Tenants' advice - if any?!

NRO123

Hi,

This may turn into a bit of a long one but am in need of some advice, if any, about whether our landlady has acted fairly I suppose.

My boyfriend and I moved into a ground floor flat in February this year. The tenancy was agreed for 6 months. We have a kitten which we moved in with. Our landlady used the estate agents for finding tenants, but deals with the tenants directly herself. The flat is part of a block, but we don't have access to the main part of the building as the landlady never gave us keys to it.

Within the first few days of moving in, we realised that the kitchen window does not open (it's sealed shut by paint), which amongst a whole list of other smaller problems, we reported to the landlady. These other problems were things like the shower head was broken etc.

She telephoned us when the first month's rent was due in hysterics because it had not yet reached her account (despite being set up as a standing order) and once the money did reach her, she told us she had remembered about the kitchen window and would get round to it.

The next time we heard from her was in May when she called to tell us that she had recived a letter from the building managment company informing her that we had a cat. We confirmed that we did and she told us that the building doesn't allow cats. To cut a long story short, we decided that we would end the tenancy at the end of the 6 months and gave her notice. During the conversation about the cat, we again reminded her about the kitchen and reported that one of the two toilets in the flat was falling off the wall, which she sounded concerned about but hasn't got back to us about since then.

Finally, when the estate agent who had shown us around the flat arrived for a viewing he asked us why we were going and we told him about the cat problem, and he didn't have a clue himself that pets weren't allowed.

To be honest, I'm not sure what advice I want, but I just feel the situation hasn't been very fair as she has been a completely useless landlady and to be honest I think I'm worried about the general disrepair of the flat being put on us when we move out, despite moving in and finding it as so. The inventory on the day we arrived didn't take account of the window, or other things such as the kitchen worktops coming loose.

NRO123

G_M

The inventory on the day we arrived didn't take account of the window, or other things such as the kitchen worktops coming loose.

Did you sign the inventory? If so, you have a potential problem as the LL has proof the property was in good condition (or at leat however described in the inventory) when you moved in, so can deduct from your deposit if it is not like that when you leave.

Did you 'report' the issues to your LL in writing?

Does your tenancy agreement have a 'no pets' clause?

To be honest it sounds like you are better off moving, but next time, learn the lessons:
* always check the tenancy agreememt
* always ensure inventory reflects the actual state of the property when you move in
* always report problems in writing, and then follow them up

Lots of advice for tenants from Shelter here.

NRO123

Hi,

Thanks for the reply.

Annoyingly we did sign the inventory, without questioning it as it took a few days to get through all the moving praphernalia to see the real state of the place.

We have reported the problems to the landlady. I was thinking I would give a list of the reported problems to the estate agent when we leave, just to ensure that the new tenants know that the problems they will find have already been reported to the landlady.

G_M

NRO123 wrote: »

Hi,

Thanks for the reply.

Annoyingly we did sign the inventory, without questioning it as it took a few days to get through all the moving praphernalia to see the real state of the place. :eek:

We have reported the problems to the landlady. in WRITING? I was thinking I would give a list of the reported problems to the estate agent when we leave, just to ensure that the new tenants know that the problems they will find have already been reported to the landlady.

Oh that last paragraph made me :rotfl: you don't think the agent will tell the new tenants do you........?

lauren-morgan

Firsty, the inventory should only state the condition of paintwork etc, there should be a note somewhere that windows etc were not tested to see if they were in working order? Unless it specifically states that the window is in working order then there is nothing they can do to blame you.

With regards to other repairs bits, you may well need evidence that these things were reported to the landlord to avoid being charged, although common sense is used when deciding if these things are to be deducted for. Who was the deposit registered with? If you don't agree with any deductions they want to make GO TO DISPUTE as the deposit schemes are usually very fair.

With regards to the cat, a standard tenancy agreement will have a clause in it that you are not allowed to keep pets in the property, if permission to keep a pet is given there must be a special clause written in. Tbf the agents should have asked you if you had any pets prior to you moving in and you should have read the tenancy agreement; most large blocks will have a clause written in to the owners lease that pets are not allowed so it's not just your landlord being picky.

The best thing to do is wait and see what happens with the check-out in all honesty as it may be fine. Unfortunately some landlords just don't get things done and you've been unlucky in this case!