Landlord responsibilities - standard of fittings, advice please.

daphnemoon

Hello,

Ive been renting a house for about 3 years, he carpets are all well worn around the house I rent but some is wearing very thin. There was a pulled part of carpet which I hoovered over, without realising it was there, when we first moved in which we told the LA about straight away. There is now a patch of pulled carpet that is getting worse as its walked on! I have to hoover around it!

The chap at the LA who organises repairs has had a quote to repair it twice but has not arranged for it to be repaired.

Could anyone let me know, are there rules regarding the standard of fittings expected in rental properties? I'm assuming there are no requirements for good standard of floor covering?

Are there requirements for things such as double glazed doors and bath panels to be fitted?

Thanks for your help.

Guest101

No, none of those are requirements.


However a good landlord would certainly look to replace the carpet as it increases the likelihood of a good tenant staying, rather than tenant leaving and then being left with a drab looking house to re-rent.

agrinnall

Guest101 wrote: »

No, none of those are requirements.


However a good landlord would certainly look to replace the carpet as it increases the likelihood of a good tenant staying, rather than tenant leaving and then being left with a drab looking house to re-rent.

I'd agree if the tenant is likely to be staying for a while, but the LL might well decide to hold off and replace between tenancies (and perhaps do other freshening of the property) to make it look good for a new tenant.

Pixie5740

Could a worn carpet be considered a trip hazard and therefore a health & safety issue? I honestly don't know...just throwing it out there.

As for the LA getting quotes, the LA acts on behalf of the LL, if the LL doesn't want to pay for the repairs then the LA's hands are tied.

G_M

Pixie5740 wrote: »

Could a worn carpet be considered a trip hazard and therefore a health & safety issue? I honestly don't know...just throwing it out there.

Rugs are obvious trip hazards, and are not permitted in let properties. Same is true of grass that is allowed to grow too loong, and furniture which does not have yellow 'warning' stickers on each corner.....

Guest101

G_M wrote: »

Rugs are obvious trip hazards, and are not permitted in let properties. Same is true of grass that is allowed to grow too loong, and furniture which does not have yellow 'warning' stickers on each corner.....

I think it was an interesting point as it is a fitting of the property rather than a loose object.

Pixie5740

G_M wrote: »

Rugs are obvious trip hazards, and are not permitted in let properties. Same is true of grass that is allowed to grow too loong, and furniture which does not have yellow 'warning' stickers on each corner.....

If it's a fitted carpet there's not much the tenant can do about it. It's unreasonable to expect a tenant to pay for new fitted carpets whereas it's not unreasonable to expect a tenant to mow the lawn. If a tenant did keep tripping over a rug they could roll it up and store it in a cupboard, the same can't be said for a fitted carpet which by the sounds of things, would fall to pieces should the tenant try and lift it.

martinsurrey

Pixie5740 wrote: »

If it's a fitted carpet there's not much the tenant can do about it. It's unreasonable to expect a tenant to pay for new fitted carpets whereas it's not unreasonable to expect a tenant to mow the law. If a tenant did keep tripping over a rug they could roll it up and store it in a cupboard, the same can't be said for a fitted carpet which by the sounds of things, would fall to pieces should the tenant try and lift it.

be careful what you wish for though, the land lord could fix the "trip hazard" in 5 mins, by ripping the carpet up and leaving OP with a bare floor.

daphnemoon

Thanks everyone for the advice, our LL has expressed to us that we are good tenants and wishes us to sign a 2yr AST.

LL's Do you think I would be able to hold out for new carpet or repair before I sign the new agreement? Or would this put Us in a bad light with the LL?

thesaint

martinsurrey wrote: »

be careful what you wish for though, the land lord could fix the "trip hazard" in 5 mins, by ripping the carpet up and leaving OP with a bare floor.

That's exactly what we did when the tenant reported the torn carpet to the enviromental health office.

They told us that we had to provide carpet. We said we didn't.

daphnemoon wrote: »

LL's Do you think I would be able to hold out for new carpet or repair before I sign the new agreement? Or would this put Us in a bad light with the LL?

I think that is perfectly reasonable. Be "nice" about it.

FBaby

LL's Do you think I would be able to hold out for new carpet or repair before I sign the new agreement? Or would this put Us in a bad light with the LL?

The ideal situation is one where you both compromise. They might agree to it if you sign for two years (so knows you are staying), but it might not be the quality you would hope for, just new carpet.

Or they might agree to put new carpet and better than cheap, but then raise the rent more than would have otherwise considered.

There are no fast rules on this, so it's better to think about the approaching the situation on the basis of compromise than entitlement. Hopefully you both want to be satisfied with the relationship, so communication, respect and compromise is the best way forward.