Private Renting - Landlord Issues

Mazegami

Hi All,

I have a feeling we don't have a leg to stand on but am posting in case anyone has any ideas.

We moved into a property in January and have had a string of issues with the landlord ever since. To the point that I now can't wait to move when our tenancy is finished

First there was the initial property check, we had sufficient notice but on the day of the inspection, my partner returned to the house in time to let them in and while we were told it would be the property agent visiting, he walked into the house and the landlord, his wife & the agent were inside. After the visit we receive an email stating that we have to get rid of our pets "with immediate effect". I explained to them that when we signed for the property we asked whether animals were allowed and advise caged only, we had 3 rats, and would not have signed otherwise. So, needless to say it's been tense since then.

During the visit we told them that there was an issue with the taps/pipes/pressure etc, this took a couple of weeks to finally get booked. It was booked for 8.30am this morning, which would have given my partner time to drop me to work and then be back at the house to let the plumber in. However he arrived at just past 8am so we were not ready. They are now charging us £30 for the call out and have said this is not the landlord's responsibility (which makes me wonder, what is!?), when I asked initially if this could be referred to the landlord, as the guy didn't turn up at the time specified and when he did it was very inconvenient, this is the response I got:

Good Afternoon --

-- (my partner) has already called into the office and agreed to pay this cost and explained he cannot rearrange the work for next week due to work commitments. This fee is not the property owners responsibility, the contractor has said they would of been happy to carry out the work without you being in the property while (my partner) took you to work. As per (my partner)’s instruction I have informed the contractor that he has agreed to make this payment and that a new date will be booked once this has cleared.

Kind regards,


As I said above, i'm guessing that we don't have a leg to stand on since so much is geared towards protecting the landlord not the tenant (and my partner has already agreed to pay >.<), but any ideas or pointers for dealing with similar issues in the future would be much appreciated. I'm just baffled that they constantly think it's ok for them/random contractors to be in what is legally at the moment OUR house without us present! We don't have much and if anything was stolen or broken we wouldn't be able to replace it straight away etc, and I doubt that the "tenants insurance" they insisted we got (I did make sure to include contents insurance with this) would cover us if anything got broken when it's someone who's either let themselves in with a key or we have had to leave unattended in the house...

Feeling hopeless - thank you in advance for any pointers

Guest101

Mazegami wrote: »

Hi All,

I have a feeling we don't have a leg to stand on but am posting in case anyone has any ideas.

We moved into a property in January and have had a string of issues with the landlord ever since. To the point that I now can't wait to move when our tenancy is finished

First there was the initial property check, we had sufficient notice but on the day of the inspection, my partner returned to the house in time to let them in and while we were told it would be the property agent visiting, he walked into the house and the landlord, his wife & the agent were inside. After the visit we receive an email stating that we have to get rid of our pets "with immediate effect". I explained to them that when we signed for the property we asked whether animals were allowed and advise caged only, we had 3 rats, and would not have signed otherwise. So, needless to say it's been tense since then.

During the visit we told them that there was an issue with the taps/pipes/pressure etc, this took a couple of weeks to finally get booked. It was booked for 8.30am this morning, which would have given my partner time to drop me to work and then be back at the house to let the plumber in. However he arrived at just past 8am so we were not ready. They are now charging us £30 for the call out and have said this is not the landlord's responsibility (which makes me wonder, what is!?), when I asked initially if this could be referred to the landlord, as the guy didn't turn up at the time specified and when he did it was very inconvenient, this is the response I got:

Good Afternoon --

-- (my partner) has already called into the office and agreed to pay this cost and explained he cannot rearrange the work for next week due to work commitments. This fee is not the property owners responsibility, the contractor has said they would of been happy to carry out the work without you being in the property while (my partner) took you to work. As per (my partner)’s instruction I have informed the contractor that he has agreed to make this payment and that a new date will be booked once this has cleared.

Kind regards,


As I said above, i'm guessing that we don't have a leg to stand on since so much is geared towards protecting the landlord not the tenant (and my partner has already agreed to pay >.<), but any ideas or pointers for dealing with similar issues in the future would be much appreciated. I'm just baffled that they constantly think it's ok for them/random contractors to be in what is legally at the moment OUR house without us present! We don't have much and if anything was stolen or broken we wouldn't be able to replace it straight away etc, and I doubt that the "tenants insurance" they insisted we got (I did make sure to include contents insurance with this) would cover us if anything got broken when it's someone who's either let themselves in with a key or we have had to leave unattended in the house...

Feeling hopeless - thank you in advance for any pointers

1: you don't need tenants insurance, so just cancel that
2: no they cant insist contractors come in without you being there, but obviously that would delay the work carried out (unless it was an emergency repair)
3: If your partner agreed to pay (for some bizarre reason) then you'll need to pay
4: id change the lock if they are going to let themselves in (if anything was broken, why would you claim on your own insurance??)

Mazegami

unfortunately (i'll have to dig it out to double check) the tenants insurance is a stipulation in our contract for some reason, the letting agents we had to use wouldn't allow us to rent it otherwise. We did think it odd at the time!
I've gone back to their email now as i've since spoken to my partner and he's said he never said we'd pay but that we'd have to discuss it!
I'd love to change the lock, can we legally do that?

Guest101

Mazegami wrote: »

unfortunately (i'll have to dig it out to double check) the tenants insurance is a stipulation in our contract for some reason, the letting agents we had to use wouldn't allow us to rent it otherwise. We did think it odd at the time!
I've gone back to their email now as i've since spoken to my partner and he's said he never said we'd pay but that we'd have to discuss it!
I'd love to change the lock, can we legally do that?

1: ignore the contract, just cancel it. It's a waste of time as you cannot be forced to claim against it anyway (in the future buy the insurance, then use the cancellation period to cancel for no charge)
2: it's best to sing from the same sheet. Now it's a case of I said, he said, she said, you said.
3: yes you can

theartfullodger

Requiring tenant's insurance has been ruled "unfair" & is not enforceable: However agents won't let you sign without proof:

So you sign-up for insurance online (you get 14 days to cancel), show agent proof, move in, cancel.

It is your home, your property.. see...
http://www.landlordlawblog.co.uk/2010/08/31/urban-myth-when-a-landlord-lets-a-property-its-still-his/

Changing locks? (I assume you are in England). There may be something in tenancy saying you can't, but realistically all landlord could do is evict you at end of tenancy.

As long as you accept risk of eventual eviction go ahead, but keep old locks to put them back when you move out.

Your landlord/agent is clearly a clown-of-little-brain. Sorry!

Artful (Landlord btw...)

saajan_12

£30 callout charge: You may have agreed to allow access for viewings/inspections/repairs subject to certain conditions (eg 24 hours notice, at reasonable hours, perhaps at a mutually convenient time..). IF they did give the required notice / agree a time with you and couldn’t gain access per the contract, they may be able to claim their direct losses as a result off you. Note the plumber’s repair cost is the LL’s responsibility, just the extra call out for coming twice would be yours. However, here it sounds like you agreed to 8:30am so if the plumber came early and didn’t wait till 8:30, that would be the plumber/agent/LL’s problem, not yours.
-- So I wouldn't argue about access rights etc, just that plumber came early, could have done the work at 8:30 as agreed, so the call out isn't your fault.


Tenants insurance: The LL can’t enforce this clause, because if you broke it by cancelling insurance, what loss could the LL sue for? You can’t be forced to make a claim and if you did, the payout would be things you are liable for anyway.

FBaby

However, here it sounds like you agreed to 8:30am so if the plumber came early and didn’t wait till 8:30, that would be the plumber/agent/LL’s problem, not yours.

It's no-one's fault. Certainly isn't the LL. Contractors coming at different times to what they say they will happens all the time. Most give you a 4 hours window, if no more and still come early or late.

You had the option to let him carry out the work whilst you were away, you chose not to. Why should it be the LL's responsibility to pay for this? What would you have done if you owned the house? Being a tenant doesn't mean that any costs associated with the house falls down on the LL, especially when you could have avoided that cost.

How long is your tenancy for? It sounds like the agency agreed on the pets, but without consulting with the LL who clearly sees it differently, so it sounds like you will both be glad for you to move out when the tenancy term comes to an end.

saajan_12

FBaby wrote: »

It's no-one's fault. Certainly isn't the LL. Contractors coming at different times to what they say they will happens all the time. Most give you a 4 hours window, if no more and still come early or late.

I meant it depends on where the discrepancy happened.

*LL/agent's fault if they booked one time and communicated another with the tenant, or gave the tenant the impression it was a fixed time but only agreed a '4 hour slot, probably around 8:30ish' with the plumber

*Plumber's fault if they did have a fixed 8:30 time and came early, refusing to wait

Yes tradespeople are often vague with times and homeowners have to be flexible, but in my experience they also will wait or reorder jobs if you aren't at the property when they arrive before levying a call out fee.

Guest101

FBaby wrote: »

It's no-one's fault. Certainly isn't the LL. Contractors coming at different times to what they say they will happens all the time. Most give you a 4 hours window, if no more and still come early or late. - True, but if the agreed time was 8:30, than the plumber cant charge for not having access. The contract asked for access at a given time. Whether he chose to come early or not is the plumbers responsibility, not the LL or the T.

You had the option to let him carry out the work whilst you were away, you chose not to. Why should it be the LL's responsibility to pay for this? - it shouldn't What would you have done if you owned the house? - told the plumber he wasnt there at the agreed time Being a tenant doesn't mean that any costs associated with the house falls down on the LL, especially when you could have avoided that cost. - true, but many costs do

How long is your tenancy for? It sounds like the agency agreed on the pets, but without consulting with the LL who clearly sees it differently - irrelevant, if the agent agreed, its the same as the LL agreeing , so it sounds like you will both be glad for you to move out when the tenancy term comes to an end.

I think the point is that no-one should pay the plumber, he came at the wrong time, his fault

DumbMuscle

Just a quick check - were you not in the property at all when the plumber turned up, or were you there but unwilling to let him in while you were getting ready/going to work? If the latter, what was said to him at the time?