sewage pipe leaking into garden

brunettegirl

we have just moved into a rented property the drain outside appears to be blocked and now the toilet is leaking out of this drain???

I have informed the landlord that sewage is leaking and running down into the garden tissue, poo the lot UUGGHH!!

still not fixed!

Are there any rules that state how long they have to get this fixed? I have a 2 year old too, who I have had to ban from the lovley back garden on a nice sunny day!

Help please.

thanks

BitterAndTwisted

A landlord is required to address necessary repair issues "within a reasonable time". To my knowledge no court has ever legally-defined what "reasonable" is in this context, although to me, raw sewage makes it absolutely vital.

If you haven WRITTEN to the landlord (no phone calls, no text messages, nothing else) you should do so immediately, asking him to tell you how he proposes to resolve this at the earliest opportunity, say within 5 days at the latest.

You don't need to be told that raw sewage is a very serious health-hazard so I'm sure your local Environmental Health people would be very interested in hearing about this if you get no joy from the landlord.

RAS

HAve you written to the landlord, not phoned, e-mailed but written?

brunettegirl

no just spoken on the phone. i have no address for her. nothing on the info from the estate agent. Have a number for a man that seems to field her calls from what i gether as when i rang him this morning, the landlady rang me back 30 mins later.

she claims that "hopefully the plumber will be with me first thing tomorrow" - she left voicemail and I can't call back as number withheld. the number for the man has no answer now appears to just do office hours.

ohh i'm so mad that they think it is acceptable to leave all day and all night, i have told my oh to go to the pub for a number 2!

RAS

Are you in England or Wales?

Do you have an address for serving notice on your tenancy agreement?

Legally unless you have that, your LL cannot claim rent, until it is provided.

With respect to the sewage problem, write to the address for serving notice. Until you do that, the problem does not exist, legally.

BitterAndTwisted

What address is given on the tenancy agreement "for the serving of notices"? That's where you should be writing to. Immediately.

brunettegirl

england yes there is a c/o address

RAS

In that case, write to the C/o address. Two copies from separate post office, with certificates of posting. Any court will accept this as evidence that you have advised your LL of the problem.

Phone calls and e-mail do not count.

i1189

Have you been able to work out which way the drains flow? We had an issue with the drain in our back garden, but it turned out it was actually blocked 4 doors up due to them flushing things they shouldn't have down the toilet, and it was therefore down to them to fix it.