Flooded flat and electrics in rented

divadee

Hi.

I have just had a member of my staff on the phone in tears as her flat has been flooded for the 2nd time this week (the 4th time in a year) with the torrential rain. Her landlord claimed he fixed the roof last year but obviously that hasn't been fixed correctly.

The water is pouring down the walls and through the light fittings in all the rooms.

She is not from the uk and her letting agents keep fobbing her off with its getting looked at in 2 weeks (what they told her earlier this week).

What rights does she have with the letting agents? I have offered to go with her later on but wanted to make sure of what she should be asking for.

In my opinion (which is not educated to these matters) water pouring through the light fittings and electrics deems the property unsafe to live in but I need to know legally what she should be demanding at the agents and landlord later.

Pixie5740

She has no rights with the letting agency and she has no contract with him. Her contract is with the landlord and it is the landlord who is responsible for repairs. The landlord has a statutory obligation "to keep in repair the structure and exterior of the dwelling-house."

Has she written (ink, paper, stamp) to the address for the serving of notices given in her tenancy agreement about the leak yet? Does she have contact details such as a phone number or email address to contact the landlord directly on today?

See Repairing Obligations and Retaliatory Evictions for further information (assuming this property is in England or Wales.)

Also, Shelter have information on how to deal with repairs.

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

divadee

Thanks pixie. I will advise her to write to the landlord today and see where that gets her. But obviously that won't arrive until tomorrow at the earliest. What can we do for her today? I assume water pouring through the electrics makes it unsafe for her to live there?

Pixie5740

She should do both, write (get a paper trail going) and phone (ideally the landlord). In fact phoning Shelter might also be a good shout.

I can't say whether or not the property is unsafe to live in until the issue is resolved.

elverson

See here specifically

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/repairs_and_bad_conditions/common_problems/if_your_home_is_flooded

unicornsarereal

Is the power to the light fittings switched off on the fuse box? If not, switch them off asap.

Proxima_Centauri

In the past we have had water pouring down from the upstairs flat through the light fittings. I don't want to sound alarmist, but they would need to make sure that the water doesn't get into the fusebox, or it could start a fire. It should be classed as an emergency repair, IMO, though whether a private landlord would see it that way or not remains to be seen.

divadee

I have passed on all the advice to her including shelters phone number so hopefully she will have back up from them. She does have her landlords phone number but no address so I have told her to call and ask for the address. The address on the tenancy is just c/o the letting agents.

Thanks everyone.

G_M

1) read up on her rights - see the links provided

2) ring the landlord if you have a number

3) ring the letting agent

4) write a letter to the landlord (send copy to agent) posted to the address provided "for serving notices"

5) contact the council - either the Environental Health dept and/or Private Tenancy Officer (if they have one)

Do ALL the above - they are not a pick list!

The letter should be polite but clear. It should be concise not rambling. It should
* recap the history (eg dates of repairs last year) and
* describe current problem, with dates and
* say what is needed (emergency repairs to roof & electrics within 24 hours, + assessment of damage for further repair (eg decoration, etc))

Does tenant have contents insurance and have her personal belongings been water damaged? If not, a claim for compensation against the landlord is possible, but I'd hold that in reserve for now. Just keep a record of the damage (with photos) and put a cost against each item.

divadee

An update for you all.

Landlord has actually been very good in the end. He has shown her a series of emails that he has been sending to the managing company of the flats since March when another flat in the block had flooding trouble. All the leaseholders (and from what I can gather they are all rented out by the owners) have paid money to the managing company to have this problem resolved in March and the managing company are dragging their feet.

Landlord is looking into alternative accommodation for my staff member as the electrics are unsafe.

Will hopefully have a further update later on.

AlexMac

It pays to do things properly, so do as G_M says.

The Council EHO (if they are anything like my local one) might be very helpful. By way of illustration, I had a letter threatening legal action from my local EHO because the tenant of the Housing Association to whom I'd assigned the property on a long-term, full-repairing lease got fed up waiting for a series of minor repairs despite having repeatedly reported these to their Landlord, the HA.

So the EHO threatened us both- me and the HA - with prosecution unless we fixed it pronto! I was predictably hacked off 'cause it was all down to the HA to sort under the terms of our agreement; I wasn't supposed to do anything; not even gas checks, from one year to the next. But at least, the pressure from both the EHO and me made the Landlord (the HA) get their finger out. And those defects were far less than the ones you describe.

So let's hope you have an equally effective and sympathetic local Council!