Renting advice - Landlord issues

Yorkie1

1. Deposit. He must protect this within 30 days and send you the 'prescribed information'. Failure to do this means: a) he can't issue a valid s.21 notice of his intention to repossess the property, unless and until he's returned the deposit; b) you can go to court and apply for a penalty of 1-3 times the deposit. Up to you whether you want to keep your powder dry on this, or ask the LL to protect it now (this doesn't mean you can't later apply for the penalty, but it would mean that you've got arbitration available if he decides to be difficult about returning it).

2. Lack of inventory. Is there any inventory at all? If not, it works in your favour rather than against, as the LL will probably struggle to try to retain any of your deposit in the absence of evidence of the state of the place at the start. Again, probably one to keep your powder dry on.

3. Repairs. As advised above, write. NB. Unless the tenancy makes the LL responsible for the repair or replacement of white goods, he isn't responsible - but if you don't ask you don't ever get.

NB This all assumes England / Wales.

sandsni

I'm a bit confused OP, is the thread below from you and your partner too? If so, you couldn't have been in your current place for 3 months since you were still negotiating about your last place in March.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4516955=

Jadekr

3. Repairs. As advised above, write. NB. Unless the tenancy makes the LL responsible for the repair or replacement of white goods, he isn't responsible - but if you don't ask you don't ever get.

The tenancy does state that white goods are to be maintained by the LL - Quote 8.1 on Landlord obligations "To present the property in a condition that is tidy and clean, with all applicances in working order".

The house was not clean by any means when we moved in - but could this be argued as matter of interpretation? Also, the tenancy and lack of inventory does not state which applicances are included.

Jadekr

sandsni wrote: »

I'm a bit confused OP, is the thread below from you and your partner too? If so, you couldn't have been in your current place for 3 months since you were still negotiating about your last place in March.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4516955=

Yes you are correct. Things moved very quickly as we were able to negoitate thank you to everyone who helped us on this forum.
We signed the new tenancy on 29/03 so we have just paid our third rental payment so sorry I should have been clear on that as we have lived in the house for two months but are paid up for three. Sorry I am dyslexic so have trouble conveying myself sometimes.

Yorkie1

Jadekr wrote: »

3. Repairs. As advised above, write. NB. Unless the tenancy makes the LL responsible for the repair or replacement of white goods, he isn't responsible - but if you don't ask you don't ever get.

The tenancy does state that white goods are to be maintained by the LL - Quote 8.1 on Landlord obligations "To present the property in a condition that is tidy and clean, with all applicances in working order".

The house was not clean by any means when we moved in - but could this be argued as matter of interpretation? Also, the tenancy and lack of inventory does not state which applicances are included.

The tenancy does not in fact state that the LL must maintain the white goods. It simply says that they must be in working order at the start.

G_M

Jadekr wrote: »

... we are on a 6 months Shorthold tenanacy agreement.
You must either pay rent for 6 months or negotiate an Early Surrender

The rental was secured privately and the LL drew up the tenancy agreement,
Fine
however the signing of this was not witnessed by anybody other than myself, partner and LL.
No need for any witnesses
Also the LL did not provide us with an inventory of appliances.
Useful for you
As we have pets and had to vacate our current property we couldn't find alternative housing at that time so did not question his methods.
What 'methods'?

I would like advice on the following:

Deposit: The LL has taken 1 months rent as deposite but as far as we can tell has not registered this in a protection scheme as we have not had any confirmation of this. Should be be worried about this?
1) LL has 30 days to register AND tell you. Have you checked?

LL obligations: Upon moving into the property there were a number of issues that needed attention, the most important being a hole in our celing which is going directly to the roof (the insulation is showing through), exposed wiring where a light swicth used to be and damp on various walls and celings and missing/broken fence panels in the garden The LL agreed to get these attended to and we issued him the list via email to confirm. He has since been making various excuses delaying the repairs.
Confirm in writing to "address for serving of notices"
Over the weekend our fridge has broken (which is an appliance beloing to the LL). I have attempted to contact him twice regarding this and have no reply.
Confirm in writing to "address for serving of notices" but no obligation to fix
I would just like to know where we stand in this situation and what action we can take with regards to getting the repairs done. Most importantly is the fridge as we have had to throw away food and now cannot use it at all.

Thank you

Ending/Renewing an AST (what happens when the Fixed Term ends?)(What is a Periodic Tenancy?)(How can a LL remove a tenant?)(How can a tenant end a tenancy?)

Landlord & Tenant Act 1985 (Repairing obligations; )
"(1)In a lease to which this section applies (as to which, see sections 13 and 14) there is implied a covenant by the lessor—
(a)to keep in repair the structure and exterior of the dwelling-house (including drains, gutters and external pipes),
(b)to keep in repair and proper working order the installations in the dwelling-house for the supply of water, gas and electricity and for sanitation (including basins, sinks, baths and sanitary conveniences, but not other fixtures, fittings and appliances for making use of the supply of water, gas or electricity), and
(c)to keep in repair and proper working order the installations in the dwelling-house for space heating and heating water."

Jadekr

Hi G_M. Thanks for the response, all your advice has been helpful.

Regarding the deposit, yes I have checked with the deposit protection scheme and there is no record of our deposit. I have also asked the LL in writing to confirm the status of the deposit and he has so far not responded.