Landlord seems to think as it has been like that for 4 years that it isnt a problem....hmmmm...
All the electrics are all done properly though, he is the type who wants to get away with as much as he can but anything that is uber serious straight away he is covered.
As he wont fix it i would like to get out of the contract but cant afford to lose a penny of the money he has of mine.
Thanks again so much for your help, very informative and apprecaited!

mj12_2

You're welcome, if I were you'd i'd find the clause in your contract re the fixtures and fitting and quote it at the landlord on the phone or something like that, while your at it go through the contract with a critical eye and see if there is anything you can pick at them about, with any luck once the guy realises your not going to be a pushover you can agree to a mutual release from the contract and both move on :-)

His already having your money is a bit of an issue as if you cant agree mutually you will face an utter nightmare getting it back, depending on the size of the deposit if your only resolve is the small claims court it might not be worth your time or energy. If there is an estate agent involved try speaking to them or their industry body.

If the window is loose then surely its not secure? in which case your contents insurance etc will be invalid, make that point to the LL as well :-)

poppysarah

Take photos and send copies with the inventory updated to include everything.

dancingfairy

I suspect you are stuck with the contract unfortunately - the old adage of buyer beware (well in this case renter beware ).
There are things you can do thought if this is the case:
1) get photos and details of absolutely every single scratch, dent, dust, dirt, mould, mildew etc etc and make sure you keep it all somewhere safe. If the landlord doesn't have an inventory or other proof of condition at the start of the tenancy he can't make you return it in a better condition or penalise you for it's condition.
2) You should write to the landlord with a list of repairs that need doing and ask him to do them. It is likely that he won't reply or refuse. You should also have a look at Shelters website as I believe it tells you the landlords obligations and explains how to get repairs enforced. Obviously if any of it is a serious health hazard then get the council involved as well if he doesn't play ball.
3) make sure your deposit is protected in one of the despoit schemes - in fact in your letter you can ask him to supply you with the details of this as soon as possible (if he hasn't already). He is supposed to get it registered with one of the deposit agencies othewise you can take him to court for 3 times the deposit although if he were to go bankrupt or run off before then you're stuffed anyway so whether it is something you wish to persue now so at least it's protected or whether you wish to wait until the end of your tenancy and then take him to court for lack of protection is up to you.
I'm not sure that not fixing fixtures and fittings is enough to claim breach of contract though unfortunately - yes it's his responsibility to repair it but whether that's enough to void the whole contract I don't know - I would suspect not sadly You need to get in contact with Shleter to check this.
df

nembot

To add to the above posters comments, the landlord has a responsibility to provide upkeep on necessary items such as opening doors, windows etc, mould etc.

Put this to him in writing, any avoidance of their responsibilities nullifies the contract and you could end the contract prematurely on these grounds and he's still liable to return the deposit (or upto 3x the amount, if he/she doesn't play ball).

N79

mj12 wrote: »

If you contract is proper and legal then it will contain a provision that an inventory be taken and possible provision regarding the state of the dwelling.

There is no legal requirement for a tenancy to have an inventory. A contract will be perfectly proper and legal without an inventory.

mj12 wrote: »

In the first case if the landlord wont sign the inventory then the contract will be broken so you're free :-)

!!!!!!!!.

mj12 wrote: »

In the 2nd case if there are such provisions then you should make the landlord aware that if he doesnt adhere to them you will consider the contract broken.

OK - but no doubt you also erroneously believe that if the contract is "broken" then that means that the contract no longer exists. Not so.

mj12 wrote: »

If the state of the place is that bad you could always put in a call to environmental health and request an inspection, does the boiler have an inspection sticker? if not then the landlord has broken the law already as it must be inspected by a corgi engineer annually.

No requirement for a sticker but there is a requirement for a gas safety certificate issued by a gas safe "engineer" (corgi registration no longer exists).

mj12 wrote: »

Forgot to add, most rental contracts provide that the landlord is responsible for the maintenance of external fixtures and fittings, which includes doors :-) so if he doesnt fix the door, the contract is broken :-)

True, but as above this does not mean the contract can be declared void - the correct remedy for a breach of contract is damages.

mj12 wrote: »

You could always not move in and find somewhere else, if he did try to take you to court by the sounds of it providing you have properly requested what due to you under the contract anyway he would be found against.

I seriously doubt it. See above that the appropriate remedy would be damages (if any can be substantiated). The contract is highly unlikely to be declared void.

Jennikay

I would NOT move out and stop paying rent :eek: You have formed a contract, and the LL breaching it slightly is not a get-out.

You can do repairs yourself (for things the LL is responsible for) and take it out of your rent IF you follow the procedure on Shelter's website.

I would suggest you contact Shelter about this. As dancingfairy said, if there is a health hazard contact the council/environmental health.

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

N79

nembot wrote: »

Put this to him in writing, any avoidance of their responsibilities nullifies the contract and you could end the contract prematurely on these grounds and he's still liable to return the deposit (or upto 3x the amount, if he/she doesn't play ball).

No it does not. See explanation above.