Tenant - Contract Charges & Heating Controls

Rosemary7391

kyleball wrote: »

I should invest in a thermostat and check.

I would definitely do this (just a simple thermometer). You can argue about 'comfortable' until the cows come home, but numbers are somewhat harder to disagree with.

G_M

Start writing!

By law the LL has to provide you with an address in Eng/Wales. Has he? (If not, you can stop paying rent).


Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 S48

THAT is how to contact him properly - the law is there for a reason.

Short, polite letter listing the issues and stating what solution you want. Refer to your rights (eg the Portsmaout HMO rules).

If that fails, contact the council HMO dept.

Remember 'possession is 9/10ths of the law'. So if you withold the final months rent (not something I usually recommend!), then yes, he can chase you for those fees but you are in possession of the cash - he has to chase you and any legal case would be unceratin so he'd probobly not bother.

kyleball

G_M wrote: »

Start writing!

By law the LL has to provide you with an address in Eng/Wales. Has he? (If not, you can stop paying rent).

Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 [/URL]S48

THAT is how to contact him properly - the law is there for a reason.

Short, polite letter listing the issues and stating what solution you want. Refer to your rights (eg the Portsmaout HMO rules).

If that fails, contact the council HMO dept.

Remember 'possession is 9/10ths of the law'. So if you withold the final months rent (not something I usually recommend!), then yes, he can chase you for those fees but you are in possession of the cash - he has to chase you and any legal case would be unceratin so he'd probobly not bother.

I do, indeed, have his address. How come an e-mail is not sufficient? Proof of receipt? I could always do a letter and an e-mail, I suppose.




Update for all:

I will be addressing the following with the landlord (really summarised compared to what I've written so far)

Heating - that we should have control of the heating as per portsmouth gov website (it won't let me post it, but provided by "pmlindyloo").

Professional Clean - at end of tenancy, using landlords private cleaner. Found statements this is unfair, as per OFT.

Mould - his responsibility to resolve, provided CAB statements as evidence

Mattress Protector - he cannot make us purchase a new one, as this is "betterment" (if I have understood it correctly).


Is there anything else I could potentially address?
Landlords admin fee £100 (AST item 6.2.7)
Inventory Fee £42 (AST item 7.23.1) - I have received no inventory after three months
Deposit reg fee £18 (AST item 6.2.6)

This is not a witch hunt for the sake of it; but rather we genuinely feel the service we are receive us extremely poor, and not reflective of how much we pay per month, nor the charges at the end of the tenancy.

RAS

I would leave the comments about anything to do with the charges at the end of the tenancy to the time when you actually leave. Fight one or two battles at the time.

Point out with heating that at some stages you might want less than he is providing (say next spring) as well as more currently with the sudden change in the weather.

It is fair to suggest that the low heating may be contributing to the mould problems.

macman

Did the LL supply all tenants with a copy of a valid gas safety certificate?
What is the legal position on a GSC if no tenants actually have a gas appliance within their own dwelling units in an HMO? Does it effectively become a communal heating system?
Does the LL also include other utilities (gas, electricity) with the rent, along with council tax?

kyleball

macman wrote: »

Did the LL supply all tenants with a copy of a valid gas safety certificate?
What is the legal position on a GSC if no tenants actually have a gas appliance within their own dwelling units in an HMO? Does it effectively become a communal heating system?
Does the LL also include other utilities (gas, electricity) with the rent, along with council tax?

I believe he would have - somewhere! I'll take a look when I'm home.

All utilities are included in the rend (gas, electricity, water, council tax, etc.).

Guest101

kyleball wrote: »

I truly did try to be succint, but I didn't want to leave anything out!

Your queries:
Admin fee - does not state what; the AST I provided was all the information I had. Payable once, at the end of the tenancy.

Mattress protector - I like your idea, I will go with that!

mydeposit.co.uk; I've checked and it is registered & there is a registration fee.





I feel that would likely land me in trouble, and he could chase me for the debt.

Final months rent: £525. Deposit: £525. Charges total: £206.44; meaning the deposit would offset the final month rent (theoretically), meaning I would owe £206.44. - NO. he would claim you owe him £206.44, but i doubt he would chance it in court. It's al so flimsy.

Your other queries: It's between 490 - 525 per person (8 bedroom house, about £4,000 per month total). All on shorthold tenancy agreement, most moved in separately to each other. - Excellent. So you are just reponsible for your room. I stand by the above comment i left.

Heating: In the morning (around 6-7:30, but not all the time), then in the evening, around 7pm. I do not notice it other times, but I have no effective way to check the timings, but it does not feel like much. I will request timings from him. - write to him, pen and paper.

Mould - housemate has not written to him pen & paper, but has e-mailed him a few times and been ignored. - pen and paper in the future. keep proof of posting.



Thanks for all your comments guys.

Good luck !

Guest101

lonestar1 wrote: »

I'm amazed no ones mentioned the health and safety aspect of having no access to the boiler. I'd be checking with council/fire services as it sounds dangerous to me thinking from gas leak point of view

Health and safety executive - nice catch though

anselld

lonestar1 wrote: »

I'm amazed no ones mentioned the health and safety aspect of having no access to the boiler. I'd be checking with council/fire services as it sounds dangerous to me thinking from gas leak point of view

There must be access to a gas isolation valve. That is normally located at the meter which may or may not be in the boiler location.