Lettings Agent query - can they do this?!

JWIOW

My response to our lettings agents:
(Thank you to above for some suggested content!)

Hello ***,

Thank-you for your email. We share your concern about the leaks.

As per our earlier communication - I can confirm that the shower curtain fits comfortably inside the bath and the damage is not, and never has been, caused by water splashing on the floor.
I did specify in previous correspondence that if you feel the shower curtain is too short (although it sits within the bath), if you are able to provide me with a minimum length shower curtain you would deem suitable I would be more than happy to purchase a replacement. This is to ensure that I am following the requirements you specify. I received no response to my communication after this time.

We can also confirm that a full inspection of the pipes, fittings, sealant and the floor space has not been properly conducted by a professional. We would be happy to help arrange access for such an inspection by a certified plumber.

Suggesting that we will be charged for any damage without identifying the source of the leak or any potential disrepair is premature.
I will of course inspect the whole area myself tonight and check for any damage or potential sources of the problem and photograph as necessary.

Being completely honest, I am surprised at such threats coming from yourselves when the appropriate inspections have not taken place. As our tenancy agreement states, you have agreed to allow us to live in the flat - undisturbed.

I will also now be putting in writing to yourselves, a request for the contact details of our landlord - as I believe that if they would like to charge us for anything they believe is necessary, we should go through the correct legal channels to ensure this is done by the book.

I feel that your blatant accusations and assumptions are completely unjust.

Please contact us if you would like to discuss further.

Regards,

*****

princeofpounds

Leak could be in the wall as well, which is why it is so useful to inspect the leak pattern on the neighbour's ceiling.

G_M

Have you sent th letter? If not

1) wait till after tonight and include the results of your inspection. Pointless saying "I'm going to.....". Do it, then send!

2) "I will also now be putting in writing to yourselves, a request...." ??? Why say you are going to do this? Why not just do it as part of the letter?

3) Remove the emotive language (" blatant accusations and assumptions are completely unjust. " etc) and just be calm, factual and polite - even if they are not.

Otherwise a good letter. 9/10!

eilidhcatriona

In a previous flat that I rented, I was the one getting leaks from upstairs. It took several visits from the agent for the flat aboves plumber before I was told it was fixed. The family upstairs (10 of them in a 5 bed flat which had actually been a 3 bed with partitions added!) was actually then evicted for a number of reasons.


The leaks stopped, so I believed the issue was fixed. Then about 2 months later, after the flat had been re-let and occupied for about 2 weeks, it started again, much worse than before, and progressed much quicker...


My kitchen ceiling fell down. Gave me and the cat quite a fright.


Anyway, I'm still not 100% sure of what the cause was - the upstairs agents plumber claimed it was from cracked tiles in the bathroom, which were getting saturated due to the Somalian family's custom of sloshing buckets of water over the floor every time they washed. I got the distinct impression he was a bit racist though, so not sure about that one. That and the fact that he said it was fixed when it wasn't. The guy that my agency sent when the ceiling collapsed said it was a waste pipe that was damaged, and I did feel that he knew what he was doing.

fairy_lights

That's quite an angry response to send, I would cut out the bit about them making threats if I were you or this could easily escalate.
You still have to deal with these people so it's best to try and stay friendly.

JWIOW

G_M wrote: »

Have you sent th letter? If not

1) wait till after tonight and include the results of your inspection. Pointless saying "I'm going to.....". Do it, then send!

2) "I will also now be putting in writing to yourselves, a request...." ??? Why say you are going to do this? Why not just do it as part of the letter?

3) Remove the emotive language (" blatant accusations and assumptions are completely unjust. " etc) and just be calm, factual and polite - even if they are not.

Otherwise a good letter. 9/10!

Thank you!
I had already sent it, however I will follow up this evening with a more polite email with my findings after inspection. :T

JWIOW

I opened beneath the bath last night and ran the shower into the bath to see where the leak was coming from, to no avail! I could see some damp wood beneath but was not clear where it was coming from.
I then decided to prove to them with a video on my mobile phone that no water was escaping past the shower curtain and directed the shower towards the tiles.
I then heard dripping beneath the bath again, looked under and it was pouring out!!

Therefore, conclusion - it's going through the tiles!!

I spoke to the 'maintenance man' on the phone last night and he claims that we should not run the shower or any water onto the tiles as there is no way of making the tiles waterproof - is this correct? In which case, what's the point of the tiles?

kathrynha

JWIOW wrote: »

I spoke to the 'maintenance man' on the phone last night and he claims that we should not run the shower or any water onto the tiles as there is no way of making the tiles waterproof - is this correct? In which case, what's the point of the tiles?

That's rubbish. Tiles are used around baths/showers/sinks because they can be got wet!

The tiles either need regrouting, or totally redoing.

JWIOW

kathrynha wrote: »

That's rubbish. Tiles are used around baths/showers/sinks because they can be got wet!

The tiles either need regrouting, or totally redoing.

Thank you - that's what I thought, he was effectively blaming us still for the problem - is this our fault or not? :mad:

Bearing in mind, this was the guy who originally stated that it was the shower curtain that was the problem after a 'thorough inspection' for the problem.

kathrynha

Not your fault at all, unless you spend your free time chipping away at the grout around the tiles.

We had the same problem in a student house. Unfortunately our landlords solution involved plastic sheeting and duct tape rather that fixing the problem