1 week in and want to leave

almostfree83

Firstly thanks for the advice so far, funnily enough no I didn't view the place during a blackout.

The sockets hanging out the wall was behind a piece of furniture, and the hand rail being loose only became apparent when I was moving in and had to lean on it for support. The crumbling walls was only noticed when the place was being painted.

I'm in Scotland, and the place was mentioned by a colleague so no reason not to trust them (or the LL for that matter) at the time.

FWIW I have previously been stung by a letting agency for a lot of money, so when this came up and was through someone I (thought I) could trust I went down this road, so this decision was nothing to do with lack of savings or access to funds.

racing_blue

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

RAS wasn't being narrow-minded you fool! He was responding to a clue about where the OP might be when they mentioned the deposit. The housing laws are very different in NI and Scottishland to England & Wales. In most cases this is important and no responsible poster would want to mislead a tenant when giving advice.

Do you have any helpful or useful advice for the OP or are you only on here for other purposes?

At ease, madam! RAS's comment just tickled me because it could be read two ways. But yes I was flippant, so a bit of a slapping is OK.

Don't know if I'm the right person to give advice to almostfree83, but my approach would be to look at the big picture first, and then at the details second. For example I would leave if I'd mistakenly picked a bad area and there were burnt out cars / people dealing drugs on my doorstep. I would probably leave if I had a neighbour who was obviously going to make my life miserable. These would be deal breakers. Or if I got a job in another town. Or if I realised the place was way too small. That sort of thing, I'd take a hit and move on.

Otherwise I'd make a list of the fixable problems and start with the safety risks. The sockets and the stair rail stand out. I'd phone up the landlord or letting agency and find out how quickly they could fix them. My expectation would be of a very quick response (few day at most). If not forthcoming I'd arrange the work myself and then send on the bill, having first informed the landlord of my intention to do so and given them a chance to discuss.

Broken stuff that is functional comes next. Doors, cupboards, toilets, showers etc. I'd give the landlord my list but be flexible & negotiate over timings and priority.

Bottom of the list would come general decoration and correcting shabbiness. I'd probably do some of this my self, perhaps as a bargaining tool to speed up some of the work I couldn't do.

Good luck though

almostfree83

What was originally general shabbiness has ended up with part of the ceiling coming down during the night. It seems that the place has been renovated on the cheap / by cowboys / amateurs and is not structurally safe. I have a meeting with the LL today to go through everything. I am not trying to "weasel out" of my agreement, but cannot live in somewhere that may very well fall apart very quickly.

dancingfairy

Do you have environmental health or anything like that where you are? Council tenancy/housing officer?
Can you agree a mutual surrender with the landlord (ie he releases you so you can get on with your life).
Best of Luck
df

almostfree83

Yes I have environmental health and I'm pulling together a comprehensive list of everything at the moment. It's just all a bit of a nightmare! Will ask about mutual surrender as well and see how that goes.
Just wanted to get some other opinions as I may have been sensitive about the issue, but thank you all for your advice.

tbs624

OP - go and have a read of the Private Rented Housing Panel website.

Your first step is to write to the LL listing out the repairs/maint issue and asking him to confirm in writing when each will be addressed. If LL doesn't play ball then you report the matter to the PRHP

Have you checked that the LL is registered as LLs are required to be in Scotland?

Scotland will shortly become subject to tenancy deposit registration. If you rLL is trying to circumvent the rules by his "decreasing rent" strangeness then he is likely to come unstuck . Does any of the higher rent get offset against damages unpaid rent etc? Is there any amount due to be returned you if the property is returned to the LL in appropriate condition? (A tenancy deposit which was received by a LL on or after March 7 2011 and before Oct 2 2012 will need to be scheme registered by Nov 13 2012)

missile

I hope you have somewhere else to go?

katieowl_2

My DD and her BF are in a similar position at the moment, I've found this this morning looking for tips.

The Letting agent met them in a cafe and handed over the keys, they'd viewed the flat with him two weeks previously (for about five mins) and he's told them all necessary work would be done before they moved in. Work to be done was not specified, but they were told the place would be 'tidied up' before they moved in.

There was some mould on the walls - which they saw. There was a big hole in the kitchen filled with rubble and a few other things. They weren't that bothered as DD's BF is a plumber and they were happy to do a bit of work themselves. When they moved in Sunday, they discovered the mould was MUCH worse, and in fact the Bedroom wall was wringing wet and now had red fungal growth as well as black. The pair of them got sicker and sicker between Sunday and Thursday, when on the advice of a builder friend we had to take them out and bring them back to my house. He said he was in there for an hour and he felt dreadful. Anyone whos' been in there for more than a few mins is reporting headaches, burning in nose and eyes, and respiratory problems.

We've told the owner and the letting agent, due to the amount of work requirerd, that they want to leave as they haven't even unpacked, and the response was that the owner sent his team of three builders around, who all agreed that the place was not fit to live in, and the electrician says the electrics will not have a certificate as there is a major fault as it doens't have a RCB on the system. We pointed out that giving DD and BF a full refund will enable them to carry out remedial work without them being in the way, and he can schedule the work at his leisure as it will amount to several thousand pounds worth.

I should mention that it has been discovered this week that the damp is coming from the upstairs flat's bathroom, the soil stack is leaking (nice) and they apparently have been asking that the leaks be repaired since they moved in two months ago

The letting agent (who agreed with me Friday on site that they couldn't possibly be expected to stay there) has now sent me an e-mail saying it's nothing to do with him as he is not managing the property, and the owner has been very rude to DD and keeps hanging up on her when she tries to talk to him.

I've sent the letting agent an e-mail this morning, telling him that I'm holding him equally responsible for not doing his duty (his job to check there is electric cert?) and that I'm putting DD and her BF into B&B accommodation and expect him to pick up the tab.

They've asked that they get the deposit back, and the first months rent, and they will simply find something else, without incurring him any expenses. A de humidifier would have to be run for at least four weeks, and I don't see why that should be at their expense on a key meter!!! I thought that was a very reasonable offer TBH? Otherwise we will call in EH and see what they think.

Any input????


Kate

themull1

racing_blue wrote: »

Don't be so narrow minded, there's dreadful housing in Wales too, and in some parts of Northern England

And Southern England too......

BitterAndTwisted

Katieowl: your DD should get in touch with Environmental Health first thing tomorrow morning. If the landlord has either sacked the agent, or just instructed them to find him a tenant then all communication should be direct with the landlord.

I suggest that their position should be that the property is uninhabitable, once that has been confirmed by EH, and therefore their contract is "frustrated". The landlord should either accept responsibility for housing them elsewhere or refund all of the money they have handed over.

I'd be having a chat with the Local Authority's private rental section for advice as well.