Landlord Ignoring Request for Repairs

Out,_Vile_Jelly

page23 wrote: »

I've called and no one answered the office phone number, so I've written yet another email to try to get their names.

Here's what I wrote:
"Hello Edward,

Thank you for speaking with me yesterday. I do realise it's quite annoying to have me calling every few days, but I'm absolutely desperate for a working oven and a proper toilet seat to sit on. I've been having chats with a few forum posters regarding this and they've suggested that I send you a physical letter by recorded mail. May I please have your surname, or the first and surname of my landlord so I can post it today?

Also, any news from Mark or Terry about what happened on Saturday? When I spoke to Jade last week, she mentioned that the appointment to fix the issues was logged in the diary, but as I said yesterday, I was only away from the flat for about an hour and a half and didn't see anyone come by. They may have come by in that 1.5 hours though, but nothing was fixed.

Any light on these would be much appreciated."

No need to worry about names:

Dear Sir/Madam,

Re Tenancy of [insert address]

I am writing to draw your attention to the following unresolved issue(s):

- brief description of problem, date you first told agent

As this was first raised some time ago, I would appreciate a timely response.

Yours Faithfully

Your name

Send this to the address on your tenancy agreement.

dimbo61

While you are waiting for the oven to be fixed could you buy a combi microwave with grill?
It would then be a way of heating food and you can take it to your next home

missile

The tenancy agreement is vague, hence asking the questions here.

This is what it says (I just c/p'd anything with repair or damage in it):
The tenant agrees with the Landlord:
(3.5) To keep the interior of the Property and the Contents in good and clean condition and complete repair

It appears quite clear to me. I would interpret that as tenant is responsible.

Good luck

N79

missile wrote: »

It appears quite clear to me. I would interpret that as tenant is responsible.

Good luck

True, but in this case the agent has (verbally) agreed to fix which suggests it is worth persevering with them for at least a little longer. Whether this is a result of an implied contractual obligation (LL includes this service informally) or a gesture of goodwill is not clear!

Turnbull2000

missile wrote: »

It appears quite clear to me. I would interpret that as tenant is responsible.

Good luck

So if the tenant is responsible for keeping the contents in "complete repair", it's fair to say the landlord is entitled to take ownership of anything that the tenant has replaced? After all, if (for example) a working microwave was there when they entered the tenancy, one should remain as they leave.

page23

here's what I got back from the agency (plus surnames! exciting).

"Sorry for the late reply.

We have an appliance engineer coming to our office today to collect jobs and keys, I will ensure he has your job and ask him to get to you quickly. Just to confirm, there is power to the oven but it’s just not heating up? Having come in to this late please could you elaborate on the toilet sat, do you now have one at all or is it broken?

Mark and Terry have a schedule of works for the building so will be attending soon to take care of all the jobs in the building in one go."

I'll send a recorded letter now as well, just so it's well documented. I think this is the only way I can get health & safety involved.

Fire_Fox

Sound promising!

page23

Hi guys,

Here's the latest update. I sent a letter by recorded delivery and never heard anything back. I've been calling as well, but they will not give me a date of when it will be fixed claiming that they are running a 'skeleton staff'.

Today my boiler broke and they said they'd try to get someone out today, but they can't promise anything because of this 'skeleton staff'.

They said I can't get my own contractor out at this point, because they 'can't have other people poking around' and that it 'would be a premium price to get someone out now'.

They said the maintenance guys will be catching up on all the other non-emergency jobs after the holidays so my oven will be fixed 'some time in the new year'. Then she hung up on me after claiming that she couldn't hear me.

I sent a text to her saying that my oven is an emergency because it's an electrical issue, but of course I doubt I'll hear back about that. Figured I'd try anyway.

What to do... I'm going to be flying home to the States for two weeks next Tuesday anyway, so I guess for the moment it's not absolutely essential to have the oven before the holidays. I wish I could go to the Citizen's Advice Bureau in Haringey, but I have to take a day off work to do it and I'm out of holiday until next year. Is the CAB the best I can do?

All the best,
Tara

page23

The repairman came in to fix the boiler (said it was because I turned the towel rack in the bathroom off - which I can't remember doing). He left quite a significant mess in the toilet.

oven is still broken.

lovely.

Blackpool_Saver

What kind of mess? surely you don't mean.....