Front Door issue on rented property

tibbers

just a quick issue i would like cleared up please before i get in touch with the estate agents again.
My stepson moved into his new studio apartment on sunday (got keys on friday). We mentioned to the estate agent on the friday that the front door was in a terrible state, but they said it was fine.
The issues are:
The door is wooden with glass, in strips, so, wood, glass, wood, glass, etc
It has a lock, which is tempermental, he couldnt get out of the flat the other night as he couldn't unlock it.
There are 2 bolts, one at the top of the door and one at the bottom, both he can't use as they dont align up.
There is no letterbox cover on the inside as this has been removed.
The door itself, is grubby, and it doesn't sit flush with the frame. You can rattle the door when it is shut.
This is his main door to his "room". To me it isn't secure, but the estate agents insist it is.
Isn't it a fire risk if the door doesn't shut tightly?
The landlord and estate agent did come round yesterday, all they did was give him a new key! hubby looked at the lock and it has been put in crooked... my stepson feels a bit vulnerable at the moment...
Do i have a right to insist that the door is replaced?

Kevie192

Was the door not there when you/the tenant viewed the property?

If it was and it bothers you that much, why did you agree to rent the flat?

If the landlord doesn't want to replace it, you'll need to replace it yourself. You have no right to a 'pretty door with bolts that line up'.

HappyMJ

tibbers wrote: »

just a quick issue i would like cleared up please before i get in touch with the estate agents again.
My stepson moved into his new studio apartment on sunday (got keys on friday). We mentioned to the estate agent on the friday that the front door was in a terrible state, but they said it was fine.
The issues are:
The door is wooden with glass, in strips, so, wood, glass, wood, glass, etc
It has a lock, which is tempermental, he couldnt get out of the flat the other night as he couldn't unlock it.
There are 2 bolts, one at the top of the door and one at the bottom, both he can't use as they dont align up.
There is no letterbox cover on the inside as this has been removed.
The door itself, is grubby, and it doesn't sit flush with the frame. You can rattle the door when it is shut.
This is his main door to his "room". To me it isn't secure, but the estate agents insist it is.
Isn't it a fire risk if the door doesn't shut tightly?
The landlord and estate agent did come round yesterday, all they did was give him a new key! hubby looked at the lock and it has been put in crooked... my stepson feels a bit vulnerable at the moment...
Do i have a right to insist that the door is replaced?

As the previous poster has just said he should never have signed the tenancy if he didn't like the condition of anything.

You want a new door...my answer is you buy one yourself. You can't take the cost from the rent. The door does what it's supposed to do i.e close and lock it doesn't require repainting, a letterbox flap, secondary bolts to line up etc...

tibbers

we showed the estate agent how the door rattled before we got the keys, she said she would get intouch with the landlord and get it sorted. We have told them again on the phone, that the door rattles(not just a little, but alot), you can see daylight... the landlord or estate agent, dont seem to bothered about fixing it....it's not about having a "pretty" door, is about fire risk.. if there was a fire in the stairwell, the smoke will seep into his flat easily..

Guest101

tibbers wrote: »

we showed the estate agent how the door rattled before we got the keys, she said she would get intouch with the landlord and get it sorted. We have told them again on the phone, that the door rattles(not just a little, but alot), you can see daylight... the landlord or estate agent, dont seem to bothered about fixing it....it's not about having a "pretty" door, is about fire risk.. if there was a fire in the stairwell, the smoke will seep into his flat easily..

So presumebly it's written into the tenancy agreement that the door will be replaced?

tibbers

its written in the tenancy that the landlord is responsible for the fixing of the door

ash234ly

I think you could get a new one yourself if they are not doing anything.

stator

If it doesn't lock/unlock properly then write a letter explaining the fault in detail and ask for it to be fixed.
If they refuse you could try and force them to repair it, but they'll probably just wait 6 months and evict him instead.

G_M

tibbers wrote: »

its written in the tenancy that the landlord is responsible for the fixing of the door

In that case write to the LL and copy the agent (yes, LETERS) asking them to comply with the tenancy agreement and fix the door.

Re replacing it yourself: do not do this without written permission!

Inventory. Have you seen and/or signed one? If yes, does it detial the condition of the door? If you have not yet signed returned the inventory, amend it to describe the door condition before you sign/return.

G_M

tibbers wrote: »

The issues are:
The door is wooden with glass, in strips, so, wood, glass, wood, glass, etcwhy is that an issue?
It has a lock, which is tempermental, he couldnt get out of the flat the other night as he couldn't unlock it. write (a letter) reporting the fault.
There are 2 bolts, one at the top of the door and one at the bottom, both he can't use as they dont align up. Good. Don't use them. They provide no security when he goes out, and are a fire hazard if used when he is in.
There is no letterbox cover on the inside as this has been removed.Many letter boxes have no internal cover. This is not an issue
The door itself, is grubby, amend the inventory to record this and then clean it and it doesn't sit flush with the frame. You can rattle the door when it is shut. Report by letter and amend inventory. But if it opens/closes, then it works.
This is his main door to his "room". To me it isn't secure, but the estate agents insist it is. Sounds very secure. You said he could not open it! Is this a street door, or internal within a building?
Isn't it a fire risk if the door doesn't shut tightly? No. But it is if it doesn't open!
The landlord and estate agent did come round yesterday, all they did was give him a new key! hubby looked at the lock and it has been put in crooked... my stepson feels a bit vulnerable at the moment...
Do i have a right to insist that the door is replaced?

No. But it sounds like it would be reasonable to ask for the lock to be adjusted so it works properly.

Or hubby could straighten it......?

societys_child

Stick some draught excluder around the door frame to seal it and stop the door rattling?