Landlord not repairing house!

[Deleted User]

I'm sorry if there is already a thread on this and if there is pls point me the way!:o

OK. I private rent my LL owns my house and both next doors they're in trust and can never be sold. Anyway my neighbours told me straight off the bat. he's a lazy LL and won't do any repairs. Both my neighbours repair all there own houses both even go as far as putting double glazing in and plastering etc out of their own pocket.

My problem is I'm on income support and the council pay my rent so I'm in no position to repair anything in the house. But the problem I have is too big for me to pay for anyway, and as its his house why should I

So my problem is the front and the back of the house need re pointing new guttering and new facias ( sp!) and new down pipes. my dinig room window has "fallen" where there is no cement holding the bricks above it and I have a very large damp patch in my living room and small one in my bedroom. I have called my LL nemourus (sp!) times and hes been out about 5 times to look each time saying he's going to sort it out ( sending some one round thats how I know it needs re pointing etc!) anyway this was before the summer I suffered badly when we had flooding ( i live where it was VERY badly hit)not in that the house was flooded but in that the rain for days on end made my wall all the more damp. My wallpaper is practically hanging off and I have chalky white stuff on it someone has told me is growing mould!

He prominsed scaffolding on Mon last week (after a few threats) to get on with the job and so far no one has been to put any up:mad: I have called him and threatened that I have a tenancy and hes not sticking to his end of it. I told him I would take it further but I don't actually know how! or who!!!

Sorry if this is too long but with the winter upon us it can only get worse and with 2 children in the house I don't think its fair. can anyone PLS advise!!
MANY THANKS!! SL:D

real1314

ok, firstly, the apects that do not affect your habitation are not something you shoudl worry about.

rotten fascias, pointing and guttering, etc are not an issue.

what is an issue is the aspects that do affect you, regardless of the source.

so, any damp is an issue, anything that affects the ability to heat the building is an issue, any structural problem that causes worry is an issue.

what you need to do is write to the landlord asking them to rectify such faults, giving an explicit, realistic time scale (14 days for minor jobs, possibly 28 or more days for bigger issues). If these things are not sorted within the timescale, write agin, giving a futher 7 days for works to start and an expected completion date.

If this doesn't happen, onlt then can you consider getting someone in and withholding rent (which should probably have been mentioned at the 7 days notice point). then get 3 quotes and go with the cheapest.

you might find that shelter have some good reliable advice in this area.

Doozergirl

real1314 wrote: »

rotten fascias, pointing and guttering, etc are not an issue.

Think I can guess where the damp patches are coming from! If the house is in that bad condition, the water will even be getting in through where the mortar should be but isn't!

I do agree OP that you really need to speak to shelter - though with the costs involved likely to be a good few months rent, I'd be worried that you will simply end up being served notice

[Deleted User]

Thank you.. The reason for the damp as OP pointed out is the water is coming in through there and getting in where it needs re pointing. As for me mentioning that the dining room window there is no cement supporting the brick that hold my very rotten windows, I'm conserned that it may cause a bigger problem, if you know what I mean!! I'm not sure I do but I have to say it does worry me! I have an arch above my window and the amount it has fallen conserns me greatly
Thanks for the advise. I will get a letter sent off on Monday morning, you have both been very helpful! SL x:beer:

Cissi

I can only sympathise - it's taken us 2 years, but we've finally got our LL to effect repairs. Our neighbours are amazed; apparently a number of previus tenants have tried and failed! We didn't want to go down the route of withholding rent - especially as our LL has previously been known to send round the heavies :eek: - but we did threaten this as a last resort on a number of occasions. However, we feel that ultimately, our best weapon is being as good tenants as we can, making sure it isn't in his interest to lose us, and this seems to have worked in the end

I think the main thing is to document everything. Make sure that you send your LL a letter every time you've spoken, detailing every point, as otherwise ours at least tends to have a very selective memory. If the house was let through an agent, make sure to cc them on the letters, even if they're not managing the property - they'll probably still be involved with issuing contract renewals etc, and at the very least it will be embarrassing for the LL.