Problems with the landlord

Doherty_2

I am currently renting (in Scotland) from a reputable landlord however whenever I ask them to do something it takes days, sometimes weeks for them to do anything about it.

I was sitting last night & the rain was quite heavy, all of a sudden the living room window started leaking from all directions & I am not just talking a small amount of water. I placed buckets under to catch the water & moved all of my electrical equipment away from it. Thankfully the rain stopped about midnight & the flooding stopped. First thing this morning I got on to the landlord & they promised someone would be out today whilst I was working - just arrived home this evening & it is exactly the same. Luckily ebough it isn't raining but if it had been I don't know what I would have done!

This is just one of a number of incidents that have happened & I am still waiting on them to do something about it.

Doe's anyone know how I stand legally? I still have just over three months of the lease to go, can I just move out? What would the implications be?

If anyone could help me out or point me in the direction of websites etc I would be forever grateful. This cannot turn into some sort of legal dispute as I work for a financial organisation & it could affect my job.

Thanks in advance.

clutton_2

""it takes days, sometimes weeks for them to do anything about it.""

try picking a builder out of the phone book and see how long it takes to get one to come round - landlords are not miracle workers

belfastgirl23

Try Citizen's Advice and then go back and talk to your landlord again. While clutton is right that builders can take a while, some landlords don't do anything till they're pushed - at least it's worth arming yourself with the information

Wings

clutton wrote:

""it takes days, sometimes weeks for them to do anything about it.""

try picking a builder out of the phone book and see how long it takes to get one to come round - landlords are not miracle workers

In todays housing market that is very true, tenants do expect landlords to have their plumbers and builders sat by the phone waiting for their calls.

However to answer the original poster's question, if the delay with repairs is unduly long, then put your complaint in writing to the landlord, with the ultimation that unless the repairs are carried out by this date, you will arrange to have the repairs carried out and deduct the monies from your rental payments.

If the property is in a very poor state of disrepair then contact your local council's Environmental Department, and possibly thereafter live rent free until the repairs are carried out.

thesaint

Wings wrote:

In todays housing market that is very true, tenants do expect landlords to have their plumbers and builders sat by the phone waiting for their calls.

However to answer the original poster's question, if the delay with repairs is unduly long, then put your complaint in writing to the landlord, with the ultimation that unless the repairs are carried out by this date, you will arrange to have the repairs carried out and deduct the monies from your rental payments.

If the property is in a very poor state of disrepair then contact your local council's Environmental Department, and possibly thereafter live rent free until the repairs are carried out.

Or evicted?

cheapskate101

I'm a landlord and the only way you can get a builder to do a small job is to marry one - even then it's tricky.

You might ring a Mr Fixit from yr local newspaper columns and get a quote, then present it to the landlord. At least you willl have some sort of evidence that something went wrong during your tenancy if push comes to shove.

The landlord may be grateful as if Mr Fixit can do the work - then it's problem solved for everyone.

Generali

clutton wrote:

""it takes days, sometimes weeks for them to do anything about it.""

try picking a builder out of the phone book and see how long it takes to get one to come round - landlords are not miracle workers

In the case of minor repairs, fair enough. However, something like this should be treated as an emergency IMO and fixed same day.

This is possible to do - try typing '24-hour plumber' into yell.co.uk for example - LLs often don't want to shell out for emergency repair services when they can increase their profit at the small expense of anothers' misery.

Doherty_2

clutton wrote:

""it takes days, sometimes weeks for them to do anything about it.""

try picking a builder out of the phone book and see how long it takes to get one to come round - landlords are not miracle workers

if water was dripping in your living room window you wouldn't expect something to be done asap?



some people are put on this planet to be walked all over

Gorgeous_George

Generali wrote:

In the case of minor repairs, fair enough. However, something like this should be treated as an emergency IMO and fixed same day.

This is possible to do - try typing '24-hour plumber' into yell.co.uk for example - LLs often don't want to shell out for emergency repair services when they can increase their profit at the small expense of anothers' misery.

:rotfl: I don't think the OP needs a plumber.

Maybe the LL is waiting for the DG fitters to repair their faulty work.



GG

slinks

there was a burst pipe and massive flooding in a communal hallway in the middle of the night in my building.

unfortunately i was the only one who heard it so i had to sort it out.

the force of the burst pipe was so strong that i couldn't help but got absolutely soaked which made me ill soon after as i was trying (but failing miserably) to try and stop it...

i was up for hours trying to stop it, getting hold of the right people to come and sort it and meanwhile had to call the fire service to turn it off for me.

not allowed an emergency number for the landlord - if there's a problem i have to wait til 9am to call the estate agents (except sundays of course) so had to stay up until 9am to call them.

no apologies, no thanks and it took the estate agents 2 days to get the landlord to get the water back on after the fire service turned it off.

i wish i hadn't bothered!!! the only thing that came out of this was a bad cold and no water.

got my first water rates bill this morning - who's betting that i have to also pay for that burst pipe with all the water that flooded the hallway and out into the street?

Bergaspeed

We have waited 5 years for a new front door - so we got one ourselves,
10 years for new windows, 2 years for a new kitchen and bathroom!!!
I eventually gave up asking for anything to be done. In the 10 years we have lived here the LL has only been in the house a handfull of times.

We are now moving to our own house (we will be soon, hopefully) but the landlady has now decided that she wants to move in to the property we rent from her, she is going to be in for a shock when she sees the state the propertys got into (damp, mould etc), however we are going to, ahem, "cover up" quite a bit of what the house is like so that we get our deposit back :shhh: only thing is she is coming round next week so we better get a move on!!