Need advice from some Landlords

cavework

Son moved into rented 3 bed built over shops in well sought after town.
His rent is for one bedroom and shared amenities .. ie kitchen, living room , bathroom.
Within a month the two other tenants moved out to another City (no reflection on sons living habits!)
The property is in need of a full refurb .. decoration, double glazing , new kitchen and new white goods, TBF it is pretty rough, but because the rent is very fair my son is happy not to rock the boat. There is no smoke alarm and as far as I can see there has not been a Gas or Electric check in years, something that really concerns me..
The Landlord is having trouble reletting the 2 further bedrooms and is becoming increasingly aggressive. He is letting himself into the property without giving my son notice, complaining about the most trivial things.
He is putting pressure on him to find new tenants!
Can anyone advise me on his rights as a tenant. His contract is directly with the landlord. Would the landlord be able to substantially increase his rent if the house was brought up to a lettable standard?

BitterAndTwisted

The rent is "fair" because it reflect the condition of the property. It's none of your son's concern if or whether the landlord is able to find new tenants for the other rooms. It IS your son's concern whether there is a Gas Safety certificate and he should WRITE to the landlord asking them when this will be arranged. There may be no need for smoke alarms, it depends on whether this property qualifies as an HMO or not. Ditto whether the landlord has the right to enter the property. You know that should the landlord improve this property they will be expecting a substantial increase in rent but going by what you describe of the landlord's attitude I think it's extremely unlikely that they will be doing it any time soon.

If he's not happy there he should find somewhere else.

cavework

Thanks B&T ..
one further question
If the property came with white goods supplied , would the Landlord be responsible for replacing a cooker?
He is happy there .. he is 23 and can put up with it the way it is as he is close to work.
In fact at the moment he is renting a 3 bed house for the price of a one bed shared accommodation through no fault of his own.

muskoka

Please, please, please install smoke alarms. First & foremost before you even think of anything else - fairly sure the local fire brigade may well supply these foc. If not, they are very cheap to buy.

Back in 1996, I returned to the U.K. with family - rented an overly large flat (over a shop). Flat caught fire- we were in it. The landlord who owned the shop downstairs had put a spur from a socket from the flat to feed his electric kettle in the shop and this is what started the fire. We lost everything materially, but it didnt matter. Fortunately the fire was during the day & we got out with only the clothes on our back BUT we werent hurt. There was no smoke alarm! No, we didn't sue the landlord & had paid our rent. Post fire our priorities had changed completely & we were just grateful to be alive & unhurt.

Please do this as a matter of urgency

BitterAndTwisted

Depends on whether the cooker actually needs to be replaced. Has it ceased to work and is it beyond economical repair?

RAS

Just tio check; England and Wales? Or Scotland as the law is different. Assuming England.

Is your son's rental agreement for the room with shared facilities or for the flat? This affects whether your son is responsible for the rent and whether he can stop the LL entering the flat

If the LL has more than two people from more than two households living together it may be a House in Multiple Occupancy (HMO) that should be registered.

He must have a Gas Certificate.

cavework

Faulty door catch on oven and door won.t close properly. This has already been pointed out to the LL but ??
I was also under the impression that smoke detectors were required in all let properties, not just multiple occupancies .. also that they had to be wired into the mains and not just battery operated but I might have got this wrong.
RAS , it is England , the rent applies to a room and shared facilities. It must have been HMO until the other two people moved out but the LL is advertising it as rooms to let so would it still be registered?

RAS

Smoke detectors are not compulsory in all rented accomodation. A gas safety certificate is.

Your son is not liable for sourcing new tenants or their rent. The down-side is that the LL can enter the shared accomodation (but not your son's room), whereas he would be entitled to quiet enjoyment if the flat was rented out as a whole.

What is happening re the COuncil tax?

However, if the LL is letting out rooms, it might be time to ask the local Council (priovate tenancy officer) what the rules are locally about HMOs, as these vary from area to area.

cavework

RAS the council tax is included in his rent,so that seems fair.Other bills for elec , gas etc are now sons responsibility as he is the only one living there at the moment
The LL seems a nice bloke but I think he is losing a lot of money by not being able to find new tenants.

paddy's_mum

muskoka wrote: »

Please, please, please install smoke alarms. First & foremost before you even think of anything else - fairly sure the local fire brigade may well supply these foc. If not, they are very cheap to buy.

Back in 1996, I returned to the U.K. with family - rented an overly large flat (over a shop). Flat caught fire- we were in it. The landlord who owned the shop downstairs had put a spur from a socket from the flat to feed his electric kettle in the shop and this is what started the fire. We lost everything materially, but it didnt matter. Fortunately the fire was during the day & we got out with only the clothes on our back BUT we werent hurt. There was no smoke alarm! No, we didn't sue the landlord & had paid our rent. Post fire our priorities had changed completely & we were just grateful to be alive & unhurt.

Please do this as a matter of urgency

Been there, done that, had a PTSD breakdown and came out the other side.

If you paid me, I couldn't agree more with this post and given that your local Fire Station will come out on request and generally fit smoke alarms without any charge, what reason not to have them?

RAS

cavework wrote: »

RAS the council tax is included in his rent,so that seems fair.Other bills for elec , gas etc are now sons responsibility as he is the only one living there at the moment
The LL seems a nice bloke but I think he is losing a lot of money by not being able to find new tenants.

Which means this is an HMO, as that is the only circumstance when the LL pays the CT.

In which case your son needs to check on the LL registration and I think you will find that a smoke alarm may well be required.