Who pays for smashed window after buglary, landlord or tenant?

musey

welshcakes wrote:

We've always tried to compromise - we offer to do small repairs ourselves as long as she refunds the receipts for the materials - she saves big time on the cost of calling someone out for a 5 minute job and we retain the privacy of our home and know a owboy job hasn't been done. Plus good tenants are a bonus, landlords like to keep them.

I have several tenants who prefer to do this. I inspected the first couple of jobs to ensure they were of a decent standard and once I was happy with this have allowed the situation to continue. Everyone's happy!

olly300

The OP was upset because there were children in the house and she had been burgled. So have some sympathy. I've been there and it's scary.

The landlord has to make the building secure. So putting up a board on a window is a fair for an emergency repair. And in fact if the landlord leaves the board on the window for the next year or two it's still fair as long as the building is secure.

I was burgled in a rented property and the landlord came out to board the window asap after the police had gathered their forensics. (There were children who lived in part of the accommodation.) The handyman was really nice about it considering he had been woken up about 6am on a weekend morning.

I also know of other burglaries in rented accommodation where different access points where used which damaged doors, walls and ceilings. Each time the landlord fixed the broken point of entry asap. Noticeably quicker if there was any form of aggravated assault or children lived in the accommodation.

If the burglar is caught, like in my case, the landlord can actually claim the cost of the repair via the legal system, but it's not worth it for repairs under £25. (I can't remember what the form is called.)

Replacing light bulbs, unblocking drains, fixing dripping taps etc is the tenants' responsibility as they are minor repairs. So it's up to the OP to try and get the security light fixed not the landlord. If you attempt to fix the light and find out it is a more serious electrical repair then it becomes the landlord's responsibility.

As far as reglazing goes the landlord eventually replaced the glass a couple of months later. However in the same accommodation I broke a upstairs window and didn't pay for it even though I offered. I was told that the cost of the glass and putty was about £5 and because I wasn't a horrible tenant I didn't have to pay.

bella4uk

I would try and fix the light but only Terry the handyman knows his own electricals for instance when then a light bulb goes all the electrics in the house short circuit too....There is no on off switch anywhere to be seen for the security light, he is the one who rewired the house and although he is a lovely man I'm afraid some of his work looks dodgy...and I know nothing about electricals.

Anyway I had strong words with the landlord, window is going to be fixed tomorrow, he's going to repair and add more security to the back gate and also a few other things that neede doing.
At the end of the day for the past 3 years he gets my very high rent payed by DD without fail every month, I don't trash the place, I've patiod his back yard, redocorated to a high standard and vastly improved the property....he knows he can't upset me too much!

welshcakes

bella, you sound like a good decent tenant - patio, wow, that's something that's increased the value of his property. We did the same, erected a huge wood shed and decking etc in back garden simply because it enhanced our lifestyle.

I guess the only drawbacks to being a pro-active tenant are that you can do so much that you risk the landlord serving notice so that they can sell and a better asking price on the back of the free labour and materials you've supplied. Hopefully private renting will remain a lucrative business and ensure the longevity of our tenancies.

MissMoneypenny

courtjester wrote:

WHOA, WHOA.... before you start laying down the law with the landlord, you need to make sure you have your laws right.

It's not necessarily the case at all that repairing a broken window in a tenanted property is the landlord's responsibility - in fact the chances are that your tenancy agreement /lease states that replacement of GLASS is the TENANT'S responsibility !!

The Office of Fair Trading web site states that it IS the landlords responsibily to replace the glass, as it was not broken by the tennant or her friends. The OFT site also states that the landlord cannot take away your legal rights even if it says so in the contract.

MissMoneypenny

courtjester wrote:

WHOA, WHOA.... before you start laying down the law with the landlord, you need to make sure you have your laws right.

It's not necessarily the case at all that repairing a broken window in a tenanted property is the landlord's responsibility - in fact the chances are that your tenancy agreement /lease states that replacement of GLASS is the TENANT'S responsibility !!

The Office of Fair Trading web site states that it IS the landlords responsibily to replace the glass, as it was not broken by the tennant or her friends.

The OFT site also states that the landlord cannot take away your legal rights even if it says so in the contract. Page 2 of the Office of Fair Trading "Unfair tenancy terms - don't get caught out." Their website is https://www.oft.gov.uk where a copy of this can be downloaded. You can phone them on 08457 224499.

C_Ronaldo

Fitzy29 wrote:

If you don't like the house, 'MOVE' ,it's your choice to live there...stop moaning!

fitzy

you post wasnt constructive, its not that easy to do in a position the OP is in

Gorgeous_George

I would assume that the LL is responsible unless:

the tenant did not repoort the burglary to the Police

or

the tenant left valuable items (such as a laptop) in easy sight of a passing opportunist thief - in which case the LL could argue that the tenant was negligent.

Providing the property is being looked after and the rent is paid on time, I would expect the LL to rsove this minor issue to the tenant's satisfaction.



GG