help please :my rights

jamstaruk

hi folks looking for your advise here my sister rents a flat her 3year old son opened his room door(glass) and it smashed landlord was gonna charge her £180 for repairs but settled for sis buying a new door(is this right) then a gust of wind slammed shut her front glass door this time sis WAS charged £180 for repairs(is this right) now there is water coming through into house near window and has had to redecorate twice now as landlord has failed to repair problem can sis claim back the money for the decorating???


thanking you all in advanc

arnie&caseysma!

I don't think that the landlord should be able to charge the money for replacing the door if your sister is willing to fix it like for like (as she has already done so once) - although the landlord has a responsibility to ensure that the property is wind and watertight and should fix the problem re the water at the window at no expense.

She should check the terms of the lease for full details re what she is covered for but I think the above will be included somewhere....

jamesd

Doors are OK as they were handled, the landlord is responsible for repairing the window area.

Time to send a letter to the landlord with details and inform the landlord that the water entry means she'll have to get the work done and deduct the cost from the rent if it's not taken care of urgently. The letter should itemise the costs so far since she first notified the landlord of the water entry and ask the landlord to reimburse them as well.

If the landlord hasn't responded within two weeks send a one week notice letter, when it's expired get quotes for the work from three people, copy the landlord on them with a further week's notice and then get it done. Shorten those times if necessary - you have to try to give the landlord a chance to do the job but the place also has to be habitable.

Make sure that she documents the condition. Photographs of water running down walls and such are helpful if there's ever an argument about it.

The decorating is really up to the landlord to do and some won't like her doing it and might try to make life difficult. Others are happy to have the tenant take care of as much as possible.

Outer door would presumably be considered to be negligence, hence her responsibility. Burglary or simlar breakage wouldn't be her responsibility since she wouldn't have caused that. You'll always end up with responsibility for your own negligence. It's arguable whether the door was capable of doing its job but not worth arguing about since the first one was hers to take care of and the landlord ignored that.