Landlord can't afford repairs

jellybeans_2

I privately rent a flat (in England on a periodic tenancy) and have an electric shower over a bath. The shower has a fault, I reported it to the letting agent who sent round an electrician who says it needs replacing. The letting agent have told me that the landlord agrees to this, but does not have the funds to pay for it at the moment, and asked if I could have baths instead of a shower for a month until after Christmas when she can pay. The electrician could have fitted a new shower this week if the landlord could pay.

I can't use the bath due to my illness (I have joint pain in my knees and it's hard to get up from the bath as there are no grab rails) so instead I'd like a shower which is what I'm paying rent for, I wouldn't rent somewhere without a shower. Is it reasonable for her to ask me to wait because she can't pay at the moment? I'm a bit worried, especially as she will receive rent from me in a weeks time but has asked me to wait a month before repairing/replacing the shower.

Thanks for any advice/opinions

ihatemyhouse

offer to pay for it and take out of rent

19lottie82

I'm afraid you don't have any real "rights" here. there are still washing facilities provided, even if they don't suit you at the moment.

At least the LL has said that they will replace the shower in a month (if they stick to their promise), many wouldn't even do this.

You can ASK if you can take the money for the repair from the rent, but you have no legal right to do so.

It all seems a bit unfair, I know, but there's not much you can do, I'm afraid.

19lottie82

PS can you buy (or ask your LL to buy) a shower attachment for the bath taps, as a short term alternative?

jellybeans_2

Thanks for the quick replies.

She still wants me to pay her the full £500 rent in 5 days time, but I shall ask tomorrow if I pay now for the shower can I deduct it from January's rent (due in a month and 5 days time). All contact is through the letting agent, mainly by email- if they agree to it would an email be enough proof in case of any problems come January if I paid less rent after paying for the shower myself (I will only do this if they confirm by email or letter). I'm worried the landlord will still be short of money and want the full rent again.

If they say no I shall see how good a shower attachment for the taps is Lottie- thanks for the suggestion.

19lottie82

Good luck Jellybean, and remember as the LL is under no obligation to replace / repair the shower, you will catch more flies with honey in this situation (although you do sound more than fair / reasonable so far!)

DRP

How about offering to deduct the cost from the next 4 or 5 months rent , thereby it is less of a hit on the poor landlords pocket?

19lottie82

one thing i would be worried about, however, is.....

if the landlord is struggling to pay for a relatively minor repair like this, what will happen if something more serious comes along?

do you really want to be in this situation long term?

marathonic

19lottie82 wrote: »

one thing i would be worried about, however, is.....

if the landlord is struggling to pay for a relatively minor repair like this, what will happen if something more serious comes along?

do you really want to be in this situation long term?

I agree with this. I sympathise with the landlord because Christmas is a tough enough time to have funds ready (although any landlord should have emergency cash for such issues, there are a lot of accidental landlords without the experience to know this).

However, if you were to agree to pay for a shower and deduct it from rent over 4 months and the boiler were to fail next month, where does that leave you? The landlord can't afford to fix the boiler, can't afford to pay you for the remaining balance of the shower and, if you were to try to leave, the landlord can't get a new tenant in without a boiler - making them even more unable to pay you what they owe.

I think your 'pay for it and deduct it from next months rent' is a reasonable offer. It doesn't expose you to much risk and shouldn't impact the landlord if he was planning to pay for it next month anyway.

jellybeans_2

The flat has needed several repairs this year (just very unfortunate) and for most of these the landlord has been slow to make a decision/said was lacking funds so I am not happy with the situation.

However the boiler was replaced earlier this year for free for the landlord (I qualified for a energy grant) and it's still under guarantee so hopefully that shouldn't go wrong and has already saved the landlord money in boiler repairs as in previous years the old boiler (30+ years old) had to be repaired to get it going in the autumn and kept breaking every couple of months (landlord said she could not afford to replace it, did cheapest repair job). And as I have now got the flat warm and insulated I don't really want to move, just hope nothing else breaks!

G_M

Get 3 quotes for a new shower.

Send them (post) to the LL (c/o the agent if the is the address provided "for the serving of notices") with a covering letter re-capping the problem, the elctrician's visit/date & recommendation and the LL's previous response, and offer to pay for the cheapest installation, cost to be deducted from next months rent.

Do not suggest spreading the cost.

Hint (politely/obsurely) that the alternative is that you will look elsewhere for property. Losing you as a tenant will cost the LL moremoney in lost rent, marketing, agency fees etc....