Suing landlord/agency

G_M

For the avoidance of doubt:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/1693/part/2/made

Duties of relevant landlord in relation to prescribed alarms

4.—(1) A relevant landlord in respect of a specified tenancy must ensure that—

(a)during any period beginning on or after 1st October 2015 when the premises are occupied under the tenancy—

(i)a smoke alarm is equipped on each storey of the premises on which there is a room used wholly or partly as living accommodation;

(ii)a carbon monoxide alarm is equipped in any room of the premises which is used wholly or partly as living accommodation and contains a solid fuel burning combustion appliance;

As others have said, a tenant can, of course, supply their own CO alarm (around £14?), however this will only detect CO, it will not detect a gas leak. That is why (odourless) natural gas has a distinctive odour artificially added.

Most of te other issues appear to have been addressed.

You can, of course, sue the landlord, but you must be able to justify the losses you have incurred. Can you specify what each issue has cost you in financial terms?

FBaby

This is the first sign, any decent landlord would clean the place before viewings, if not they simply do not care and only want £. Too late now, but future reference and lesson learnt.

It's not always clear when the landord is failing and when it is the agent, but my experience is that it is often the latter.

I rented a place once and was horrified when we moved in that the place was left absolutely filthy. It was an evening and agents were already closed (we'd picked up the keys the day before) so called the landlord. They were very angry as they had asked the agent to ensure the place was cleaned and they had promised them they would do. They called the agent first thing in the morning, and a cleaner was sent the following day (although by they we'd done most of the cleaning). A month later, they ditched the agent, and we dealt with the landlord directly. They were great and that worked a lot better for us.

Re. the carbon monoxide detector, can't help wondering if similarly, the LL doesn't have a clue about the law, relied on the agent to inform them of all legal requirements, and they failed to do so. Doesn't make it right, but many landlords assume that using the service of an agent means getting the right expertise for the last amount they pay to them monthly.

G_M

FBaby wrote: »

.....
Re. the carbon monoxide detector, can't help wondering if similarly, the LL doesn't have a clue about the law, relied on the agent to inform them of all legal requirements, and they failed to do so. ....

Good grief- does no one have a clue about the law,and is everyone incapable of reading the leglislation?

Or have I missed the bit where the OP descibes their wood burner?

Ptolemyspuzzle

I honestly don't see the huge issue here...

Every little qualm, no matter how small (clogged drain? really?) has been dealt with.

Your washing machine is loud, and your fridge doesn't work...when exactly do you think the last time the landlord used those appliances was? You are automatically assuming that he knew about these things and is doing all of this on purpose just to annoy you/avoid paying, when his actions seem to indicate that he is doing his best to put everything right.

Your landlord could quite simply not provide you with a washing machine or fridge (mine didn't). Buy a bottle of drain cleaner for a couple of quid and unblock the drain.

You are assuming the landlord is greedy. You have no solid proof of this. Often it is the agents who are the ones at fault. I am saying this as a tenant who has been royally screwed by an AGENT, I still have no idea where the landlord stood in the whole deal, but I know for a fact that the agent was a major issue, and I know this because the *agent* lied on the check-out form.

My opinion is that perhaps you should try living in your own place and having to pay for every minute issue that crops up for a while before you start wondering whether it is absolutely necessary to hire professional help instead of buy a bottle of drain-o.

No. You shouldn't sue your landlord. Deal with your situation (a landlord who actually puts things right) or leave and take your chances in the next place that you will no doubt be equally unhappy with.

Yes you've had a couple of notable issues (which were dealt with), but adding in all of the other random things and suggesting a lawsuit just comes across as petty.

stator

croto wrote: »

It wasn't really cheap, I'm paying £1000 for a 1 bed flat in zone 3/4 close to Woolwich, so not exactly cheap.



It isn't just the fact that it's a bad landlord, but the fact that I had so many issues and there isn't a carbon monoxide detector installed in the property even though it is a legal requirement... Having in mind I had a gas leak (potentially still have) my life was at risk.

Some of what the landlord has gone may be unsafe and possibly illegal, but there's still nothing you can sue him/her about.