Painting the outside of my house...

Yockers

Sounds straight forward but isnt.

I rent via Touchstone who represent HSBC. The outside of my property has lots of bare patches of concrete and paint flaking off the wall...

Do I have any rights to get them to repair this - it looks awful and I dont believe that it can be right that they refuse to do it?

Thanks

Running_Horse

If the property is structurally sound then what's the problem?

If you think your rental property looks awful, rent somewhere else?

Yockers

Running_Horse wrote: »

If the property is structurally sound then what's the problem?

If you think your rental property looks awful, rent somewhere else?

Are you saying unless there is a hole in the property then they dont have to repair it? I'm looking for advice not rhetorical questions.

The property looks delapitaed and with the concrete exposed to the elements as the render is now coming off, I feel this is basic maintinence....

please dont bother replying unless you have a practical answer.

BornAtTheRightTime

If you believe this is necessary maintenance to prevent structural damage then you must bring this to the attention of the landlord IN WRITING. The landlord has a duty to provide structurally-safe accommodation. A tenant has a duty to reside in the property in a 'tenant-like manner' which includes telling the landlord of any potential strucutural issues of which they are aware.

If it is merely cosmetic you may ask, but it is not a legal requirement that the property be maintained cosmetically. A canny landlord may choose to maintain cosmetically to keep a good tenant happy but there is no obligation.

Yockers

BornAtTheRightTime wrote: »

If you believe this is necessary maintenance to prevent structural damage then you must bring this to the attention of the landlord IN WRITING. The landlord has a duty to provide structurally-safe accommodation. A tenant has a duty to reside in the property in a 'tenant-like manner' which includes telling the landlord of any potential strucutural issues of which they are aware.

If it is merely cosmetic you may ask, but it is not a legal requirement that the property be maintained cosmetically. A canny landlord may choose to maintain cosmetically to keep a good tenant happy but there is no obligation.

Thanks....its a bit of a gray area. Basically there is exposed areas and pieces of render coming off but the wall in all honesty is not falling down....we'll see what they say.

princeofpounds

Render is cosmetic in most constructions I would imagine, as it has no bearing on structural safety (unless it were protecting something vulnerable to the elements that was then exposed, like a steel beam).

So they don't have to do anything, and given it sounds like a repossessed property I doubt they will. Sorry.

GDB2222

Yockers wrote: »

Are you saying unless there is a hole in the property then they dont have to repair it? I'm looking for advice not rhetorical questions.

The property looks delapitaed and with the concrete exposed to the elements as the render is now coming off, I feel this is basic maintinence....

please dont bother replying unless you have a practical answer.

What an ungrateful guy you are. The advice given was accurate, but it wasn't what you wanted to hear. Now, you've had exactly the same advice from other posters, perhaps you ought to apologise?

Running_Horse

That's OK. I don't spend my time demanding apologies from strangers on the Internet. The misunderstanding seems to arise in the thread title: Painting the outside of my house... It's not your house, you are just renting it. What have the owners said to you about it?

BitterAndTwisted

I don't think cracked and failing render is purely cosmetic, it could start letting rainwater in and then cause damp. I would WRITE to the landlord and advise them of your concerns. Whether they decide to address it is then up to them.

Yockers

Running_Horse wrote: »

That's OK. I don't spend my time demanding apologies from strangers on the Internet. The misunderstanding seems to arise in the thread title: Painting the outside of my house... It's not your house, you are just renting it. What have the owners said to you about it?

Firstly, apologies if we have got off on the wrong foot.

The house is actually owned by HSBC and when I first moved in a lot of work needed doing to it as there had been squatters living in the property.

The outside of the property is as described, delapidated. There are large patches where the paint has come off and the render etc is exposed.

I contacted the agents and they have said that they will not spend anymore money until 2012. But I dont see how this is a reasonable answer. Budgets or not - doesnt the landlord (HSBC) have a duty to maintain the outside of the house?

Thanks

Yockers

GDB2222 wrote: »

What an ungrateful guy you are. The advice given was accurate, but it wasn't what you wanted to hear. Now, you've had exactly the same advice from other posters, perhaps you ought to apologise?

Have apologised - thanks for your input