Am I best just leaving or should I try and negotiate?

alison999

Hey, i hope someone can help. Ive just had a baby and am suffering from post natal depression. The house that im living in is really stressing me out even more. Its damp, and with all thisrain, water is coming in under the cupboards in the kitchen.

That house is rented through a agency.

Ive now found a nice house which I want to move into. The problem is my Shorthold leece isnt up until 4th December.

A lot of my friends have just walked out of houses and this is something that usually Id never do. But the LL wont do ANYTHING about my problems with the house ("Leave it with me...") I though about writing a letter about my situation, and along with the keys, putting it through the letterbox of the leting agency. I dont want to do it but he'd get to keep my deposit and, since I wouldnt b moving out until 1st September he'd only be missing out on 2 months rent.

Any advice is welcome....

CYBERCIDERSAVER

Maybe I am wrong but can't you withhold rent until problems are sorted out. I negotiated half my rent off the first two months simply because the property wasn't up to the standard he said it would be when we agreed to rent. (No shower, Garden not turfed, Boiler problems)

alison999

I dont know. Im really stressed right noww. I really just cant deal with it. Id rather just walk away. But I am worried about the consequences - I dont want to have to go to court or anything. Ive been a good tennant, always paid on time and, when he said hed deal with it I have him plenty of time before complaining again. Its just I have 2 young children now and i cant handle anymore hassle.

mr.broderick

alison999 wrote: »

Hey, i hope someone can help. Ive just had a baby and am suffering from post natal depression. The house that im living in is really stressing me out even more. Its damp, and with all thisrain, water is coming in under the cupboards in the kitchen.

That house is rented through a agency.

Ive now found a nice house which I want to move into. The problem is my Shorthold leece isnt up until 4th December.

A lot of my friends have just walked out of houses and this is something that usually Id never do. But the LL wont do ANYTHING about my problems with the house ("Leave it with me...") I though about writing a letter about my situation, and along with the keys, putting it through the letterbox of the leting agency. I dont want to do it but he'd get to keep my deposit and, since I wouldnt b moving out until 1st September he'd only be missing out on 2 months rent.

Any advice is welcome....

Any landlord that would leave you in this situation with a new born baby doesn't even deserve a post on here.
Don't worry about the depression it will get better.
Take photographs if possible of the damp and water ingress and get that baby out of that house.
Good luck..

mightymouse

Hi

There are previous posts where in normal situations you would be polite and write to the landlord setting out concerns but this seems urgent enough to want to take immediate action.

However proof and backup are needed so I presume you are under the care of your doctor for the illness and that you have told him about your housing if not go and tell him / her.

Be prepared to talk to a solicitor about personal injury arising from possibly defective premises.

Ring you local council environmental health and they will send someone to inspect your house and advise on its condition if its as bad as you say they will make a record and then you can decide whether to move out.

If the condition is bad then the landlord will not be able to do anything except put his house in order for the next tenant.

This link is for explanation only and should apply to all councils.

http://www.waverley.gov.uk/housingconditions/certificates.asp#repa

alison999

thanks so much for all your help! for some reason i never thought of taking photos!! ill get that done today thanks everyone!

lynzpower

the other thing to asay is that Env health should be able to make a decision as to whether the place is fit for habitation. if its not, you have 2 options 1) the LL has to move you somewhere that is until the repairs are carried out, or b) the tenancy can be dissolved.

alison999

thx i think im just gonna write a letter and post it with the keys hopefully that'll b the end of it. i just hope they dont ring me at work since i might be going back soon.

lynzpower

You do realise that if the tenancy is not formally dissolved, your LL is fully in the legal right to find you, charge you for the months that you have not paid for and prosecute throuygh court.

I would deffinately get Env health out to get them to agree with you. Once this has happened the threat of having to pay the money back will be gone with a bit of luck.