Landlord wont do repairs, use deposit as rent?

Comms69

arandomuser wrote: »

@Comms69 ,
the key thing is the depth or the holes, not the width. Plastering, once is cracks, tends to keep cracking; but is not very thick. Usually the reason is that the wrong type of drill was used. it's not structural; I'm fairly certain of that: I've just checked and they are about 7-8cm deep, does that help coming to a final conclusion? - Bit deeper than expected, but still fine.

@Comms69 and @hb2 I can confirm it's under a deposit protection scheme, used by "myDeposits". What exactly would it mean to have the scheme arbitrating (this even a word?) https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/arbitrate our disagreements? - like a judge might, but without the need to go to court

And moreover, would I have to be here to argue them? It does clearly state in our contract that the landlord holds the cash so I'm not sure if he holds it or scheme does but say it belongs to the landlord?

No, it's all done online.
Agency is irrelevant. You will have a landlord and that is who is responsible.

arandomuser

@Comms69 just double checking here, but the contract says the agency holds it, not the landlord. At this point I don't even know if this one man agency is the actual owner of the house. Nowhere in my contract do I have *any* information about a landlord. Not a name, address, nothing. Does this one man agency actually own the house maybe?

So, the best coure of action would be to send him one or more written letters. Take photos of the property problems and send it attached to said letters. And then either:
1) He fixes them, which makes it all OK
2) He ignores as done until now, which then:
2.1) I can fallback to my original dishonest plan (which I'd like to avoid)
2.2) He will try to claim these over the scheme, which then:
2.2.1) Can go my way and I get charged nothing (or little)
2.2.2) It goes his way and he gets the money (can this option ever happen?)

Comms69

arandomuser wrote: »

@Comms69 just double checking here, but the contract says the agency holds it, not the landlord. - irrelevant. the LL is responsible. At this point I don't even know if this one man agency is the actual owner of the house. - not trying to complicate it, but the landlord doesn't have to be the owner. Nowhere in my contract do I have *any* information about a landlord. Not a name, address, nothing. Does this one man agency actually own the house maybe? Does the agreement have a name and address for the purpose of serving notice. If not, you can legally suspend paying rent and ask the agency for the details.

So, the best coure of action would be to send him one or more written letters. Take photos of the property problems and send it attached to said letters. And then either:
1) He fixes them, which makes it all OK
2) He ignores as done until now, which then:
2.1) I can fallback to my original dishonest plan (which I'd like to avoid)
2.2) He will try to claim these over the scheme, which then:
2.2.1) Can go my way and I get charged nothing (or little)
2.2.2) It goes his way and he gets the money (can this option ever happen?)

1) yes
2.2) yes, avoid this. it's too risky
2.2.1) Yes you may get some or all of it back
2.2.2) Yes it's possible, but unlikely. The landlord can only claim actual loss, not new for old replacement. From what you've described I cannot see anywhere near £1,800 in claims.

Sibz

arandomuser wrote: »

@
Also, the default position is that it's my money, but currently the landlord is holding it. Since I've not done this in the UK before I'm a little bit skeptical on how it works. For comparison, in Belgium (another country I've lived on) the deposit is held at the bank in a joint deposit bank account and can only be taken out if both agree. Here it seems it's in the landlord's account and he can charge me whatever he deems fit, which will then be hard to dispute.

There are 3 tenancy deposit schemes - the LL has to register your deposit with one of these by law. You can (and certainly should) contact these schemes to confirm this has been done. You should have received correspondence form a scheme when it was registered with them.

If a scheme has not been used then the LL would be liable to pay you up to 3 times the amount of the deposit regardless of anything else. That is pretty standard here, and something I've had to claim myself previously from a dodgy LL.

Regarding the other points - make sure you have copies and proof of the communications you have sent to the LL, along with any receipts for work you have done. Just to keep you right.
A couple of the issues you have highlighted are slight, and some 'can' tend to be tenant/lifestyle caused, but the LL should be communicating with you regarding them (at least for the sake of his property) - If he isn't, I can understand why you lack trust in him doing other things properly - so your next step should be ensuring the deposit has been protected correctly

z1a

Wondering what the "small wooden house" is? A shed?

Sibz

z1a wrote: »

Wondering what the "small wooden house" is? A shed?

Maybe Pinocchio is another of the LL's disgruntled tenants

Clouds88

I’m sorry but I read all of your ‘big concerns’ and seriously? I am a tenant and I have done minor things myself more so because it is not worth the effort to contact the agency/landlord for things.

Mould- we get that sometimes and I’m very conscious of ventilating the house. However, I think that’s my responsibility to keep that in check.

‘Hanger off the wall’- surely they won’t take money for that, as it wasn’t you who have done it and you’ve reported it. If the landlord has chosen not to replanted then fine, when we had a stair gate it pushed through the wall and caused a hole and I just filled it and painted it- no biggie.

Weeds- hopefully you’ll never leave it to get to that state again, £400 of your own money due to your negligence of weeds in the first place if it was weed free when you moved in?!

I hope you pay your rent and go through the normal processes. Obviously we can’t see you or what the house looks like, but you may have caused a lot of damage and are wondering if you can escape without loosing money and being chased for that money- am I being too synical? Possibly.

arandomuser

@Comms69 , thanks. I'm pretty confident I will take the route of the deposit claim. If the LL doesn't reply to my written and registered letter, that's just more fuel for me to use against him. If he does answer and fixes things, then I'm all happy and will keep the honest route.

@Sibz , yeah, actually I had not think to confirm with deposit scheme. That's next on my list before writing the letter down. Proof of copies have already been printed out and I've been keeping an organised stack of things just in case.

@z1a and @Sibz yes, a shed. Sorry I was missing the word today. Pretty sure pinocchio lives there too. If it's not him, then I dare not open that door - the noises from it at night are scary.

@Clouds88 different people have different limits. I would be fine with mold. I would be fine with doors not closing although annoying. I would be fine with many things (as I am, the house has many other problems I didn't list because I don't find them relevant, like the paint cracking all over the upper walls). It's the compilation of all those things.
But more importantly, you seem to not have read what I've said:

• I've said I ventilate the house every day and keep cleaning the mold, and when it appears in non-steamy areas like the heater on the bedroom that's just sitting in the wall, it means something more is wrong
• The weeds were there since day one like I said before, not my fault to "get to that state" and I've already accepted that I signed the contract after seeing them, which is why from the begining I said I was not expecting that money

I think you're being just the right amount of cynical since you don't know me but from all that I've said plus the fact that I ended up agreeing not to go the shady way and pay the bills correctly, the situation from an outsider sure looks like I'm honest.

macman

I'm intrigued as to what sort of equipment you purchased to get rid of a few weeds? £400 would probably get you a pretty decent second hand flame thrower...
Damage to plaster: in the time you've spent describing this 'structural fault', you could have popped down to the local DIY store, bought a tube of filler and applied it!

Cakeguts

Only one thing to add. If you are drying your washing inside the house in front of heaters or on radiators that causes mould.