Would you rent this house?

Amberlee_2

I would really appreciate other people’s opinions on a property I am looking at to rent.

At the moment, I am renting and was very happy in my home, but the neighbours next to me are a total nightmare.
Without boring you with too much detail, I cannot tolerate living next door to them any longer. Their landlord is not interested and I have got to the stage where I hate going home.
So, I am going to move.

I have found a really nice house to rent and have viewed it a couple of times.
It is perfect- except that in the kitchen, around the patio doors, and in the living room, there is a water leak.

It is coming through the lintel in the living room and is not a great deal of water, maybe a couple of tablespoons full.
The patio door is worse- it was coming in at the top and the sides. However, not a massive amount- not gallons of it.

I viewed it after we had had a couple of days of heavy driving rain. Obviously there is some sort of issue with the doors/roof etc.

The landlord is apparently quite hands on and good with repairs.
The house is currently empty so I cannot ask the existing tenants- I only have the letting agent’s opinion of the landlord.

The cynic in me has heard stuff like this before and I am concerned about moving in and it becoming a big issue the landlord refuses to fix.

The house is otherwise spotless and he has just painted it and put in fresh carpets- so there is a level of care there.

I do like the house and the leak is not huge. I’m hoping the landlord will fix it but if not I think I could maybe live with it.

Would you take a chance or steer clear?

Ginger_Poodle

Perhaps an overtly simplistic response, but here goes...

Ask the landlord to fix it, prior to you moving in, as a condition of you going ahead with the rental. That will give you an answer one way or the other.

My alarm bells only ring when you mention that it is freshly painted and carpeted...why would he redecorate prior to fixing leaks that are likely to undo his good work???

Touche

Ask them to fix it as a condition before you take it? If they won't fix it then don't move in? Seems reasonable...

DominicJ_2

Yep, fix first.
At the end of the day, any inward water is a very bad sign.

clutton_2

who knows when it started

franklee

It's possible the LL thought it was fixed but the driving rain still got in so it needs looking at again, or it may be a new problem. The property sounds nice so I would put the issue to the agent in writing and ask for written confirmation what they're doing to fix it. You could also ask to meet the landlord at the property but the agent may put obstacles in the way of that.

Don't forget to ask if it's going to be managed by the agent or the LL, what all the fees are, consent to let, the LL's long term plans for the property (you don't want an accidental LL who wants to sell soon), look over a copy of the tenancy agreement etc.

G_M

And be wary of going through the (costly?) application process and signing a tenancy, even with a written agreement that it will be fixed.

Failure to fix would not necessarily invalidate the tenancy agreement once you've signed it, and would simply become an ongoing repairing issue.

jojo_2012_2

Amberlee wrote: »

It is perfect- except that in the kitchen, around the patio doors, and in the living room, there is a water leak.

The landlord is apparently quite hands on and good with repairs.

I'd be wary, this could mean a landlord who bodges things 1000 times before finally calling in a professional. There's a leak in 2 different parts of the house, if he's so good with repairs why hasn't one or the other been repaired by now?

tbs624

A LL is obliged under statute to keep the exterior of a property in good repair. I' d be very wary of signing up for a property with pre-existing evidence that exterior repairs have not been dealt with.

It's the easy option to slap some nice bright emulsion on the walls and put some nice new cheap carpeting down and hope that any potential T will be impressed by that and miss the damp/water ingress. The previous carpets had probably acted as a sponge and been capable of seed growth, as a form of capillary matting.

krlyr

He's trying to rent out an empty house, he's gone to the effort of redecorating, if he's that hands-on then why are the leaks not fixed? Even if he thought they were fixed, he should now be aware that it's not (assuming the LA have now informed him, after seeing it when taking you for a viewing) and I would expect it to be fixed (or being fixed) if you requested a second viewing. Any sensible landlord would fix an issue like a leak ASAP before it causes more damage to his (nice, recently decorated) house.