Renting repairs advice

ahmeras

Hi All,


I am currently renting a 1bed flat in London. Moved in about 6 weeks ago and have had an absurd number of problems. The property is not being managed by the landlord but an agent.


There was a large list of initial problems I had - biggest of which was a faulty switch for my boiler ( I have economy 7 so have a "peak" and "off-peak" switch to turn on the heating unit and off-peak switch was not working ) and storage heaters not working (but with the temp not being to bad lately its been manageable).


The agent arranged a contractor to come to provide them a quote for the work needed. This was over two weeks ago. I have been chasing for an update to get my repairs done and either don't get any response or a generic response saying they are still following up.


As of last week my hot water stopped completely. Not sure if linked to any of the original problems, but I followed the process as normal. Raised a ticket via the agents repair portal and mentioned this on the email chain about my previous repairs.


Whenever I call the agent, I cant get through to anyone who can give me a definitive answer on what’s going on. I have had no acknowledgement of my hot water issue raised via the portal. I'de say at least 4/5 of my emails don't get a response and it is becoming increasingly frustrating.



I am considering doing the repairs myself. I have googled online and I am within my rights to do these repairs and get the cost either charged back or deducted from my next rent payment (I think?). Has anyone done this before? Presumably there is a process where I need to notify the agent of my intent - but Im not sure what sort of time scales I need to abide by.


My alternate plan was to write a script to bombard their ticket system and leaving it running overnight so I can at least get some acknowledgement of my problems. But it feels a bit too juvenile (lol).


Any advice would be appreciated.

tealady

1st read GMs sticky at the top of the thread.
Write to the LANDLORD not the agent.
I wouldnt attempt any repairs myself in case I made things worse.

ahmeras

Last time I spoke to the landlord about any issues, he immediately referred me to the agents saying they were managing the property. I will try again given the the lack of responsiveness from the agents

ahmeras

also to clarify, when i mean myself i meant hire someone out of my own pocket rather than wait around for the agents contractors to not reply to me

System

ahmeras wrote: »

My alternate plan was to write a script to bombard their ticket system and leaving it running overnight so I can at least get some acknowledgement of my problems. But it feels a bit too juvenile (lol).


Any advice would be appreciated.

For which you could be prosecuted. Why not visit the agents office and discuss the issue with them directly

ahmeras

agent is on the other side of London, with only "lettings" open on weekends who don't deal with property management. Its not easy unless I take a day off work

hb2

This is the link to the sticky you need to read

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5180214

There is a process to be followed before a tenant can get repairs done at the LL's expense and you need to follow all the steps in order to be entitled to withhold rent.

ahmeras

Just to update this. I did in the end manage to get to the Landlord direct. He did initially tell me to go to the agent, but I told him the time it was taking for the to respond and I would get the repairs done myself and bill him (following guidelines in the sticky) which made him put some pressure on the agents.


They quite quickly got back to him but with ridiculous quotes for repairs. Because of that and my feedback, he has told me to go straight to him for all future repairs and that he is considering changing/scrapping them all together.