Landlords Responsibilities

Gwhiz

Hi all,

Been away for a while so back on the board again.

I've just started (26th November) renting a property in England for a year under an AST.

I have informed the agent, who last week informed the LL, that there are a number of issues that need sorting. Most are small and of no real urgency but there are a few that really do need sorting.

Before I call the LL to discuss I just wanted to understand if these things are also a legal responsibility or is it be a case of his goodwill only to fix.

These are:

1. The extractor, over the hob, in kitchen des not work. Kitchen therefore fills with smoke/fumes when cooking. There is a door and window to open but it's a little chilly to be doing this.

2. The central heating thermostat does not work so the heating is operating at full blast all the time. There are some thermostatic radiators, but not all.

3. Landing lights. When I turn these off, the low energy bulbs continue to flicker as though there is an intermittent flow of power to them.

4. There is a conservatory off the living room (albeit behind patio doors). This leaks.

Many thanks for reading and I look forward to your replies.

Gary

theartfullodger

See here
http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/repairs_and_bad_conditions/disrepair_in_rented_accommodation/repairs_in_private_lets
for good advice..

Any landlord that does not fix leaks needs his head examining -- that is defo his responsibility, but he may not know of the problem..

Other items - thermo I'd say is his problem (probably), others are arguable...

Suggest you start gently - don't want to end up with bad relationship...

As a Landlord I would definitely want any tenant to tell me promptly about any defects, even if I concluded they weren't my problem...



Cheers!!

Gwhiz

Thanks for that link - really useful.

I want to have a positive relationship with the LL but until I talk to him I have no idea what he is like so just wanted to be in possession of the facts.

G_M

The lights flickering could be to do with the bulb, rather than the power supply - try putting in a 25p old-fashioned bulb and see what happens.

The other issues all need reporting to the landlord. By all means do this by phone if you have a decent relationship (note: there was a thread here recently about a LL who got angry about being called out-of-hours ie evening!), but follow up with a letter/

The letter should
1) be addressed to the landlord
2) at the address on the tenancy agreement "for the serving of notices"
3) list each problem, simply and factually
4) be friendly. You can start by saying how happy you are at the property and then that you 'just want to bring a few matters to his attention (as discussed, if you have discussed)
5) suggest he comes round for a cup of tea, and a look at the issues,say, next Saterday, if that is convenient?

As a LL I would want to know about these defects, and would fix them all (except maybe the light - see above), but there is no legal obligation on the LL to fix them all.

Gwhiz

G_M wrote: »

The lights flickering could be to do with the bulb, rather than the power supply - try putting in a 25p old-fashioned bulb and see what happens.

The other issues all need reporting to the landlord. By all means do this by phone if you have a decent relationship (note: there was a thread here recently about a LL who got angry about being called out-of-hours ie evening!), but follow up with a letter/

The letter should
1) be addressed to the landlord
2) at the address on the tenancy agreement "for the serving of notices"
3) list each problem, simply and factually
4) be friendly. You can start by saying how happy you are at the property and then that you 'just want to bring a few matters to his attention (as discussed, if you have discussed)
5) suggest he comes round for a cup of tea, and a look at the issues,say, next Saterday, if that is convenient?

As a LL I would want to know about these defects, and would fix them all (except maybe the light - see above), but there is no legal obligation on the LL to fix them all.

Hi, thanks for that.

The landlord is aware of all this, as the letter I sent to the LA was forwarded to him by them. Up until that point I was unaware that they were not fully managing the property.

However I have his address which is very local to me so will also pop a friendly one to him directly too.

G_M

See my point 2) above.

The reason for using this address (which may be the LL's, but may be the agent, or, indded, his mum's!) is that it is the official address. IF (and I stress 'if') there is ever an issue/dispute in future about any of these matters (either in enforcing repairs, or,indeed, deduction from your deposit at the end of the tenancy for 'damage') then you need to have proof that you reported the defects officially.

Gwhiz

G_M wrote: »

See my point 2) above.

The reason for using this address (which may be the LL's, but may be the agent, or, indded, his mum's!) is that it is the official address. IF (and I stress 'if') there is ever an issue/dispute in future about any of these matters (either in enforcing repairs, or,indeed, deduction from your deposit at the end of the tenancy for 'damage') then you need to have proof that you reported the defects officially.

Understood. I have the official address, which is the LLs place of residence, and will use that.

Gwhiz

Just to close the loop.

I delivered the letter by hand at around 2pm today and got a call from the LL about 30 minutes ago saying he'd get his people to come round and look at the issues in the next few days.

Result.

Thanks for all your advice.

theartfullodger

Gwhiz: Re "official address" - that means the address given in the tenancy agreement. Is that his residence or somewhere else??

At least it sounds like things are moving, great!!

Gwhiz

theartfullodger wrote: »

Gwhiz: Re "official address" - that means the address given in the tenancy agreement. Is that his residence or somewhere else??

At least it sounds like things are moving, great!!

Sorry if I was not clear. The official address in the AST is also his residence which happens to also be 3 minutes from the rental property.