landlady refusing to do repairs

rubys_mummy

hi, i just wondered if my hubby and i had a leg to stand on....we moved into a rented house in aug 2012 for an initial period of 6months,but were told that it would be a long term tenancy, which is what we wanted

we've had no heating since we tried to start using it in oct....informed landlady through the letting agent, but she just kept kicking her heels and delaying sending someone out.

she finally sent her ''handyman'' out at beginning of nov......he told her we needed 3 new radiators and the whole system flushing, by his reckoning

she dragged it out till the beginning of jan this year for him to come round to sort it....he duly came,replaced the 3 radiators and put some chemicals in the system.....this still didn't work

we've been on at the agents again, who, to give them credit, have always been on our side,agreeing that its bang out of order that she is being paid her rent every month for a 3 bed house, and yet we've been reduced to sleeping in the lounge as that is the only room we can get warm (its been so cold upstairs, there's ice on the inside of the windows and our bed is soaking wet)

anyway, this landlady has now turned around and said shewants us out because we're getting on he nerves about our lack of heating

she's given us the required 2 months notice, which i know she has every right to do......but in the meantime she's still going to be getting her rent every month, and we STILL have no heating

what i would like to know is....can we still insist on her repairing the heating to a working standard whilst we are still living here?

don't know if it's relevant but i have health problems and am housebound....my husband is my carer...and she was made fully aware of this when we took on the tenancy

thanks for reading.....sorry it's long winded, but i'd just like to know where we stand regarding still getting the heating fixed even though we have to move out at the beginning of april

hoggums

Personally I would withhold my rent payments if this happened to me. Make sure the agency knows you are willing to pay any missed rent as soon as the heating is fixed.

What's the worst they can do - it'll be the end of the contract before they can evict you.

I'm sure some legal eagles may inform you why you shouldn't do this - but I think you've been far too soft on your landlady.

VfM4meplse

Sorry to hear about your situation - your landlady gives the rest of us a bad name!

rubys_mummy wrote: »

we've been on at the agents again, who, to give them credit, have always been on our side,agreeing that its bang out of order that she is being paid her rent every month for a 3 bed house, and yet we've been reduced to sleeping in the lounge as that is the only room we can get warm (its been so cold upstairs, there's ice on the inside of the windows and our bed is soaking wet)

anyway, this landlady has now turned around and said shewants us out because we're getting on he nerves about our lack of heating

I think you're being far too easy on the letting agent, this should have been dealt with and resolved as a matter of urgency by them? Is there anything in the contract re: promptness of repairs that you can refer to?

real1314

The legal route is:-

A letter issued tomorrow, to the agents, to pass on to her.

"To Landlady
We informed your that the heating was not working on xx/xx/xx (the date in October) and that as you has not repaired the system and you we continued to pay rent during this extensive period, we require the heating to be repaired immediately.
If the heating is not repaired within 7 days of the date of this letter - that is by 15/02/13 we will be withholding rent to pay for repairs from the rental payments.

Regardless of any repair we will also be taking legal action through the courts if necessary for a refund of a proportion of the rent that has been paid during the period when the heating has not worked, based on 50% of the rent as you have been unable to use the upstairs of the house due to the lack of heating."

Obviously you need to add the address, rent details etc and clarify the date the heating was reported.
Sign and date it, hand it to the agent tomorrow asking them to make her immediately aware of the contents.
:cool:

DannyboyMidlands

Stop paying rent. It is the only real leverage that you have.

mrginge

real1314 wrote: »

The legal route is:-

...not what you wrote there.

OP You have no right to withhold rent. The question of forcing repairs comes up many times. Do a search and you will see that there is a clear procedure which is explained on the Shelter website.

pmlindyloo

Here is the Shelter link you need:

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/repairs_and_bad_conditions/disrepair_in_rented_accommodation/repairs_in_private_lets/landlord_refusing_to_do_repairs

You can always contact Shelter if you need further help.

Please keep all communication with landlord in writing and keep copies.

Werdnal

Do not with-hold rent or you will be in breach of your tenancy and landlord will be taking you to court, and suing for loss of rent, meaning you will have problems renting in future!

You have received notice, but did the LL/agent protect your deposit? And have you received the prescribed information from the scheme used? Failure to do this within 30 days of your paying the deposit, means the notice issued to you is invalid.

Check out the Shelter advice for dealing with repairs.

Alternatively, contact the EHO at your local council and request a visit to assess the property. They can enforce your LL to carry out repairs, and as it is only a matter of time before LL evicts you anyway, you have nothing to lose and atleast will have the satifaction of the LL being forced to sort it out!


As for being soft on the letting agents, they do not pay for or force the LL to carry out repairs. So long as they are passing on the repair requests the the LL, which in this case seems true, their hands are tied if the LL refuses to pay for any work. Agent works for LL not the tenant!

real1314

mrginge wrote: »

...not what you wrote there.

OP You have no right to withhold rent. The question of forcing repairs comes up many times. Do a search and you will see that there is a clear procedure which is explained on the Shelter website.

It's a shame you didn't look at the shelter website. Although it doesn't mirror exactly what i've suggested, gievn the impending eviction, I think it would be a reasonable route to take.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/repairs_and_bad_conditions/disrepair_in_rented_accommodation/repairs_in_private_lets/tenants_doing_repairs

The letter in itself might well spur the LL to act.

Shelter advice:-

1. Notify the LL of intention - they suggest a couple of letters, but given what has passed, I think 1 would satisfy any court.

2. Shelter advise 3 quotes, but again, given the timing I'd suggest using the gas fitter the LL sent (and who is presumably booked by the agent). This should negate the 3 quotes suggestion.

3. Shelter advise sending the quotes before doing the work - again the time issue is a reasonable excuse

4. Shelter advise asking for the payment to be refunded, but given the LLs response, I doubt any court would side with the LL on a witholding against the bill.

You should be aware that the shelter guidance is what it says - guidance - the actual operation of the law in respect of the failure to fulfil a contractual obligation would fall to a court to rule on.
The same court might well be looking at the claim for rent refund too!
:cool:

sandsni

Has the landlady provided any other means of heating the property (electric heaters for example)? Do you still have hot water for washing? If not, you could contact Environmental Health and see if they can push to get the repairs done asap.
Also, from experience, agents can be very good at saying the "right things" to everyone (T and LL) but what you've told the agent and what the agent has told the LL may not be the same thing at all, and vice versa! It's true that the LL pays a fee to the LA, but it doesn't always follow that the LA is only doing what they are told by the LL. Have you ever put your request in writing to the LL? Are you sure the LA passed on your request as soon as you told them in November? Our LA told a tenant (without even asking us) that we wouldn't want to replace a shower AFTER we had already spoken to the tenant to confirm that we would be replacing the shower that very week!

rubys_mummy

we have a coal fire in the lounge and thats all....it's a 3 storey house as well, so you can imagine the damp from condensation on the top floor!

neighbours have told us that she's had 3 lots of tenants before us, and she's done exactly the same thing, as none of them have ever had heating...she just keeps going thru new letting agents :mad:

my hubby is going to see the agents today to see what we can do...whether she is still liable for providing heating whilst we stay for the rest of the notice period, but i'm guessing she'll just continue to drag it out, until she gets us out :mad: