Unfair Landlord

mikeym89

Bit of a long message here ...
I need some help, I have been renting a house since late January and whilst doing the initial viewing the estate agent had explained that before I move in the landlord would re-lay the carpet, paint the walls, change the front door to a more secure one, put double glazing in the one room that didn't have it and water-proof the shed.

As the other tenant with me was on DSS the landlord was a bit unsure of us moving in. I agreed to pay a few months rent in advance and he then agreed for us to move in. When we collected the keys and moved our stuff in we noticed that the front door was the original one and not replaced, the window was not double glazed and the shed was not waterproofed. The walls were painted and the carpet was badly re laid.

I have emailed the estate agent a number of times asking when the shed, door and window will have the repairs that were agreed upon but whenever I email they say that the landlord has not agreed on a quote and that the shed will not be waterproofed.

Me and my partner are expecting a baby and the draft coming from the front door and the window really makes the house feel cold, that in return is making our energy bills higher than we originally thought they would be.

Is there any way I can get the estate agents and landlord to speed this up? I've asked for all different discounts on the rent as the repairs promised were not carried out before we moved in but they have said that there is no way the rent can be discounted.

Any help is much appreciated.

G_M

Were any of these improvements agreed in writing as a condition of the tenancy?

Have you reported the issues, by letter, to the landlord, at the address provided "for the serving of notices" (usually on the tenancy agreement)?

mikeym89

It wasn't agreed in writing but there is a paper trail through email of the estate agents saying that they repairs will be done. I have reported the issues by letter but I will do.

G_M

mikeym89 wrote: »

It wasn't agreed in writing but there is a paper trail through email of the estate agents saying that they repairs will be done. I have (not?) reported the issues by letter but I will do.

If you can show (to the satisfaction of a court if necessary) that these improvements were agreed as part of the tenancy contract, then you can enforce.

Always report repairing & contractual issues formally.

See also:

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

[Deleted User]

See if the letting agent is a member of ARLA, if they are they should follow a code of conduct
Might be worth looking into and throwing that into your complaint for weight.
There use to be free booklets available from communities.gsi.gov.uk helpful with maintenance issues for tenants etc https://www.gov.uk/private-renting


My landlord is just lazy (5 years later I'm still waiting for a shower to be replaced that was going to happen when I moved in...), but now I just use that to my advantage well until the shower really leaks into the property below I guess!