Some rental advice please.

babyfruitella

For the last 2 years we've been renting a house through a LA. A couple of months ago the rent was increased & the LA let us know that the LL was planning to rent privately to us. We were a bit wary as this is the first property the LL has ever had but we agreed. The LL's came round for a meeting with us, & we had a good chat & both agreed that a 2 year contract fixed at our new rent was a good idea, & the LL set about getting the contracts written up. We are due to sign them tomorrow. Rewind a couple of weeks, & we had a problem with our bathroom window and it won't open. We contacted the LL to let him know & he said he'd come & look at it. He came round last week & couldn't open it either, so he said he'd get someone to come & see it. Over the weekend we noticed that the wall in our son's room near the window was getting damp so we mentioned this to him too. As with the bathroom window, he said he wanted to come & see it first. Yesterday he contacted us with regards to signing the contracts. We set a time for tomorrow & the windows were mentioned again. We pointed out that the bathroom window was obviously our main concern because there's absolutely no ventilation in there now, & again he said he'd try to get someone to look at it. Tonight, we received a call at 4:40 from LL telling us that someone would be round to look at the window in the next 5 minutes. My husband who took the call, was understandably a little bit put out at the short notice, particularly as we were just sitting down to eat & pointed out to the LL that he thought it was a bit poor to give us 5 minutes notice, but agreed to the guy coming 'round & he was in & out quite quickly to be fair. About an hour later, we received a knock at the door. I answered & it was the LL. His opening line was "is he in?" (meaning my husband) & I invited him in. He declined my offer & said he'd rather speak outside. My husband went to the door, & the LL's first words to him were "change of heart, its 6 months now". Thus ensued a debate on our doorstep. The LL wasn't happy with the way he was spoken to on the phone, my husband still wasn't happy about the short notice we were given or the manner in which it was given. The LL said we seemed to think everything had to be done when it suited us & that that isn't the case.... As he left the LL said he'd see us tomorrow & that he'd settle on 2 years as that's what he agreed. But my head's in turmoil now, i've no idea what to do.

Surely as the tenants, its our home, & things should be done at a convenient time to suit us? Were we really out of line at being unimpressed at being given 5 minutes notice that a workman was coming 'round? I'm beginning to question myself here, & wonder if maybe we've got it all wrong & we should be playing to the LL's fiddle? Can anyone offer me some advice? We don't want to sign for 6 months. We wanted the security of 2 years.

G_M

Too much close text but

Yes, YOUR home YOU decide who comes and when.

Write, asking for advance warning and agreement before anyone comes.

Wee_Willy_Harris

Sit down with the LL and DISCUSS your concerns and future expectation prior to signing any new contract. There must, by definition, be 2 sides to this.

It may have been a simple communication issue. Perhaps the LL was expecting you to be impressed that he had got a workman round at such short notice, then was upset when you clearly (and rightly) were not. Of course, he could also just be a complete plank. So, far better to politely, calmly and in a civilised manner, get the ground rules established from the start.

N79

babyfruitella wrote: »

Surely as the tenants, its our home, & things should be done at a convenient time to suit us?

Yes, within reason and excepting genuine emergencies where the fabric of the property or lives are at stake (although if it takes 4 weeks for a convenient time to come around you can't then complain that your LL takes ages to conduct repairs).

babyfruitella wrote: »

Were we really out of line at being unimpressed at being given 5 minutes notice that a workman was coming 'round?

No

babyfruitella wrote: »

I'm beginning to question myself here, & wonder if maybe we've got it all wrong & we should be playing to the LL's fiddle?

Not really a question but you have not got it wrong.

babyfruitella wrote: »

Can anyone offer me some advice?

Not really - I'm afraid your LL is obviously without a clue and is going to provide an amateur service without the backup of the former agents.

babyfruitella wrote: »

We don't want to sign for 6 months. We wanted the security of 2 years.

Then don't sign. Although if the LL refuses 2 years your options are 6 months or a periodic tenancy.

In reality, I think you should write a list of how you expect your LL to conduct future repair issues (and what you will do to support) and discuss and agree it with the LL. Without this, I suspect that the LL's and your expectations of the relationship are just not going to coincide!:D

Turnbull2000

I'm afraid this is the UK renting game. The only sure way to avoid getting sh*t on is to buy.

babyfruitella

Thanks everyone. Have put back signing til Friday now, so we can all have chance to put our expectations of the relationship across.