Rented home problems - HELP?

MickeyDaMouse

Hi all,

I'm in a tricky situation. I split from my wife a short while back and moved out of our home to rented accommodation. Time moves on and we're patching things up and I'm getting ready to move back in to our home that we own. The problem is that I'm currently renting somewhere else.

I know I am liable for the rent until the end of the agreement which is a few months away still. Not much I can do there except maybe see if the estate agent is willing to advertise the place for rent with me paying up until it's rented out again to someone else.

I have a few questions that I can't find the answer to however,

1) This place is a small flat in a converted building. There are 4 flats here in total. My smoke alarms are missing, with wires hanging from the ceiling. The communal area has a fire alarm and alarm points, but this doesn't work either, with the fuses all ripped out and no power to any of the fire system. Is this legal?

2) If I leave this flat and just pay the rent while living back home in my house, would I still be liable for council tax here or can I call them up and advise that I've moved out and only pay the council tax back in my own home?

3) The letting agency when I moved in stated they would put a letter box outside the property for me. They're now saying they can't do this. Is this grounds to start challenging the rent here?

Thanks

Gonzo1987

What type of agreement have you signed? is there a break clause? In which case you may be able to serve notice instead of waiting til your tenancy is up.

I think, it's be practise to fit a home with smoke alarms, but not legally needed - I don't have my notes with me so may be wrong but I think i'm right there.

RAS

Which country are you in? Scottish law is different.

MickeyDaMouse

Gonzo1987 wrote: »

What type of agreement have you signed? is there a break clause? In which case you may be able to serve notice instead of waiting til your tenancy is up.

I haven't seen a break clause. It's a standard 6 month rental agreement through a commercial letting agency on behalf of a private landlord.

To be honest the service has been shocking since the start. It took me weeks to get them to fix the broken shower that didn't work when I moved in. The washer I had to wait another 2 weeks to be repaired and the burglar alarm is still faulty and can't be used any longer or it just sounds randomly and wakes all my neighbours up.

Gonzo1987 wrote: »

I think, it's be practise to fit a home with smoke alarms, but not legally needed - I don't have my notes with me so may be wrong but I think i'm right there.

This is the bit that confuses me. This building has 4 flats in it and a communal entrance. I am trying to work out if it's a multi occupancy building or if it matters?

MickeyDaMouse

RAS wrote: »

Which country are you in? Scottish law is different.

I'm in England.

Gonzo1987

MickeyDaMouse wrote: »

I haven't seen a break clause. It's a standard 6 month rental agreement through a commercial letting agency on behalf of a private landlord.

To be honest the service has been shocking since the start. It took me weeks to get them to fix the broken shower that didn't work when I moved in. The washer I had to wait another 2 weeks to be repaired and the burglar alarm is still faulty and can't be used any longer or it just sounds randomly and wakes all my neighbours up.

This is the bit that confuses me. This building has 4 flats in it and a communal entrance. I am trying to work out if it's a multi occupancy building or if it matters?

No it's not a HMO as you are in different flats, if you shared a kitchen or bathroom facilities then you would be, but as the flats are separate it's not a HMO where the law be different.

Ah, if it's just 6 months then there probably won't be a break clause. Might be worth speaking to your agent about it, they could re advertise it, but they don't have to.

MickeyDaMouse

I thought that may be the case. I was hoping that the fire alarm situate would give me some leverage to get out

red40

MickeyDaMouse wrote: »

This is the bit that confuses me. This building has 4 flats in it and a communal entrance. I am trying to work out if it's a multi occupancy building or if it matters?

That would be the burning question, excuse the pun, the building could be a house in multiple occupation but that would be based on the date the conversion was done. If the conversion was carried out before 1st June 1991 and still doesnt meet the relevant Building Regulations, its a HMO and if it was carried out after that date and met the relevant Building Regulations it isnt a HMO, simple! There is another consideration and that relates to more than one third owner occupied, but I suspect this doesnt apply in your case Mickey

This is all subject to the Housing Act 2004 section 254 to 257. For your purposes it is section 257 that relates to you in determining if its a HMO or not.

HTH

MickeyDaMouse

It seems I'm stuck on the fire issues.

I've sent a message to my letting agency however letting them know I'm not happy about the fire safety, the lack of burglar alarm due to a constant fault, the fact I can't use my cooker because it's missing parts, I don't have a letter box that they told me they'd fit if I moved in and now refuse, the fact the door intercom is hanging off by wires and doesn't work but exposes live dangerous wires, faulty thermostat that messes up the heating and the lack of lighting in the communal hallway meaning night time is a nightmare to get in and out of my flat.

I said I wanted out but they know I'm stuck in a 6 month contract so they didn't seem too fussed on that one.

Gonzo1987

The cooker should be working - if, when you viewed the flat there was the promise of a working cooking/saw it on your viewing then they have a duty to provide you with a working cooker - stamp your feet on that one.

Mulder00

On point 2, regardless of where you are living, you will be liable for the council tax at the rented property for as long as the lease is continuing (assuming that you are liable for it in the first place as per the lease agreement). You might be able to get some discount though if the place is standing empty.

Did you complain about all these other things (apart from mentioning the post box when you moved in) before or after you decided that you wanted to get out of the lease agreement? It does appear like you are looking for excuses to get out of the agreement - why not try and negotiate to get out instead of finding all these other faults (you probably won't get what you want - best case is that they fix all these issues, not cancel the agreement).