Rental queery

bluenose38

Hi,

The deal is we are renting a family home through a letting agent. In the contract it was agreed that the landlord was responsible for paying the water bill.

She is now point blankly refusing to pay the bill. The letting agent have told her that she has to pay this but she still refuses to.

As she has broken the contract can someone tell us where we stand ?

Also because of this are we within our right to now be able to give her a months notice as we would also like to get out of this place before the end of the 12months ?

Thanks All..

Guest101

I would cite breach of contract and hand in my notice/just move out. I would not pay rent, but as a GOGW I'd py it less the water bill.

She has broken the tenancy, and is potentially open to suit. Is the bill in her name?

dacouch

Whose name is the bill in?

bluenose38

Thanks for the advice...

The bill is in Myself and My wifes name as the Letting agent quite rightly transferred the details of ourselves over the to Water Company. I believe it has to be in the name of the tennant.

The Agent know she has to pay the bill and back us 100%...

What we wanted to do was to deduct the money from the next rent, but in the meantime also hand in a months notice....

Thanks:o

[Deleted User]

From what I understand of water supplies the service cannot be terminated for a residential property. As long as the water bill is in your landlords name then you are not in any trouble, your water will continue and the water company will chase your landlord.

As your tenancy is not in any danger you would have a difficult time abandoning it because of the landlords arrears, especially because if you do try and leave it's possible that the landlord will pay the bill (therefore removing any breach of the tenancy agreement) and then take you to court for the rent owed, which could be substantial if you have a long period left on your fixed term.

If you are looking to leave the property you could try and work with the landlord on a compromise: they let your tenancy agreement terminate early (with the 1 month notice that would be required of a periodic) and in return you will pay the cost of the water bill arrears.

Guest101

Since its in your name the water company will chase you for it, however the landlord has breached the contract.

You need to get this written down and sent to her.

You need to pay the bill, so pay it and deduct it from the next rent. Explain this in your notice letter (make it long and detailed).

The Landlord would have trouble chasing you if you a clear and withing the law.

bluenose38

Hi,
Forgot to say we have already been forced to pay the first water bill which we ended up deducting from the months rent we pay direct to the letting agent.

Now another large bill has come in and after sending all of the paperwork and threatening letters for non payment to the Letting Agent to pass on the Landlord she has said that if we deduct this amount from the next months rent she is going to give us two months notice !

My thoughts still are to pay the water bill, deduct this from next months rent, and in the meantime give her a months notice due to breach of contract etc....

[Deleted User]

bluenose38 wrote: »

Hi,
Forgot to say we have already been forced to pay the first water bill which we ended up deducting from the months rent we pay direct to the letting agent.

Now another large bill has come in and after sending all of the paperwork and threatening letters for non payment to the Letting Agent to pass on the Landlord she has said that if we deduct this amount from the next months rent she is going to give us two months notice !

My thoughts still are to pay the water bill, deduct this from next months rent, and in the meantime give her a months notice due to breach of contract etc....

This sounds like one big mess. You cannot just decide to walk away from an AST, nor can your landlord just decide to evict you. If your landlord provides notice before the 12 months is up it will not be valid until the tenancy ends. If the landlord is looking to evict you and you are looking to leave then you should focus on resolving this with a compromise, a tenancy agreement can be terminated with both parties consent.

Furthermore the advice you've had about deducting money from the rent is not right, there are very specific circumstances in which you can deduct money from rental payments and there is a very specific procedure you have to follow.

Guest101

citricsquid wrote: »

This sounds like one big mess. You cannot just decide to walk away from an AST, nor can your landlord just decide to evict you. If your landlord provides notice before the 12 months is up it will not be valid until the tenancy ends. If the landlord is looking to evict you and you are looking to leave then you should focus on resolving this with a compromise, a tenancy agreement can be terminated with both parties consent.

Furthermore the advice you've had about deducting money from the rent is not right, there are very specific circumstances in which you can deduct money from rental payments and there is a very specific procedure you have to follow.

If the landlord has breached the contract (which is what a tenancy is, an obligation on both parties) then yes the tenant can simply walk away.

[Deleted User]

Guest101 wrote: »

If the landlord has breached the contract (which is what a tenancy is, an obligation on both parties) then yes the tenant can simply walk away.

I find that exceptionally difficult to believe. Tenancy agreements include all manner of things that landlords could quite easily break without malicious intent.

If a landlord breaches their contractual obligations in a manner that is sufficiently detrimental to the tenant that necessitates abandonment of the tenancy a court would side with the tenant, sure, however if a tenant decides to abandon because the landlord has broken a minor clause (for example a washing machine is supposed to be replaced within one week, but is not replaced for two weeks and during that time the landlord provided the tenant with alternate arrangements) a court would not side with the tenant at all.

Do you have any links to legislation or information on when a tenant can rightfully abandon a fixed period tenancy? I think that it's dangerous to say that it's okay to abandon a tenancy if a landlord broke the agreement without providing information on the specifics as some people may take it as proof they can just walk away 'cause there's some unresolved damp.

Guest101

citricsquid wrote: »

I find that exceptionally difficult to believe. Tenancy agreements include all manner of things that landlords could quite easily break without malicious intent.

If a landlord breaches their contractual obligations in a manner that is sufficiently detrimental to the tenant that necessitates abandonment of the tenancy a court would side with the tenant, sure, however if a tenant decides to abandon because the landlord has broken a minor clause (for example a washing machine is supposed to be replaced within one week, but is not replaced for two weeks and during that time the landlord provided the tenant with alternate arrangements) a court would not side with the tenant at all.

Do you have any links to legislation or information on when a tenant can rightfully abandon a fixed period tenancy? I think that it's dangerous to say that it's okay to abandon a tenancy if a landlord broke the agreement without providing information on the specifics as some people may take it as proof they can just walk away 'cause there's some unresolved damp.

If the landlord has contractually stated they will replace the washing machine and fails to do so, but provides alternatives which are accepted the contract is amended.

If he breaches the contract, even on a minor clause, the contract still becomes void and null. It's basics of a contract.

Lets put it in reverse, the rent is £400 pm, but in february i decide to pay £300, would the land lord have a right to start eviction proceedings? ofcourse he would. If i had notified him in advance and he had accepted that I would pay £500 in march, to make up the difference, then the contract is not broken, it is amended.

I fail to see why you think a Landlord can fail to live up to his side of the agreement and the tenant has to put up with it?