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Day in the Life of Bob - LL won't do repairs
bobwilson
Posts: 595 Forumite
Haven't done one of these posts in a while. Suffice it to say days in the life of Bob have indeed continued despite my absence in documenting it on money saving expert forum.
Day in the Life of Bob™ update:
Since being a home owner & landlord, the horrors of my student style renting days are in the past (or so I thought).
I moved to a new city & had to rent an apartment. I've lived in some "dodge" places in my 20s & 30s, but I'm not young anymore & decided to go for one of the more comfortable options. It looked decent, had an office room with a desk (essential for my work), and the letting agent during the viewing didn't seem like a complete *&^%$. What more could one ask? Life is kind.
The agent even agreed to have curtain poles installed so I could put in some fitted black out curtains to enable me to sleep. 
This has to be the smoothest transaction I've ever had with a letting agent :T - on either side of the coin! As a tenant or LL. Don't count your ducks too soon, as they say
:D:p:o:)
That's when things started to change.
I signed the contract and moved in a month later however, to my surprise, the office room had been converted into a bedroom & a double bed filled up the room. The desk was in pieces in a wardrobe. I mentioned this to the letting agent and their reply was something along the lines of "it doesn't matter that it was advertised as an office- it's actually a bedroom & the landlord doesn't want to pay for storage or remove the bed. If you want to turn it back into an office you have to pay for & arrange this yourself, but the bed must be there when you move out in a year.". :eek:
I explained this isn't what I signed up for. It makes it impossible for me to do my work, there's no where to store a bed in the apartment and I also don't want to pay £hundreds to store the LL's spare bed. I eventually had to set up my office in the lounge / kitchen area. This is great because it puts my livelihood at risk & keeps me on my toes! Even if not quite what I wanted, you must admit, letting agents are nothing but consistent :rotfl:
After I moved in, the curtain poles still hadn't been installed contrary to the agreement. After several polite monthly reminders, 5 months later they've still not been installed. Considering how amazing letting agents usually are, this was a surprise. After perhaps the 4th polite reminder, I eventually received an email from the letting agent to say they've changed their mind about the curtain poles as well because the landlord never gave permission in the first place. :rotfl: thanks for the transparency guys :T
The day I moved in, the toilet flush didn't work, kitchen lights were broken & kitchen tap broken among other things. I informed the letting agent, and after several weeks they sent around a "handy man", who left without fixing anything. He then came back a few weeks later & damaged the kitchen lights further, then disappeared again. The final time he returned, he told the letting agent he had fixed the flush (but in fact hasn't). I have since had to use a lamp from argos to see while I'm cooking, and the shower head to flush the loo for several minutes each time. This is a great exercise in patience & dexterity- which is great
The kitchen sink tap was loose when I moved in. By loose, I mean wobbling 45 degrees in all directions, like one of those springy seats you find in kid's play parks. You have to hold the tap with both hands while carefully turning the handle to avoid the whole thing coming off & water going everywhere. Needless to say I informed the agent on the move in day & despite reminders, nothing has been done 5 months later. The sink tap now wobbles at 60 degrees in all directions. While I'm careful & light-handed, it is an art even for me
Since the agency won't let me use the office room for my work & isn't doing repairs, I decided to rent the empty room out on Air B n B. I have experience in the field, I'm in the apartment all the time & would only rent it out for month long stays. I figured since the agency has my deposit & I'm responsible for the flat, it wouldn't affect them. However, despite their lack of attention on repairs, they were very quick to send me a letter in the post informing us that they've seen the advert online for the spare room, and I must desist immediately! I still however, cannot use the spare room for my office despite it being advertised as an office before I signed the contract
Needless to say, I took the advert down, apologised & agreed not to do it again. However, the agent didn't stop there. They called me again to shout at me. I apologised again. That wasn't enough however, so the agent passed me on to his "boss" who then spoke to me like she's my mother (only the aggressive kind, not the nice kind- oh- and the kind that's younger than you, not older). I apologised again & repeated that I'd taken the advert down. That wasn't enough though, they then also wanted me to put "a promise" in an email. Apparently that wasn't enough either since they also sent me a letter in the post. However, that also wasn't enough..:cool:... they sent the most chavvy agent from their office over to let himself into the secure apartment block without notice & bang on the apartment door for ten minutes, several times. It's at this point I began to wonder if trust works in both directions :rotfl:
Needless to say, I have attempted negotiating with the agent to have repairs done & mentioned the legalities of not doing anything, but after a bit of research one quickly discovers as a tenant, you're basically at the mercy of agents / LL's, since there's legally very little you can actually do other than move out, unless you happen to have more money & time than you need to run your life.
After months of no attention on repairs & all attention on my previous attempt to rent out the spare room, the agent sent around one of their "property experts" for a property inspection. A little girl chavette arrived, walked into the flat & said:
Her: "omg it's so clean! dats f***** like da cleanest one ive seen wiv a tenant in like forever like"
Me: "really?"
Her: "YEAH!!! Most places are like !!!!! mate"
I thanked her for her compliment & offered her a cup of tea while she carries out her inspection, at which point she looked half terrified, half embarrassed, and said "OMG u sound like propa educated". I didn't know how to reply to that and just thanked her and showed her the repairs that needed doing. She didn't seem interested in the repairs however, she swiftly ran around the flat without looking at me or saying another word, ran out of the door and said "ok bye" as she left.
Something tells me she was only here to check if I had gone against my promise by illegally subletting the spare room as opposed to actually inspecting the property. It's always nice to know agents are doing their job. I was kept busy for the next few months by my amazing life, wobbly tap & practising doing smaller poos in the toilet to ensure they could be flushed by the shower head.
So my question is, would anyone care to join me? I do believe non-paying guests are allowed. I'm living in a lovely apartment with a completely empty spare room that I cannot use as my office, and cannot rent out, with ability to sleep only until 5am when the sun rises (cardboard boxes to block out the sun at this point must be provided by yourself), a broken kitchen tap, toilet that doesn't flush, oven that doesn't work (apologies if I missed this off, as exciting as it is ). We could say you're my long-lost cousin who has just come out of a mental asylum after being locked away for a decade due to having a bizarre fetish of murdering lettings agents & that you're now happily re-habilitated (according to the psychologist).
Day in the Life of Bob™ update:
Since being a home owner & landlord, the horrors of my student style renting days are in the past (or so I thought).
I moved to a new city & had to rent an apartment. I've lived in some "dodge" places in my 20s & 30s, but I'm not young anymore & decided to go for one of the more comfortable options. It looked decent, had an office room with a desk (essential for my work), and the letting agent during the viewing didn't seem like a complete *&^%$. What more could one ask? Life is kind.
The agent even agreed to have curtain poles installed so I could put in some fitted black out curtains to enable me to sleep. This has to be the smoothest transaction I've ever had with a letting agent :T - on either side of the coin! As a tenant or LL. Don't count your ducks too soon, as they say
:D:p:o:)That's when things started to change.
I signed the contract and moved in a month later however, to my surprise, the office room had been converted into a bedroom & a double bed filled up the room. The desk was in pieces in a wardrobe. I mentioned this to the letting agent and their reply was something along the lines of "it doesn't matter that it was advertised as an office- it's actually a bedroom & the landlord doesn't want to pay for storage or remove the bed. If you want to turn it back into an office you have to pay for & arrange this yourself, but the bed must be there when you move out in a year.". :eek:
I explained this isn't what I signed up for. It makes it impossible for me to do my work, there's no where to store a bed in the apartment and I also don't want to pay £hundreds to store the LL's spare bed. I eventually had to set up my office in the lounge / kitchen area. This is great because it puts my livelihood at risk & keeps me on my toes! Even if not quite what I wanted, you must admit, letting agents are nothing but consistent :rotfl:
After I moved in, the curtain poles still hadn't been installed contrary to the agreement. After several polite monthly reminders, 5 months later they've still not been installed. Considering how amazing letting agents usually are, this was a surprise.
After perhaps the 4th polite reminder, I eventually received an email from the letting agent to say they've changed their mind about the curtain poles as well because the landlord never gave permission in the first place. :rotfl: thanks for the transparency guys :TThe day I moved in, the toilet flush didn't work, kitchen lights were broken & kitchen tap broken among other things. I informed the letting agent, and after several weeks they sent around a "handy man", who left without fixing anything. He then came back a few weeks later & damaged the kitchen lights further, then disappeared again. The final time he returned, he told the letting agent he had fixed the flush (but in fact hasn't).
I have since had to use a lamp from argos to see while I'm cooking, and the shower head to flush the loo for several minutes each time. This is a great exercise in patience & dexterity- which is great The kitchen sink tap was loose when I moved in. By loose, I mean wobbling 45 degrees in all directions, like one of those springy seats you find in kid's play parks
. You have to hold the tap with both hands while carefully turning the handle to avoid the whole thing coming off & water going everywhere. Needless to say I informed the agent on the move in day & despite reminders, nothing has been done 5 months later. The sink tap now wobbles at 60 degrees in all directions. While I'm careful & light-handed, it is an art even for me Since the agency won't let me use the office room for my work & isn't doing repairs, I decided to rent the empty room out on Air B n B. I have experience in the field, I'm in the apartment all the time & would only rent it out for month long stays. I figured since the agency has my deposit & I'm responsible for the flat, it wouldn't affect them. However, despite their lack of attention on repairs, they were very quick to send me a letter in the post informing us that they've seen the advert online for the spare room, and I must desist immediately! I still however, cannot use the spare room for my office despite it being advertised as an office before I signed the contract
Needless to say, I took the advert down, apologised & agreed not to do it again. However, the agent didn't stop there. They called me again to shout at me. I apologised again. That wasn't enough however, so the agent passed me on to his "boss" who then spoke to me like she's my mother (only the aggressive kind, not the nice kind- oh- and the kind that's younger than you, not older
). I apologised again & repeated that I'd taken the advert down. That wasn't enough though, they then also wanted me to put "a promise" in an email. Apparently that wasn't enough either since they also sent me a letter in the post. However, that also wasn't enough..:cool:... they sent the most chavvy agent from their office over to let himself into the secure apartment block without notice & bang on the apartment door for ten minutes, several times. It's at this point I began to wonder if trust works in both directions :rotfl:Needless to say, I have attempted negotiating with the agent to have repairs done & mentioned the legalities of not doing anything, but after a bit of research one quickly discovers as a tenant, you're basically at the mercy of agents / LL's, since there's legally very little you can actually do other than move out, unless you happen to have more money & time than you need to run your life.
After months of no attention on repairs & all attention on my previous attempt to rent out the spare room, the agent sent around one of their "property experts" for a property inspection. A little girl chavette arrived, walked into the flat & said:
Her: "omg it's so clean! dats f***** like da cleanest one ive seen wiv a tenant in like forever like"
Me: "really?"
Her: "YEAH!!! Most places are like !!!!! mate"
I thanked her for her compliment & offered her a cup of tea while she carries out her inspection, at which point she looked half terrified, half embarrassed, and said "OMG u sound like propa educated". I didn't know how to reply to that and just thanked her and showed her the repairs that needed doing. She didn't seem interested in the repairs however, she swiftly ran around the flat without looking at me or saying another word, ran out of the door and said "ok bye" as she left.
Something tells me she was only here to check if I had gone against my promise by illegally subletting the spare room as opposed to actually inspecting the property. It's always nice to know agents are doing their job.
I was kept busy for the next few months by my amazing life, wobbly tap & practising doing smaller poos in the toilet to ensure they could be flushed by the shower head.So my question is, would anyone care to join me? I do believe non-paying guests are allowed.
I'm living in a lovely apartment with a completely empty spare room that I cannot use as my office, and cannot rent out, with ability to sleep only until 5am when the sun rises (cardboard boxes to block out the sun at this point must be provided by yourself), a broken kitchen tap, toilet that doesn't flush, oven that doesn't work (apologies if I missed this off, as exciting as it is ). We could say you're my long-lost cousin who has just come out of a mental asylum after being locked away for a decade due to having a bizarre fetish of murdering lettings agents & that you're now happily re-habilitated (according to the psychologist). 0
Comments
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You need to read whats in your tenancy agreement in regards to repairs. Though this is usually the letting agents responsibly as they're the ones who manage the property.
It is illegal for the letting agent to let themselves in. And they can only visit after giving at least 24 hours notice.
I hope you had an inventory done before you moved in, or they might try to bill you for all the problems your having as they sound dodgy as...
Laughed at the shower head / smaller poos bit. In the meantime, couldn't you use a bucket to swosh it round the u bend LOL I Imagine a shower head struggles with the monsters.. :rotfl:
Can you not report them to the council? Most councils have a housing enforcement team (can't remember the correct job title) that can force the letting agent to act.
Or pay to get them fixed yourself, then bill the letting agent0 -
It is illegal for the letting agent to let themselves in. And they can only visit after giving at least 24 hours notice.
It's ILLEGAL? OH myyy...
Thanks for reminding me of this- it might be in my old posts, but this reminded me of a day in the life of Bob from years ago where in my 20s or 30s, a LL used to let himself in the apartment without notice, at all times of the day over the weeks and months, usually only while I unwell with flu or having a naked shower at the time (naked), with my thingy hanging out. I politely mentioned to him it was illegal, at which point he became physically aggressive. I mentioned it to the agent, who told me they've told him it's illegal, and can't do any more than that. When it continued, I then contacted citizen's advice, who advised me they didn't know how I could enforce the law on to him & that I couldn't call the police because they won't take action against a LL for being on his own property, even if it's rented out. After several hundred hours or research, it turned out there's nothing a tenant can do to enforce this law on a letting agent or landlord.
The LL then kept my deposit after I moved out, and it took a huge amount of time & evidence gathering to claim it back from the deposit protection scheme, at which point I realised it cost more to fight that battle than to lose it. I won though. I just lost all my time with family & unable to run my business while gathering all the evidence, filling out forms & researching how to do it. But the important point is I won, right? :rotfl: "to win" being a relative term, since I only got my own deposit money back.
But.. at least it's illegal. 0 -
Well, it is illegal and he was trespassing. And you can call the police.
But you don't seem that bothered by any of it, so I'll leave it there0 -
I'm another advocate of bucket or basin of water, lift lid, hold bucket high above toilet and pour. Repeat as needed. Buckets are about 99p and you can have a filled one at the ready beside the toilet.0
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The Housing board or PV&W would have been a better place for this ... I can't see that you've asked a Consumer Rights question.
PS - has the LL protected your deposit? (It's a legal requirement. If they haven't then you can sue them for up to 3x the deposit value).0 -
Well, it is illegal and he was trespassing. And you can call the police.
But you don't seem that bothered by any of it, so I'll leave it there
Oh please don't mistake whimsical attitude for a lack of being bothered- sometimes it's the only practical way to survive these great events (depending on your personal life events of course, but I suspect most of mine aren't unique. I hear stories from others).
My housemate did attempt calling the police when the LL kept trespassing on our property years ago, to no avail. The police were completely uninterested :rotfl: they refused to even turn up. Citizens advice & letting agent both on our side but had no idea how to stop him from doing it, since he didn't listen to anyone.
The whole event did change outcome though- it caused the LL to become even more aggressive (as if it were possible), and make us battle to get our deposit back, simply for the sake of "revenge".
The best part of that saga years ago (I'll never forget it) even was when the LL said to us:
Landlord: "I brought my cousin to see the place. This is him standing next to me.... "
[awkward silence]
Landlord: "Don't you know who he is??"
Me: "err... no"
Landlord: "You kiddin' right?"
Me: "I'm sorry, I'm not well today. You can't just keep letting yourself in to our apartment without notice"
Landlord: "It's my f!!!!! flat mate! You're avin a laugh!! Don't you know who he is?????"
Me: "I'm off work unwell at the moment, I really would appreciate it if you could show your cousin around another day, if you really need to"
Landlord: "He's a f
premier league footballer! [mentions name of team, I forgot] Don't you recognise him??"
Me: "I don't watch football I'm sorry"
His cousin: "come on lets go its okay"
Landlord: "Nah it's not okay he's avin a f---- laugh it's my f
flat"
[conversation continued for an awkward several minutes until he left saying "this aint the end of it mate!!!!!"]
He continued harassing until I moved out. No one around him could seem to control him, despite being on our side. We contacted several lawyers, who all told us that there's nothing you can actually do to enforce the law on him if police aren't interested. They also say it is a very difficult case to prove, unless you have cctv. Even if you have proof & sue him (time & money), there's no monetary loss to claim.
The same thing happened to my partner's family- their dodgy LL turned up at their flat & forced entry when they politely declined. Police called, police turned up but did nothing & said "he owns the flat". They tried to educate the police to no avail.
So please, don't mistake whimsey for lack of caring 0 -
Could a mod per chance move this threat to the "praise vents & warnings" section?
Apologies & thanks in advance0 -
My housemate did attempt calling the police when the LL kept trespassing on our property years ago, to no avail. The police were completely uninterested :rotfl: they refused to even turn up. Citizens advice & letting agent both on our side but had no idea how to stop him from doing it, since he didn't listen to anyone.
That's an easy one - change the locks, and don't give the LL a key (but give one to the LA). Change them back at the end of the tenancy. 0 -
Oh please don't mistake whimsical attitude for a lack of being bothered- sometimes it's the only practical way to survive these great events (depending on your personal life events of course, but I suspect most of mine aren't unique. I hear stories from others).
My housemate did attempt calling the police when the LL kept trespassing on our property years ago, to no avail. The police were completely uninterested :rotfl: they refused to even turn up. Citizens advice & letting agent both on our side but had no idea how to stop him from doing it, since he didn't listen to anyone.
The whole event did change outcome though- it caused the LL to become even more aggressive (as if it were possible), and make us battle to get our deposit back, simply for the sake of "revenge".
The best part of that saga years ago (I'll never forget it) even was when the LL said to us:
Landlord: "I brought my cousin to see the place. This is him standing next to me.... "
[awkward silence]
Landlord: "Don't you know who he is??"
Me: "err... no"
Landlord: "You kiddin' right?"
Me: "I'm sorry, I'm not well today. You can't just keep letting yourself in to our apartment without notice"
Landlord: "It's my f!!!!! flat mate! You're avin a laugh!! Don't you know who he is?????"
Me: "I'm off work unwell at the moment, I really would appreciate it if you could show your cousin around another day, if you really need to"
Landlord: "He's a f
premier league footballer! [mentions name of team, I forgot] Don't you recognise him??"
Me: "I don't watch football I'm sorry"
His cousin: "come on lets go its okay"
Landlord: "Nah it's not okay he's avin a f---- laugh it's my f
flat"
[conversation continued for an awkward several minutes until he left saying "this aint the end of it mate!!!!!"]
He continued harassing until I moved out. No one around him could seem to control him, despite being on our side. We contacted several lawyers, who all told us that there's nothing you can actually do to enforce the law on him if police aren't interested. They also say it is a very difficult case to prove, unless you have cctv. Even if you have proof & sue him (time & money), there's no monetary loss to claim.
The same thing happened to my partner's family- their dodgy LL turned up at their flat & forced entry when they politely declined. Police called, police turned up but did nothing & said "he owns the flat". They tried to educate the police to no avail.
So please, don't mistake whimsey for lack of caring
Unless he commits a criminal offence then quite rightly so.0 -
Get one of these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Window-Treatments/Company-Anywhere-Portable-Blackout-Suction/B00BKZLWBU
Absolutely amazing product.0
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