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Intermediate rent issues, please read
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ems01
Posts: 52 Forumite
Hi all,
I've been having some issues with my intermediate rental, it's a long story, so please be patient
We were offered a shorthold secure tenancy on a social housing property just over a year ago. We knew the rent was higher than average for a housing association house, however, it was advertised as an eco house that would save us upto 70% on our energy bills. We were told it was ours for as long as we wanted. We were told very little else, had the keys a week later, signed a standard contract that did not stipulate any terms outside of the norms of social housing, the right to acquire subject to conditions (which were not laid out), the right to a secure full rights tenancy (if we do not breach the terms etc), after proving our income and our ability to pay the rent of £118 per week.
One year on we have since been converted to a full rights tenancy, however, we have discovered that the house is an 'intermediate rent'. Government guidelines state that intermediate rentals normally have a term to them, they come with the option to acquire and are priced 80-100% of the local housing allowance (£90 per week in my area) or 80% of the average local market rent (£100 per week) in order for tenants to save for a deposit for a house. Our rent has since been increased to £121 per week, £527 per calendar month, way above the aforementioned figures.
I've been in discussions with my landlords for the last few months regarding this issue and so far I've been told we will not have the right to acquire the property as its an intermediate rent and special in its energy saving technology. That the term intermediate just means they can charge more for certain properties due to their unique adaptations. I've had no conclusive answer or documentation to support any of this information.
To further exacerbate matters, the house is not functioning as advertised. We are not making the predicted savings and exceeding the predicted units of usage by twice the amount. This is due to much of the technology being incorrectly installed, mismanaged and simply not working. Some of the technology has been removed in its entirety due to it not functioning at all and having an adverse affect on our living conditions....like no hot water for the first 3 months. This has lead to an exorbitant amount of visits from all parties involved in the house, in excess of 30 visits in a year, for up to 7 hours per day.
I've approached the landlords and requested a reduction of rent to 'benchmark' rent, the same as other properties in their stock are priced at, backdated to the beginning of our tenancy, just over £2,000 in the first year alone. On the premise that our home, their project is not as advertised and we save very little on our energy bills, this in conjunction with the fact the only difference our property has is monitoring equipment...a hindrance that doesn't benefit us and a battery to store energy generated by the solar panels that powers the main lightbulbs. Much of their other stock has the wall insulation, ventilation and new boilers and windows and they are embarking on fitting solar panels to them too. My request for benchmark rent has been all but dismissed and I've been told they will look into it and possibly adjust our 'intermediate' rent level accordingly with a backdated payment, if indeed we are being overcharged!!!
Failing a satisfactory reduction in rent I have requested a transfer to another property, this has been ignored.
So, to summarize, we pay £527 pcm for a small two bedroom HA house. With energy saving technology that doesn't work. Where other tenants pay £355 pcm (£89 pw over 48 weeks of the year, we pay £121 per week over 52 weeks of the year). We have no right to acquire, face ongoing disruption due to visits are micro managed by a HA and have signed a standard contract!
What's my next step? I've had little progression in this issue since raising it in early October. It is being dealt with by an operational manager. Is it time to go straight to the top?
I've been having some issues with my intermediate rental, it's a long story, so please be patient
We were offered a shorthold secure tenancy on a social housing property just over a year ago. We knew the rent was higher than average for a housing association house, however, it was advertised as an eco house that would save us upto 70% on our energy bills. We were told it was ours for as long as we wanted. We were told very little else, had the keys a week later, signed a standard contract that did not stipulate any terms outside of the norms of social housing, the right to acquire subject to conditions (which were not laid out), the right to a secure full rights tenancy (if we do not breach the terms etc), after proving our income and our ability to pay the rent of £118 per week.
One year on we have since been converted to a full rights tenancy, however, we have discovered that the house is an 'intermediate rent'. Government guidelines state that intermediate rentals normally have a term to them, they come with the option to acquire and are priced 80-100% of the local housing allowance (£90 per week in my area) or 80% of the average local market rent (£100 per week) in order for tenants to save for a deposit for a house. Our rent has since been increased to £121 per week, £527 per calendar month, way above the aforementioned figures.
I've been in discussions with my landlords for the last few months regarding this issue and so far I've been told we will not have the right to acquire the property as its an intermediate rent and special in its energy saving technology. That the term intermediate just means they can charge more for certain properties due to their unique adaptations. I've had no conclusive answer or documentation to support any of this information.
To further exacerbate matters, the house is not functioning as advertised. We are not making the predicted savings and exceeding the predicted units of usage by twice the amount. This is due to much of the technology being incorrectly installed, mismanaged and simply not working. Some of the technology has been removed in its entirety due to it not functioning at all and having an adverse affect on our living conditions....like no hot water for the first 3 months. This has lead to an exorbitant amount of visits from all parties involved in the house, in excess of 30 visits in a year, for up to 7 hours per day.
I've approached the landlords and requested a reduction of rent to 'benchmark' rent, the same as other properties in their stock are priced at, backdated to the beginning of our tenancy, just over £2,000 in the first year alone. On the premise that our home, their project is not as advertised and we save very little on our energy bills, this in conjunction with the fact the only difference our property has is monitoring equipment...a hindrance that doesn't benefit us and a battery to store energy generated by the solar panels that powers the main lightbulbs. Much of their other stock has the wall insulation, ventilation and new boilers and windows and they are embarking on fitting solar panels to them too. My request for benchmark rent has been all but dismissed and I've been told they will look into it and possibly adjust our 'intermediate' rent level accordingly with a backdated payment, if indeed we are being overcharged!!!
Failing a satisfactory reduction in rent I have requested a transfer to another property, this has been ignored.
So, to summarize, we pay £527 pcm for a small two bedroom HA house. With energy saving technology that doesn't work. Where other tenants pay £355 pcm (£89 pw over 48 weeks of the year, we pay £121 per week over 52 weeks of the year). We have no right to acquire, face ongoing disruption due to visits are micro managed by a HA and have signed a standard contract!
What's my next step? I've had little progression in this issue since raising it in early October. It is being dealt with by an operational manager. Is it time to go straight to the top?
0
Comments
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It looks like its a specialised area of even Housing Law. I wonder if you contacted Shelter, if they could put you in contact with someone with the specialised knowledge that could help you? It might be worth a try.0
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Shelter! I hadn't thought of them. I shall ring them tomorrow. Thank you.0
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