Letting Agent Dis-Instructed - Advice As Tenant

Jugger

Our landlord is unwilling to do property repairs that are required. A window seal has failed which is letting damp and mould into a child's bedroom. The driveway is also unsafe and my son has fallen and injured himself. The let is via a letting agent and we have been asking for months for repairs to be done without help. Last month we stopped paying rent as one room is now unusable. The agent has contacted us to say as we aren't paying rents and the landlord isn't doing repairs they are unwilling to deal and are going to de-instruct themselves. Where does this leave us? Our contract runs until December but we are looking to move in with my parents shortly to get away from the problem.
There are several other maintenance issues with the property too which we have been requesting assistance with for a while - some going back years, but the above points are our main causes for concern.

Guest101

When did your tenancy start?


Have you written to the LL regarding these issues?

Pixie5740

Your contract is with the landlord not the letting agent so the fact that they want to dis-instruct themselves does not have any bearing on your tenancy agreement.

You also shouldn't stop paying your rent, all that achieves is making it easier for your LL to evict you using a Section 8 notice.

If you have reported the repairs in WRITING to the address for the serving of notices given in your TA and your LL hasn't responded or fixed them, then escalate the repairs to the council. Did your tenancy start after 1st October 2015 and are you in England or Wales?

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/repairs_and_bad_conditions/repairs_in_private_lets/landlord_refusing_to_do_repairs

G_M

Unless/until you have an address in Eng/Wales "for serving notices" (I assume it used to be c/o the agent?) you do not have to pay rent by law. (Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 )

When did your tenancy start? If after 1/10/15 and you complain to the council, you will be protected from a S21 eviction (but not a S8 for rent arrears).

See

* Repairing Obligations: the law, common misconceptions, reporting/enforcing, retaliatory eviction & the new protection (2015)

f your contract runs till Decemeber, and there is no 'Break Clause' but you wish to leave sooner, you will have to get the landlord's consent.

Jugger

We have been in the property 2 years. We initially had a six month contact until December 2015 which was renewed onto a 12 month contract which expires December 2016.


All our contact so far has been via our letting agent. The LL doesn't speak very much English and so contact is difficult.


One of the reasons we stopped paying the rent is we had to complete some repairs at our own cost as they were started but left uncompleted and unsafe. All the works, conversations and costs have been documented.


We are actually sick of staying where we are as it is causing quite a lot of distress now. We are looking to move out within the next month but with no letting agent we are a bit confused as to where we stand.


From what you are saying re the contract being with the LL and not the agent then it sounds like we could still be pursued for outstanding rent until December as we have no break clause in our contract?

Pixie5740

Forget the letting agent, they are irrelevant to your tenancy agreement. You have a contract with the landlord which by the sounds of it means that you are legally obligated to pay rent until December 2016 when your fixed term will end unless you can negotiate an early surrender with your landlord which he is under no obligation to agree to.

It doesn't matter if your landlord isn't very good at understanding English. The important thing is that you have reported repairs and nothing has been done about then start escalating matters with the council. If you're stuck in the property you may as well try and get something done about the repairs.

FBaby

What repairs are you talking about? The window seal is not forcibly an essential repair and might have nothing to do with the damp which be caused by condensation.

As for the driveway, why has it suddenly become dangerous when it wasn't for the last 2 years and how is it dangerous?

You haven't paid so you are in breach of contract. You would have to prove that they are in breach of contract too by not doing these repairs, which if they are not deemed essential, the landlord doesn't have to do unless clearly stipulated in your agreement.

If you leave early, you could be liable for paying until the end of your agreement in December.

Jugger

The window seal has come loose. This can be seen hanging down from the outside of the property. The windows are open as much as possible. It is a young childs bedroom so it is either on latch during the day when they are in, open when we are out or closed when they are in bed. We always keep the windows of the property open and it definitely isn't a condensation issue. This is the only room which has the problem which has caused mould on the window ledge, curtains, wall and bedding. The internal window ledges are all either completely loose (to the point where they are just rested against the window) or falling off meaning that when the wind blows the windows bow in and out as they aren't secured in adequately.


The driveway is very steep, maybe about 45 degrees. An are of it was previously garden which has a very thin layer of concrete over. As weeds and weather have worked against this it is massively pot-holed. The holes run the whole length of the drive and are about 15 inch square and 2 to 3 inch deep. My son stepped out of the car and turned his ankle in one of the holes causing him to fall, rip his clothes open and scar his leg. The unsafe nature of the drive had been notified and acknowledged by the agent at this point.


The bathroom of the property was leaking water into the electrics in the kitchen. Home serve came out and said it was due to the bathroom not being sealed properly. Every time someone had a bath or a shower water ran through the light bulbs in the kitchen. A plumber came out and grouted over the existing grout and sealed over the existing sealant. This stopped the water temporarily but as the repairs were bodged the grout and sealant fell off within 24 hours. We are expecting the water leaks to start again any time soon.


A gate blew down due to heavy storms. This was fixed by a contractor appointed by the agent. Again this was a bodged job and the contractor only did half a job and didn't fill in any of the footings. I had to take time off to concrete the fence in as the contractor wouldn't come back although requested to by the agent.


The floors in the property are all lifting with what is thought to be rising damp meaning the carpets are all uneven in the property.


The kitchen has burnt out sockets due to the water that has been running through them.


These are just a selection of the issues we have been having but we have only chased the window issue as we have a 4 bed house that can only be used as a 3.


Would the fact that we have these issues discussed in writing along with an email from the agent stating that the LL is unwilling to complete maintenance help us going forward if we just leave the property?

HappyMJ

Personally, me...I'd also stop paying the rent and wait until you get a Section 8 notice then surrender the property back to the landlord as soon as possible. There's just too many issues to be waiting for repairs so I'd be moving out as soon as possible. You might be liable for rent until December but that would not concern me at all. Your choice.

You could also choose to abandon the tenancy again you would be liable for rent until December but that would be worth it.

AdrianC

Adam_Howlett wrote: »

The window seal has come loose. This can be seen hanging down from the outside of the property. The windows are open as much as possible. It is a young childs bedroom so it is either on latch during the day when they are in, open when we are out or closed when they are in bed. We always keep the windows of the property open

So the seal is an absolute red herring, then.

The driveway is very steep, maybe about 45 degrees. An are of it was previously garden which has a very thin layer of concrete over. As weeds and weather have worked against this it is massively pot-holed. The holes run the whole length of the drive and are about 15 inch square and 2 to 3 inch deep.

How has this has changed in the two years you've been in the property?

My son stepped out of the car and turned his ankle in one of the holes

Should have looked where he was stepping, then.

These are just a selection of the issues we have been having but we have only chased the window issue as we have a 4 bed house that can only be used as a 3.

A loose seal, on a window that's open all the time anyway, does not render a room unusable.

Jugger

"A loose seal, on a window that's open all the time anyway, does not render a room unusable. "


The window is closed when the child is in the room. The water has got inside the double glazing unit, under the window ledge inside the property and behind the plaster. The water will keep entering the property any time the weather is bad until the seal is fixed. Us keeping the window on the vent will stop condensation but won't stop the fabric of the property from becoming sodden due to wind and rain.


“
My son stepped out of the car and turned his ankle in one of the holes
” Should have looked where he was stepping, then.



This is a driveway, when the car is on the drive the only place to step is into the holes and hope for the best. The car can't be kept on the road and the drive is the only option.


the property was on the market for sale for a good year or more before we rented it. Zero maintenance has been done in that time or since we moved in.