Rent Compensation - what is acceptable?

JP88

Hi

Just after a bit of advice regarding acceptable rates of compensation on Rent paid.

I am a tenant and have been for a few years in the same property. The upstairs heating stopped working over 1 year ago and I have been assured throughout by the agents this would be seen to, I held in good faith that would be so. They have had inspection reports conducted by a third party which states in nice red writing about the heaters not working and needing attention.

Is there an acceptable 'rate' at which I can claim back for their total disregard of their duties? I have kept my side of the contract, surely they have failed on their part?

In addition the rent was put up, with me having no choice but to accept thanks to financial matters at the time. (i.e. no way being able to stump up the fee's and another deposit) When this was put up, I negotiated that work should be undertaken to keep the property in line with what they wanted to charge me. We're 6 months into the higher rent and that work is still not complete. probably about 20% of it infact has been done.

I will be moving in 1 month, so have 1 month of rent left to pay. But I also don't want to overstep my boundaries and shoot myself in the foot when it comes to getting the deposit back.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Comms69

Think it's too late to be honest now.


You don't hold any cards as far as I can see, and I don't think you can convince the court of any loss.

JP88

I was thinking along the lines that they have been aware and broken terms against section 11 of the landlord and tenants act with regard to heating.

I still have 1 month's worth of rent which is a sizeable amount of money which I see as a negotiating tool.

then there is the work agreed in writing which is part of the increase agreement. they have not held their side of that so surely that increase should be void?

Thanks for the quick response - first time on here.

Pixie5740

It's too late now. If after a reasonable timescale the landlord didn't fix the heating you could have escalated the matter to the council. Did you do that?

How was the rent increased because you probably didn't have to accept it? Did you get the agreed improvements in writing?

saajan_12

JP88 wrote: »

I was thinking along the lines that they have been aware and broken terms against section 11 of the landlord and tenants act with regard to heating.

To enforce repairs you should have reported the issues in writing and then followed the Shelter process to ensure they are completed. It is now too late to do anything about it. Incidentally, did you have the means to plug in electric heaters? Kettle / stove to heat water?

JP88 wrote: »

I still have 1 month's worth of rent which is a sizeable amount of money which I see as a negotiating tool.

If you're talking about negotiating by threatening not to pay money you will owe but haven't paid yet, then similarly they have the deposit - typically equal or more than 1 month rent. The can legitimately deduct for the 1 month rent from the deposit and the deposit scheme will pretty much automatically accept it upon seeing the bank statements.

JP88

I accepted the increase as long as the work was carried out, which was agreed in writing by the LL through the agents.

I did not escalate to the council as I was unaware really and held in good faith that they would be seeing to it. Really I think that they had a couple of third party reports done which stated that to them that the heating was not working is surefire evidence that they have broken the contract....

need_an_answer

What was your financial loss as a result of not having heating?

I get that you will say its the inconvenience factor but in order to claim compensation you would need to demonstrate a physical loss.

If you had gone out and purchased heaters for example and passed the dated receipts back to the agent or LL then again you would be in a better position to claim what you had spent.

As it stands the agent and LL could very well look up and say that the lack of heating was actually saving you money in utility costs.


The problem needed to be tackled with more force at the time rather than a month before you are due to move out.

Concentrate on returning the property to the condition of the check in inventory minus fair wear and tear in order to get your deposit back in full.
Don't skimp on the check out else that could be further reason for the LL to make deductions from your deposit.
Don't use check out as a tit for tat or points score.


What figure prior to starting this thread did you have in mind as fair compensation?

G_M

This started a year ago.


You could and should have enforced repairs long ago.


You are now leaving. Hoping for 'compensation' is clutching at straws. No, there is no formula for calculating compensation for such a scenario. Indeed, by accepting a rent increase during this process you have implicitly accepted the status quo!

JP88

To be fair, it is more about what has been offered and agreed legally for the price at which I'm paying. Not if I can heat some water up on a stove or buy a heater.

As with the increase at the start of the year, again I agreed as work had been agreed to be done as part of the increase itself. This is by both parties in writing.

I have also been in constant communication and I am leaving now because of these issues...not now I'm going I'm trying it on. Please give me some credit.

Essentially I have been paying for a 'service' which has not been delivered upon. And a service with a contract signed by both parties which has been broken. So yes my cost incurred would be that of the extra I have been paying whilst being delivered 80% of what was promised in the contract.

JP88

Basically everything is a massive grey area online and shelter couldn't advise beyond what they already have (brilliant by the way)

saajan_12

JP88 wrote: »

I was thinking along the lines that they have been aware and broken terms against section 11 of the landlord and tenants act with regard to heating.

JP88 wrote: »

To be fair, it is more about what has been offered and agreed legally for the price at which I'm paying. Not if I can heat some water up on a stove or buy a heater.

The point about electric heaters / stove was in response to your idea of involving the LL's basic duty of providing heat - he has fulfilled that.

Beyond that, yes there is an expectation that you will have the convenience of the fittings and appliances in working order etc as when you viewed (ie hot water from shower, central heating) but the way of enforcing this was by reporting repairs and following up on getting them fixed via Shelter/council during the tenancy.

JP88 wrote: »

Essentially I have been paying for a 'service' which has not been delivered upon. And a service with a contract signed by both parties which has been broken. So yes my cost incurred would be that of the extra I have been paying whilst being delivered 80% of what was promised in the contract.

There is no monetary value of the difference between an inferior property compared to a perfect property. If you suffered actual realised losses then you could have claimed these (e.g. cost of fixing yourself provided you followed the reporting procedure and allowed reasonable time). Your perceived loss in your accommodation's 'worth' is not a realised loss.