Landlord complaints/issues

domgreenslade

Wondering if you can help.
My partner and I have rented the same property for almost 3 years now. Its an older building, end of terrace in a quiet cul-de-sac. We have had a few problems with the property ever since we have moved in, things such as blown plaster, large cracks in the ceiling, rising damp amongst other minor issues.
All of which, the landlord is aware of, as we have house inspections from our letting agent every few months. Everything is always noted down, and more often than not, the landlord also attends these visits. Each time they're noted, nothing ever gets done. In our bedroom, we have a chimney, which doesnt appear to have a chimney cap. Upon telling our letting agent that the bedroom is freezing cold, and the rain pours into the chimney in the bad weather, the landlord came round and installed a chimney balloon. Fortuntely, it was raining on the day of the next inspection so we could show them how bad the noise was from the rain hitting the balloon. Again, the landlord came back round and put a towel on the balloon. However, now the balloon has popped and fallen out, so the response has been for us to stuff a pillow up there from the landlord.
The only complaint he ever has about the property is the garden, which we keep as tidy as possible, but as we both work 9-5 mon-fri, its difficult to keep the lawn mowed when the weather doesn't hold up at the weekends. He has use of the garage attached to the garden, so is able to see into the garden whenever he wants to if he is using the garage.
Every complaint we put into our letting agent, we always seem to either get a 'fobbed off' response, or the landlord will basically 'bodge' the work. The rising damp isn't getting any better, cracks aren't going away etc. We're at the stage now where we are just emailing the agent to get things on file that are wrong with the house.
What I want to know really is, where do we stand with it all? We are on a rolling tenancy, so our fear is that if we push too hard, he'll just tell us to leave!

Comms69

You seem to think the inspections are for the LL to tell you how to live, they're not.


Its for you to identify issues with the house - which are clearly not being addressed.


Next time they want an inspection - refuse.


He may well evict you, but he can do that anyway, for any reason. It takes a long time, at least 4 months.


Plenty of time to find somewhere if the LL goes down that route. And he'll be left with a void when you refuse viewings.

m0bov

How often are these inspections?

domgreenslade

m0bov wrote: »

How often are these inspections?

Every 3 months

m0bov

That's absurd, should be 6 monthly at most.

domgreenslade

m0bov wrote: »

That's absurd, should be 6 monthly at most.

He's able to check up on the garden whenever he wants to,he'll just come round to use his garage connected to the garden, and then we will get an email from the letting agent telling us that the buddleia could do with a trim, or similar.

m0bov

domgreenslade wrote: »

He's able to check up on the garden whenever he wants to,he'll just come round to use his garage connected to the garden, and then we will get an email from the letting agent telling us that the buddleia could do with a trim, or similar.

Then reply back and inform them you are entitled to quite enjoyment of the property and any further correspondence on the subject will be disregarded and deemed harassment.

Comms69

domgreenslade wrote: »

He's able to check up on the garden whenever he wants to,he'll just come round to use his garage connected to the garden, and then we will get an email from the letting agent telling us that the buddleia could do with a trim, or similar.

And you can safely ignore it, you could let it grow into a jungle if you wanted - he doesn't get a say on it

Cakeguts

domgreenslade wrote: »

Wondering if you can help.
My partner and I have rented the same property for almost 3 years now. Its an older building, end of terrace in a quiet cul-de-sac. We have had a few problems with the property ever since we have moved in, things such as blown plaster, large cracks in the ceiling, rising damp amongst other minor issues.
All of which, the landlord is aware of, as we have house inspections from our letting agent every few months. Everything is always noted down, and more often than not, the landlord also attends these visits. Each time they're noted, nothing ever gets done. In our bedroom, we have a chimney, which doesnt appear to have a chimney cap. Upon telling our letting agent that the bedroom is freezing cold, and the rain pours into the chimney in the bad weather, the landlord came round and installed a chimney balloon. Fortuntely, it was raining on the day of the next inspection so we could show them how bad the noise was from the rain hitting the balloon. Again, the landlord came back round and put a towel on the balloon. However, now the balloon has popped and fallen out, so the response has been for us to stuff a pillow up there from the landlord.
The only complaint he ever has about the property is the garden, which we keep as tidy as possible, but as we both work 9-5 mon-fri, its difficult to keep the lawn mowed when the weather doesn't hold up at the weekends. He has use of the garage attached to the garden, so is able to see into the garden whenever he wants to if he is using the garage.
Every complaint we put into our letting agent, we always seem to either get a 'fobbed off' response, or the landlord will basically 'bodge' the work. The rising damp isn't getting any better, cracks aren't going away etc. We're at the stage now where we are just emailing the agent to get things on file that are wrong with the house.
What I want to know really is, where do we stand with it all? We are on a rolling tenancy, so our fear is that if we push too hard, he'll just tell us to leave!

From what you have written it reads like this. "We live in a property with problems that we don't like. It is damp and and cold. It needs to be replastered and some of the ceilings need to be replaced. It has a garden which we don't want to maintain and the landlord uses the garage and comes round all the time to check up on us."

So I have a question for you. As it appears that there are so many problems with this property why on earth don't you look for a better one that suits you better? As you are on a rolling tenancy you can just give notice and move.

parkrunner

Move......

domgreenslade

Cakeguts wrote: »

From what you have written it reads like this. "We live in a property with problems that we don't like. It is damp and and cold. It needs to be replastered and some of the ceilings need to be replaced. It has a garden which we don't want to maintain and the landlord uses the garage and comes round all the time to check up on us."

So I have a question for you. As it appears that there are so many problems with this property why on earth don't you look for a better one that suits you better? As you are on a rolling tenancy you can just give notice and move.

I think you're misunderstanding the problem then. We dont want to move. We love where we live.
The property is cold in our bedroom, where there is an open fireplace as there is no chimney cap.
There is rising damp in a few places throughout the property and some blown plaster.
We have made this house our home, and made it as nice as we can, without interfering with the decor too much, as it would need permission to do so. We had to get permission to get the carpets cleaned etc.
We maintain the garden to the best of our ability. We spent well over £100 in the summer making it nice, adding some decor, flowers, rockery etc. Again, we tried to make it as nice as we could do, as, believe it or not, we do want to live there.
The problem is, we want to live where we are at the moment, but find the issue is, we are scared to push too hard against the letting agent, in case we just evicted, in case the landlord says 'they're asking too much, complaining too much, get them gone' etc.