New tenants, who's responsibility is minor repairs?

[Deleted User]

Yes I do agree with this. My son will be going to university with a little tool set lolol. Fortunately they have seen me doing DIY so hopefully it will occur to them that its ok to do minor repairs themselves. Unfortunately not everyone does. I saw my stepfather do everything in the house so I got the idea from him. Pass it forward etc lol.

Nowadays with 'How to' vids on Youtube for everything there is no excuse but unfortunately a lot of young people come from families where repairs just aren't done by the people living in a place.

I'd suggest having a chat with them as well, explaining that its often more convenient for them to do minor repairs (not electrical or plumbing) rather than wait until someone can come round. It sounds like they did try, however, to get the door working.

Icecannon

saajan_12 wrote: »

Thanks for all the comments so far. I definitely do carry out inspections, usually semi-annual just haven’t yet with the current tenants in situ as they have only been in for just shy of 3 months. To clarify these were reported in two separate calls in the same week, the infestation was just this morning. I’m planning to visit tomorrow for both issues and will inspect the rest of the property too.

You are meant to give 24 hours notice of an inspection, you can ask whilst there to look at the repair, if they mind but as you seem to want them to do things right it would be good if you give them the notice as you would be putting them on the spot, if they were to say no, which is their right, you would likely feel that would be unreasonable.

Dorian1958

In the future I would suggest you have a "settling in" inspection 6 weeks after the start of a tenancy, so you can address any niggling little concerns and lay down standards at the outset. Also tenants will need clear guidance as to what constitutes an emergency ( which might involve a phone call), and how to report any minor issues (by email).

Cakeguts

If the property was agent managed they wouldn't have been able to phone someone at 1am because the office would have been closed.

smartpicture

Could be worse - my student tenants texted me asking me if I could bring over a new oven pan for a furnished flat, and when I asked why as they had several already, they said they were all dirty and they didn't want to wash them up.

[Deleted User]

Yeah an ex rented a whole property out to some bright young professionals. They wouldn't clean the floors unless he provided a mop. Straight out of university again.

I still remember someone coming round to view a room in a flat share who was paying a fair amount of money to lodge in someone's house with meals. I was just offering a flat share. She insisted that I should provide her with crockery and pots and pans. Didn't rent to her. Did try to explain that that wasn't how flat shares worked but she wasn't having any of it lol. I could just see the mess and burnt pans as she talked lol.

gingercordial

Fruit flies? They are tiny and can suddenly be everywhere, especially if they have a fruit bowl, potatoes in a cupboard or not cleaning the trap in the sink regularly. If the latter a kettle of boiling water down the sink daily will help, and tell them to google a cider vinegar fruit fly trap (needs a glass, a sheet of paper, cider vinegar and a drop of washing up liquid) as they work like a charm to clear up the little beggars. An exterminator won't help.

nimbo

Having been the person inside the room with a broken door handle - can honestly say it can be wear and tear.

And a hassle. The letting agent had to provide a key to the work man. Had no tools in bedroom. The thing with the square hole had split.

They were very accommodating when I said please hurry it's first thing in the morning and I needed a wee. (Didn't say it) but the waste paper basket was a wire job. I called before the office was open.

Sometimes these things happen.

Nobbie1967

gingercordial wrote: »

Fruit flies? They are tiny and can suddenly be everywhere, especially if they have a fruit bowl, potatoes in a cupboard or not cleaning the trap in the sink regularly. If the latter a kettle of boiling water down the sink daily will help, and tell them to google a cider vinegar fruit fly trap (needs a glass, a sheet of paper, cider vinegar and a drop of washing up liquid) as they work like a charm to clear up the little beggars. An exterminator won't help.

That's what I was thinking as well, they do seem to appear from nowhere and are really just down to keeping fruit uncovered in fruit bowls. Apples and oranges are usually ok, but softer fruits like grapes and bananas can be infested pretty quickly when they start getting over ripe.

SingleSue

smartpicture wrote: »

Could be worse - my student tenants texted me asking me if I could bring over a new oven pan for a furnished flat, and when I asked why as they had several already, they said they were all dirty and they didn't want to wash them up.

Sort of along the same lines but when my son was a senior resident in halls, he got a call one night in the small hours to attend a room as they had an emergency.

The emergency? They had been sick and wanted him to clean it up as someone (their mum) had always done it for them before. Obviously son said no but the resident had absolutely no idea what to do and son had to explain.