Help! Renting property from hell - letting agents breaking regulations?

DinoHoody

Hi there,

I'm a student and I took out a one year contract on a one-bedroom private flat with my partner (which has turned out to be the flat from hell).

When we moved in, there was no way to turn the heating on - after investigations, we found out that the property didn't have its' own boiler. Instead, it shared a boiler with an adjoined 7-bedroom house which has been rented out to other students. This is NOT mentioned anywhere in the tenancy agreement and we weren't told until after we moved in. We were also told (after moving in) that the water bill is shared. I asked the tenants of the 7-bedroom flat and they were also not told until after moving in.

This creates a lot of problems. Firstly, me and my partner can't turn our heating on so we're freezing cold unless the house upstairs decides to put it on (which isn't often). I've borrowed an electric heater from a friend, but it's obviously really expensive to run and only heats a small area of the flat anyway.

Secondly, Yorkshire Water have sent a debt collector round to tell me off for not paying the water bills (which the letting agent told me was shared and therefore already paid). Yesterday I recieved a bill for over £200 from Yorkshire Water that needs to be paid urgently. Despite this, I am being told I owe money to the 7 girls upstairs for the water bill they paid (which does appear to include the flat that's been converted - it was originally a part of their property). This means I'm liable for 2 water bills which I can't afford on my student loan and shouldn't have to pay anyway!
:eek:

Thirdly, the tenancy on the 7 bedroom house upstairs ends and starts before mine and my partner's does. This means we'd be liable for standing charges on the property after they move. If we simply split their bills, we'll be paying for what they used since they moved in in July (yet our tenancy only began on the 5th of September).

Fourthly, there is no (fair) way of splitting the bills between the two properties. We have electric hobs and oven and shower, whereas I think theirs are gas - so they would use much more gas than us? The letting agents have said it is to be split 8 ways (the 7-bedroom house pays 7/8ths, and me and my partner pay 1/8th. This just seems to be a random arbitrary amount). Apparently the 7 girls went to speak to the letting agents and the letting agents agreed to take the bills in their name. However, the letting agents have said they're just going to split the bills 8 ways, which doesn't really help with any of my previous concerns.

I need some advice urgently on this situation, can anyone help? I feel like I've rented the property from hell and been completely misled by the letting agents! Is there any way I can get money off the rent to account for all the money I'm spending on running electric heaters? I'm slightly underweight and if I stay in the flat for a couple of hours my lips, hands and face start to turn purple from the cold (even though I'm wearing many layers).

pinkshoes

If your tenancy says you are responsible for your own bills, then I don't think they can MAKE you pay for the property next door. Is it even registered as two properties?

Fire_Fox

Welcome! What is specified in your Assured Shorthold Tenancy about the utility bills, who pays for what and how they are divided? Is this a fully self contained flat with it's own kitchen, bathroom, front door, council tax listing and bill (I know you will have sent in your exemption certificate)? Or is the entire building registered with the council as a House of Multiple Occupancy? You will need to contact the council to establish all this.

Of course you are not liable for two water bills, you only have one AST for one property so try not to panic. The debt collector must something to do with the previous tenant or the house as a whole. Where are the water meters (there must be two if there are two bills) and when were they last read? Did you contact Yorkshire water at the start of the tenancy and advise them of your name and the date you moved in? In which case why have you been sent a £200 bill when you only just moved in, how did such a large bill get in your name?

Once you have established all of the above, deal with this directly with the landlord in writing not by telephone and not in person. Send letters recorded delivery or get two proofs of posting from two different Post Offices. Keep copies of EVERYTHING. If you do not have adequate heating you can contact Environmental Health at your local council. In the mean time you must keep paying your rent as per the legally binding contract you have signed.

You may also need to write to Yorkshire Water clarifying the dates you moved in enclosing a copy of your AST as proof, the meter readings if you have them or asking them to come and read the meters if you have no access (give the agents details). They should then adjust your bill to be for your water use only and contact the letting agent about the old debt.

DinoHoody

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Welcome! What is specified in your Assured Shorthold Tenancy about the utility bills, who pays for what and how they are divided? Is this a fully self contained flat with it's own kitchen, bathroom, front door, council tax listing and bill (I know you will have sent in your exemption certificate)? Or is the entire building registered with the council as a House of Multiple Occupancy? You will need to contact the council to establish all this.

Thanks for the warm welcome and for your helpful response!:)

In my tenancy agreement (a generic tenancy agreement which all tenants sign, from what I can tell) it says that each tenant will "pay the bills in a timely manner, or an appropriate portion..." of the bills. It doesn't specify what this portion would be. However, this tenancy agreement is for my flat, it has my flat's address on it and it does not mention the adjoined house anywhere in the tenancy agreement (I have just re-read it). I assume this can be interpreted to mean that me and my partner must each pay an appropriate portion of our bills for OUR flat.

The flat is entirely self-contained. It has it's own seperate kitchen, it's own bathroom, and it's own lounge/bedroom (studio flat). It has it's own front door. It is connected to the adjoined house upstairs by a set of stairs inside the property, however these stairs are closed off by doors at each end. We have a bolt on our door and they have one on theirs, so neither party can enter the other's property this way (unless we both decided to unlock it).

Some of the girls in the house upstairs have been to ask advice from the CAB, who could not do much to help but they were told that the property is listed as one 9 bedroom house with the council. However, the letting agent is advertising and renting the property out as two seperate properties (a 7 bedroom HMO and a seperate one bedroom self-contained 'garden' flat). Is this likely to create yet another problem? Is there anything I can do to get this changed?

To explain the water bill situation a bit further, apparently the previous tenant moved out in June this year (when we came into the flat it was covered in dust, spider webs and mould - yet another problem)! I think I may be being charged from the time that the previous tenant moved out until March 2013 (the bill mentions it covers a period up to March 2013). I am not willing to pay this until I know that it is a bill a should be paying, but I am frightened about another debt collector coming around to the property and I am also worried about how it will affect my credit rating if I don't pay it promptly. Will this happen? If I write to them, how long is it likely to take to get a reply?

RAS

Are there two water meters or just one? Where is it/are they?

WRITE to Yorkshire Water advising the your flat was empty from June to the date you moved in.

The mention of a 9 bed property means that your LL is paying fast and lose with planning regulations and more importantly building regulations as well as Council Tax regulations. There is no way that internal staircase meets the regulations regarding fire risk.

You have asked for your CT exemption forms and sent them to the Council have you not? Advising them that you occupy the garden flat?

Find the telephone number for the Council staff responsible for registering Houses in Multiple Occupancy and tell them how the house is currently divided. Then get their name and write to them.

Fire_Fox

Thanks for the helpful reply. Can you please post the full section about bills not just a few words? Are any bills specified? We do have a couple of people on here who will be able to advise what the wording means. There is no such thing as a generic tenancy agreement.

It sounds like may be living in a property that is either not properly converted or not properly registered, I would contact the council tax department and whichever department deals with HMO (?Planning?) and ask them to carry out an inspection. As an HMO the landlord may be liable for some bills including CT, but if your flat is self contained it may have to be registered for its own CT which means you are liable (but can send in your exemption certificate). It is very important to clarify this, you don't want a backdated bill some time in the future.

Nothing will happen to your credit rating unless you fail to pay/ ignore bills in YOUR name. Please do not be frightened of debt collectors, they cannot and will not do anything if you are not the debtor. If they are a proper bailiff (unlikely) NEVER let them into your home, DO NOT even leave the door open whilst you fetch a pen, close the door in their face. Keep a copy of some identification and a photocopy of your AST by the door.

You must telephone Yorkshire Water ASAP with the date you moved in, the meter reading if you have it, and follow that up in writing: I have no idea how long it will take for them to respond! When you get a correct new water bill in your name, for your address and the dates you live there pay it, don't wait to have anything resolved with your landlord or the agency. Yorkshire Water can refund you or transfer the money to your new address if you have overpaid.

Try Shelter not the CAB, they are more specialised. Have your tenancy agreement and any other paperwork in front of you, letters from the agency specifying what they now claim the arrangements are for bills, information from the council on whether your flat is part of the HMO or a self contained unit.

Quite a lot to do!