Legal advice to take landlord to small claims

takman

pechnatunk wrote: »

We didn't go to a hotel because we can't afford it.
The landlord's contractor delivered one small electric heater, the first time it broke, then another the second time it broke and one house mate bought a heater.
We can show the increase in electricity bill.

But how do we quantify our distress and discomfort?
The whole point is that we continued to live in a property that was unliveable while paying the full price. Therefore there has been a service undelivered.

But if the lack of heating was causing any unreasonable amount of distress and discomfort then surely you would have bought more electric heaters to warm the place up considering they are cheap.

Just come up with a reasonable amount and send a letter before action to the landlord explaining how you came to this amount.

How about something like the total of:

- 1/3rd of the months rent for lack of water and heating

- The cost of the heater purchased

- The cost of the increase in electric over this period compared to last winter minus the saving in gas by not using the boiler (which probably won't actually work out much considering that you only had 3 electric heaters in the house).

saajan_12

pechnatunk wrote: »

We didn't go to a hotel because we can't afford it. - fine, so no loss there
The landlord's contractor delivered one small electric heater, the first time it broke, then another the second time it broke and one house mate bought a heater.- that's nice of them, they didn't have to as you had access to heat through a stove / kettle.
We can show the increase in electricity bill. - have you considered the decrease in gas bill.. Also assuming the LL responded to repairs in a reasonable timeframe, then the increase in bills for a limited time is par for course and not reimbursible.

But how do we quantify our distress and discomfort? - don't need to, it's part of living in a property.
The whole point is that we continued to live in a property that was unliveable while paying the full price. Therefore there has been a service undelivered.

Rent is not paying for a service. You're paying for use of the property, which you had. If things break down, its your responsibility to report and the LL's responsibility to repair in a reasonable timeframe. As long as both parties fulfill this, there is no compensation due. They don't have to guarantee your comfort, they just have to respond reasonably.

pechnatunk

Thank you Takman - that is some of the information I was looking for. I will consider those points and write a "letter before action" rather than more emails.

The January and December electricity has clearly doubled compared to the last 6 months.
This is also due to the loud dehumidifier they required we use for almost a week in the house so that the property would not get damaged after we were flooded.

Pixie and Saajan - The landlord as stated in the contract, "one of the UK's largest", owns the entire building of 30 or so flats, so they ARE responsible for the burst mains pipe. And the broken boiler is a consequence of this.
Are you seriously saying 5 weeks without heating in winter is a reasonable time? 3 weeks without hot water??

There is clear evidence in emails that the landlord was aware of the issue - regardless of whether the landlord had best intentions, or was trying the best they could while working within their SLA or within market forces etc- the fact remains - and to me this is the easiest to quantify - we did not sign a contact for a house without heating and for more than a month we did not have the heating we are paying for, simple as that.

I understand there may be some "bad apple" tenants around, but I think I am being fair. Tenants are so powerless in this situation - where the only choice you have is to spend more money to try and be comfortable or more money to get what is due, or give 3 months notice to leave, and then quite likely the landlord will take you to town on the deposit.

Meanwhile - "whatever you do - keep paying rent" while you wait 5 weeks for your landlord (whose offices are filled with glossy brochures showing their investors how their shares have doubled in the last 5 years) to find the cheapest possible quote to replace your boiler.

"Sorry for the inconvenience, here's half a day's rent for the trouble, oh but you can't have it until you move out."

That's why I didn't want to describe the situation..... it's so infuriating.

Pixie5740

You weren!!!8217;t without heating for 5 weeks. You said yourself earlier in this thread that it was 36 non-consecutive days.

Winter is a busy time for gas safety engineers. My boiler broke down one winter and I was without heating and hot water for 6 weeks straight. That!!!8217;s just how long it physically took to get someone to repair it and I live in the True North, North of the Wall.

You have a contractual obligation to pay your rent just as your landlord has an obligation to carry out repairs within a reasonable time frame.

By all means do send a letter before action since it only costs the price of a stamp and let us know how you get on.

pechnatunk

OK - thanks for all your responses.
I'm still unsure about what is considered reasonable time. I would expect within 2 weeks.
We had 3 weeks consecutive no heating and 2 weeks consecutive cold water - we aren't stubborn and stupid enough to die of pneumonia, and we're not going to starve to death if we don't get any money back.
But it is a matter of fairness and principle - landlords have so many barriers in place so that they don't get out of pocket - deposit, admin fees, reference fees, insurance rolled into the rent... if the roles were reversed, if we neglected the property, or our responsibilities, they can simply take our deposit - and then we have to muck around further if we disagree. It is probably these situations that create the bad tenants that figure getting some of their money back is worth the bad credit rating.

saajan_12

pechnatunk wrote: »

OK - thanks for all your responses.
I'm still unsure about what is considered reasonable time. I would expect within 2 weeks.- depends on the problem, steps needed to fix, time of the year, availability of repairs people.. can easily take 2-3 weeks so not unreasonable
We had 3 weeks consecutive no heating and 2 weeks consecutive cold water - well you did have electricity, so a means to warmth and heat water by using a portable heater, heating water on the stove for baths.. - we aren't stubborn and stupid enough to die of pneumonia, and we're not going to starve to death if we don't get any money back. - its not really about need though, you'd only get money back if the LL owes you
But it is a matter of fairness and principle - landlords have so many barriers in place so that they don't get out of pocket - deposit, admin fees, reference fees, insurance rolled into the rent... if the roles were reversed, if we neglected the property, or our responsibilities, they can simply take our deposit - and then we have to muck around further if we disagree. - Yes LL's have a small buffer from a deposit, but that's to offset the massive risk of the whole property being in the tenant's hands. A bad tenant could stop paying rent for 6+ months before they are physically evicted, or intentionally damage the property causing £1000s of damage. Comparatively, a bad Landlord could illegally evict a tenant the day after receiving monthly rent and keep the deposit, meaning the tenant is out at most 2x monthly rent, plus hassle with rehousing. The illegal eviction part is unlikely as the penalty is criminal for the LL, whereas the penalty for a tenant causing damage is civil. It is probably these situations that create the bad tenants that figure getting some of their money back is worth the bad credit rating. - that doesn't justify the tenant breaching the agreement.

The LL doesn't owe you perfect heating or even a specific time limit on a repair. If they responded to a reported issue quickly, and then followed through all the steps to get it repaired reasonably, then they have fulfilled their duty and don't owe you anything.

e.g.
Day 1 issue reported
Day 2 Repair person called
Day 5 Repair person visits property to diagnose
Day 6 Additional part ordered
Day 13 Additional part arrives
Day 15 Repair person visits property to repair
Day 18 After few days of testing, issue remains or additional problem found
Day 20 Repair person visits property to fix

Just an example of a reasonable fix..