Does landlord pay for uneven door/leaky tap?

JC1440

Hi, all

I've been renting a house for six months now. The front door has a gap where daylight is coming through, when you close and lock it the door isn't shutting completely. Should my landlord be paying to have this sorted?

Another issue I have is with a tap in the bathtub that leaks when I use the shower. The shower hose is one of those that is connected to a part of the tap, and you turn the tap on to get the shower on. I've had someone look at it but I'm told the landlord is reluctant to sort it as it is an old setup and apparently requires the entire bath being taken apart. Can I ask for a rent reduction or such to compensate for me using extra water? I don't particularly want to make a big thing of it as otherwise the house is great, and took me a long time to find.

Thanks

G_M

JC1440 wrote: »

Hi, all

I've been renting a house for six months now. The front door has a gap where daylight is coming through, when you close and lock it the door isn't shutting completely. Should my landlord be paying to have this sorted?
Yes

Another issue I have is with a tap in the bathtub that leaks when I use the shower. The shower hose is one of those that is connected to a part of the tap, and you turn the tap on to get the shower on. I've had someone look at it but I'm told the landlord is reluctant to sort it as it is an old setup and apparently requires the entire bath being taken apart.
?????
Can I ask for a rent reduction or such to compensate for me using extra water?
You can ask. But I doubt the LL would agree. He does not need to.
I don't particularly want to make a big thing of it as otherwise the house is great, and took me a long time to find.

Thanks

Always report repairing issues in writing by letter to the LL at the address provided "for the serving of notices".

Not only does this formally bring it to the LL's attention, it also covers your backside from being blamed for damage when the tenancy ends.

Plus it is good 'tenant-like' behavior to help the LL maintain his property.

I can only assume that to remove the tap/shower mixer requires access under the bath which is impossible without removing the bath for some reason?


Shelter (Repairs in private rented homes)

JC1440

Thanks for the reply.

It's some thing in the bath tap that is causing the leak, but the only way to get in to it is to get right in to the bath or something. It's an old bath.

AdrianC

JC1440 wrote: »

Can I ask for a rent reduction or such to compensate for me using extra water?

You're on a water meter, I presume? By all means ask. But - before you do - it's as well to quantify the actual extra amount of water used. Put a bucket under the tap a period of time, and check the volume.

One cubic metre of water, a thousand litres, is typically about £2. So each litre of water is costing you about one fifth of a penny. I'm sure your landlord'll be happy to round it up to the nearest penny - five litres - to keep you happy.

Lily-Rose_3

Well that SHELTER info is not much good. In post 2.

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

It says

Most repairs in private rented properties are the landlords’ responsibility, although the tenant will also have some repairing obligations

So it says the tenant is responsible for certain things, but doesn't say what: unless I missed it!

Guest101

Lily-Rose wrote: »

Well that SHELTER info is not much good. In post 2.

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

It says

Most repairs in private rented properties are the landlords’ responsibility, although the tenant will also have some repairing obligations

So it says the tenant is responsible for certain things, but doesn't say what: unless I missed it!

Generally this is anything the tenant has damaged or misused and and limited life products - light bulbs and so forth.

The LL is responsible for maintains the structure and the fixtures - so electric and gas, bathroom/ plumbing etc.

Also responsible if due to wear and tear installations wear out.

JC1440

AdrianC wrote: »

You're on a water meter, I presume? By all means ask. But - before you do - it's as well to quantify the actual extra amount of water used. Put a bucket under the tap a period of time, and check the volume.

One cubic metre of water, a thousand litres, is typically about £2. So each litre of water is costing you about one fifth of a penny. I'm sure your landlord'll be happy to round it up to the nearest penny - five litres - to keep you happy.

I'd say it's five litres max being wasted. It's really that cheap? If that's all it's costing me then I'd live with it, although I will still mention the situation as I detest waste.

ognum

As a LL I would expect to sort both of these things out for you.

Lily-Rose_3

Guest101 wrote: »

Generally this is anything the tenant has damaged or misused and and limited life products - light bulbs and so forth.

The LL is responsible for maintains the structure and the fixtures - so electric and gas, bathroom/ plumbing etc.

Also responsible if due to wear and tear installations wear out.

Thank you.

When we private rented, hubby used to do small carpentry repairs and small decorative jobs and little things like that, but left things like electrics and plumbing to the landlord.

AdrianC

JC1440 wrote: »

It's really that cheap?

Yep, it's really that cheap.

kinger101

AdrianC wrote: »

Yep, it's really that cheap.

And the chances of finding a plumber who can actually fix a leak these days, rather than someone who just changes a washer and then says "see how it goes" are fairly minimal. Sorry, rant over.