Landlord ignoring request for urgent repairs.

zarf2007

Quila wrote: »

Landlord owns the letting agents company too. Technically our letting agents ARE our landlords.

Also please read: every time the thing has broken or flooded, we have stopped using it and requested a repair. Perhaps it's too much to put trust into a plumber who says the thing's fixed when he leaves?

We haven't been able to use it since Wednesday now.

The likelyhood is they will do nothing and if you complain they will issue a S21 and boot you out at the first opportunity. The tenancy law in this country is a farce and weighted heavily in favour of the landlord so you have next to zero rights,

Either buy a place or keep suffering through cowboy BTL landlords.

Quila

Yes - only toilet in the house is the one connected to the Saniflo which doesn't work.

We actually live in a basement flat, so this same Saniflo is also responsible for draining kitchen waste - which means no washing laundry or dishes either.

Received a decidedly unsatisfactory response from letting agent this morning via e-mail. I'll post the highlights below:

"The cost of a new unit is £459 and the cost of labour to fit the unit is a further £75, bringing the cost of the repair to a total of £534.

As you will appreciate this is a very costly repair, which could have been avoided had the unit been used in the manner advised by the manufacturer and indeed our third party representative.

In non-fault situations such as the present, it is our company's policy to redeem any expenses incurred directly from the person/s responsible.

Since we have not been there to use the system ourselves, we can only conclude that the damage to the unit has been caused by persons residing in the household and/or their guests.

As stated, we are very keen to have the matter resolved immediately and we are prepared to have this work orchestrated tomorrow, the 25th August 2014, being a Bank Holiday.

Having considered the position and the evidence available to us, we have concluded that in order to remedy the problem, you will be required to contribute 50% towards the cost of the repair, which equates to £267.

Whilst we understand that this is a fairly considerable figure, we ask that you also give thought to our position and the fact that this problem has not arisen as a direct result of any wrong doing on our part."

Further on...

"In the event that you are of the opinion that this is unacceptable to you, you are of course free to have the work remedied yourself by a contractor other than ours.

That said, on the basis of such a position, we would expect you to pay for the entire cost of the works yourself.

We hope that you find our offer acceptable, so that we may rectify the position.

We appreciate that is matter may cause you some frustration owing to the fact that there may be some financial inconvenience on your part.

However we ask that you give consideration to the overall position, that is; that we, up until the present, were being held 100% accountable for a problem which not only have we not caused, but which we have already expended financial resources upon in an effort to resolve."


They have, in the sections in between, battered on about the items which aren't meant to go into a Saniflo (we KNOW! And each time their "independent contractor" has come to rectify issues with our Saniflo, he has stated that any items blocking it have been there for some time, in fact longer than we have even lived in this flat), and how the motor has failed and we need a new unit.... Actually, NO, the reason we need a new unit is because there is exposed wiring at the back of the unit which we had not noticed, but which has now sparked and smoked away to itself for so long that it's damaged the internal workings of the unit.

Sorry for my horrendously long rant but this is just unbearable...they're essentially saying "we don't live there so it isn't our fault" and expecting me to magically produce £250? I really don't know what to do... On the one hand I desperately need this problem fixing and they are proposing to do it tomorrow, Bank Holiday Monday. On the other hand I hugely disagree with their proposition... Yet the only other option is to pay for the entire cost of the repair myself apparently, which I cannot afford!

I am about ready to tear my hair out, all of your replies have been really helpful and hugely appreciated.... so please keep them coming!

G_M

Have you followed the advice given yet? Posts 5 & 8?

As stdated before this is much more urgent than letters being sent so we have sent emails.

emails are fast, and fine..... if they work. But as you've found, sometimes they don't! So, much faster to do things properly from the start. Or from now.

Get a letter in the post! There's even a template in the Shelter link.

How do we contact environmental health? I have had a Google but can't seem to find anything for Sunderland.

Good grief! Given how urgent this is, how come you've not rung the council switchboard and asked......? There's only so much help you can get from a forum - you have to do a little to help yourself!

edit: I just googled 'Sunderland Environmental Health'. Guess what the top result was? Yes. The Sunderland City Council EH webpage......

As for their response, it disregards the Landlord & Tenant Act 1985 section 11:

Repairing obligations in short leases.

(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.

Quote it in your next letter, together for your claim for your costs (eg hotel bills since the property is uninhabitable etc).

Note that the same Act Landlord & Tenant Act 1985 section 10 states:

Fitness for human habitation.

In determining for the purposes of this Act whether a house is unfit for human habitation, regard shall be had to its condition in respect of the following matters—

repair,

stability,

freedom from damp,

internal arrangement,

natural lighting,

ventilation,

water supply,

drainage and sanitary conveniences,

facilities for preparation and cooking of food and for the disposal of waste water;

and the house shall be regarded as unfit for human habitation if, and only if, it is so far defective in one or more of those matters that it is not reasonably suitable for occupation in that condition.

Quila

Thank you - that's really helpful - but what should my response to their proposing that we pay half of the repair cost be? On the one hand I desperately need this rectifying but on the other hand I hugely disagree with them asking us for 50% of the repair cost.

dancingfairy

Emails are fine but you need to back it up with a proper paper trail. In the letter you can always say as per my email of the 21st (or whatever) or even just print a copy of the email off and post it but you really should start establishing a paper trail.
You also need to keep a log of all problems/communication with the agents/landlords/plumbers etc.
Get on to environmental health asap in the morning.
df

G_M

Quila wrote: »

Thank you - that's really helpful - but what should my response to their proposing that we pay half of the repair cost be? On the one hand I desperately need this rectifying but on the other hand I hugely disagree with them asking us for 50% of the repair cost.

See post 14 above.

And / or the Shelter link on getting repairs done yourself.

(of course, the Shelter process takes time and requires letters being sent. Pity you did not send the first letter 6 weeks ago!)

anselld

Quila wrote: »

Thank you - that's really helpful - but what should my response to their proposing that we pay half of the repair cost be? On the one hand I desperately need this rectifying but on the other hand I hugely disagree with them asking us for 50% of the repair cost.

They seem to have no "evidence" of abuse by yourselves. You should point out to them that these devices are perfectly capable of failing in normal use.

It is false logic to assume that because the LL/Agent is not "at fault" then someone else must be. If the sanitation fails in normal use it is the LL responsibility to repair, end of story.

Reply to the effect that you are not in anyway at fault (if that is indeed the truth) and that you expect them to continue with the repair at their own expense. Failure to do so will cause you to involve Environmental Health to resolve the matter.

jjlandlord

The issue has already been reported in writing by email. The agent has replied so there is proof that it was correctly received.

Therefore I would not waste time starting over in a letter.

If you look at the process described by Shelter:
You've done step 1, and it dragged on, so move on to step 2/3/4 in a single letter.

Quila

So, I sent an e-mail along the basic lines of they have no proof that it was us, we have done nothing but use the saniflo unit in the manner in which it has been designed for use, and that they would be doing the repair and paying the expenses, as their duty as a landlord. Included the above quotations from Landlord & Tenant Act (Thank you) and received this very snooty, rude, e-mail in return.

"We are fully aware of those elements of the litigation to which we are dutifully bound, but thank you for pointing out a limited number of them. Moreover, we are surprised to learn that you have successfully managed to seek legal advice from the Citizen’s Advice Bureau, the Council’s Tenant Relations Officer and other (unidentified) sources at 6 o’clock in the evening on a Bank Holiday weekend.

Contrary to your position, we are indeed capable of proving not only that the saniflow unit has malfunctioned as a result of misuse, but further that that misuse has occurred solely during the period of your occupancy of the property.

Moreover, we can confirm that this conduct on your part, along with your refusal to agree to reimburse your Landlord for his reasonable expenses in relation to this matter is a direct contravention of the terms of your Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement, in particular Section 5. Repairs and in particular sub-sections 5.3 and 5.12. (I am in the process of digging this out to find out exactly what sub-sections these are referring to)

In light of the above - i.e. your Landlord’s awareness of his legal obligations, as well as your response in relation to this matter, our representative will be calling at your property tomorrow in order to rectify the problem. However, we note that we are not obliged (by any legislation) to foot any of the cost of this bill.

Our offer, where we suggested that you contribute just 50% towards the bill was in fact a goodwill gesture, which appears to have gone overlooked by you in the present instance.

We do therefore, reserve the right to recuperate from you an amount not exceeding 100% of the cost of the repair works, and will seek to do so upon your departure from the property."

I am absolutely flabbergasted. I don't know where I stand or what my next move is.... I am going to ask for this apparent proof that we are in the wrong here, as I am 100% certain we're not... but truth be told I'm a bit scared of what they're going to produce here!

I think I'll go down to Citizen's Advice in person on Tuesday to seek some more advice, but for the time being should I allow the letting agents just to do the repair and seek to claim compensation and costs from small claims court once we've moved out?

Bonfire_Bride

I really have no knowledge of what could help here but I am so angry at their response...completely unprofessional!

Someone was obviously unhappy about working bank holiday. Once you get this sorted, I suggest you complain about this arrogant reponse you have received.

if anyone responded like this to a customer in my work place, it could be instant dismissal.

What has your landlord said about this? or do you have zero contact with him?