Renting - Advice please?

muddy-pawz

muddy-pawz wrote: »

Sorry for the confusion - my partner is the one in contact with the landlord so maybe I'm getting the wrong end of the stick.

I'm not sure if he meant he couldn't afford the whole thing, or just a partial payment. Surely the issue of payment would be agreed before booking the work in? (asking as I have never had to deal with this before!)

Yesterday evening he was "waiting on some calls back", today my partner has chased but so far nothing.

We have to do things either via text or over the phone when dealing direct with the landlord as he isn't techy and doesn't own a smart phone or use email (carpenter by trade so not even a work email)

Would saying wait until tomorrow lunch then go to my local council sound fair if we haven't heard anything?
It's not the route I would like to go down, but it seems quite unfair we are having to suffer due to the landlord not wanting to pay...

Should also add to that we've been exemplary tenants for nearly 4 years now - we always pay our rent on time (usually we pay early), our neighbours know our landlord as he used to live there and they have no complaints, the house is kept in a good condition and we very rarely need anything fixing in the house (we know all sorts of people in the trade so anything small we get them to do rather than charging the landlord). The house was very old fashioned when we moved and the walls were a horrible shade of dirty magnolia, so we've decorated the entire house and even had a new bathroom put in as the one in there was so dingy (again, we know a plumber so did this at no cost to the landlord) and also done a lot of work to the garden, so we've definitely put our fair share of labour into the place!

G_M

You do need to write to him. use the address 'for serving notices' and recap briefly the problem, the date first reported and request a date for fixing.


Even if things get resolved quickly now it's worth having it all formally recorded. And if things drag out and ed escalating, then a formal letter is the first step. So write. Tonight.


You also need to clarify additionally what is happening. By all means use text/phone and try to get to the bottom of
a) reason for delay
b) whether there IS a plan to install and
c) timescales


As for the work you've done on the property, I trust it was all done with the LL's knowledge and (written) approval?

Cakeguts

muddy-pawz wrote: »

Should also add to that we've been exemplary tenants for nearly 4 years now - we always pay our rent on time (usually we pay early), our neighbours know our landlord as he used to live there and they have no complaints, the house is kept in a good condition and we very rarely need anything fixing in the house (we know all sorts of people in the trade so anything small we get them to do rather than charging the landlord). The house was very old fashioned when we moved and the walls were a horrible shade of dirty magnolia, so we've decorated the entire house and even had a new bathroom put in as the one in there was so dingy (again, we know a plumber so did this at no cost to the landlord) and also done a lot of work to the garden, so we've definitely put our fair share of labour into the place!

I never understand why people replace bathrooms that don't belong to them. You don't get extra attention for doing this simply because you knew what condition that house was in when you viewed before renting it and if the bathroom, garden and decoration didn't suit you what you should have done is to find a different house that suited you better.

Blackpool_Saver

Cakeguts wrote: »

what you should have done is to find a different house that suited you better.

Yeah, like it's that easy to get a decent rental. You always have to compromise when renting....

steampowered

Send your landlord a short but polite note explaining the impact which not having a boiler is having.

Report your landlord to the council immediately.

Also keep a record of all costs. You should sue the landlord for the additional costs you have incurred, and compensation for the illness, when your tenancy comes to an end.

muddy-pawz

G_M wrote: »

You do need to write to him. use the address 'for serving notices' and recap briefly the problem, the date first reported and request a date for fixing.


Even if things get resolved quickly now it's worth having it all formally recorded. And if things drag out and ed escalating, then a formal letter is the first step. So write. Tonight.


You also need to clarify additionally what is happening. By all means use text/phone and try to get to the bottom of
a) reason for delay
b) whether there IS a plan to install and
c) timescales


As for the work you've done on the property, I trust it was all done with the LL's knowledge and (written) approval?

Thank you for your help, I shall send a quick message tonight to the landlord (am I right in thinking a text message will suffice as written communication?)

All work was done with Landlords permission

Cakeguts wrote: »

I never understand why people replace bathrooms that don't belong to them. You don't get extra attention for doing this simply because you knew what condition that house was in when you viewed before renting it and if the bathroom, garden and decoration didn't suit you what you should have done is to find a different house that suited you better.

The house was liveable, but wasn't the most modern which is why we decided to decorate. We've been here four years now so we have no issue in spending a little bit of money to make the place a bit nicer. We have lots of friends in the trade so managed to do a good job fairly cheap.
I wasn't trying to get any extra attention posting that - I simply wanted to show I wasn't the sort of tennant that expected something for nothing and demanded all sort of work to be done to the house.

I've emailed the estate agent stating what has happened and asked them to confirm as there were some conversations had via phone. I am also going to message the Landlord asking when the work will be completed.

We've saved receipts for Space Heaters / Electric so we can use these for compensation.

G_M, you've been great, thank you so much for all your advice

chrisw

muddy-pawz wrote: »

We reported a problem with our boiler and the plumber then condemned the builder (end of November).

Where does the builder come in to it and why has he been condemned?

anselld

I would not be inclined to rely on the Council either for repair or protection from eviction in this case.
The OP clearly has means for hot water and heating via electric. Unless these were incapable of providing an adequate temperature then this would meet the HHSRS safety requirements and the Council would not have grounds to issue an improvement notice.
Without an improvement notice there is no protection against s21.

muddy-pawz

chrisw wrote: »

Where does the builder come in to it and why has he been condemned?

Bloody autocorrect at 8am!! :P

anselld wrote: »

I would not be inclined to rely on the Council either for repair or protection from eviction in this case.
The OP clearly has means for hot water and heating via electric. Unless these were incapable of providing an adequate temperature then this would meet the HHSRS safety requirements and the Council would not have grounds to issue an improvement notice.
Without an improvement notice there is no protection against s21.

We can get Hot Water through the immersion, however there are two of us at home and it takes around a hr to heat up properly. Even then only one of us can have a shower.

We have a Space Heater and we've borrowed a Dyson Fan, however they are really only a short term solution as they rinse the electric and we also have wooden windows so we still get a draft.

My main reason for wanting to get this sorted is because my partner struggles a lot with his chest, it sounds as if he's getting a chest infection and they wipe him out for a few days! Not ideal as he's recently started a new job.

Slithery

muddy-pawz wrote: »

am I right in thinking a text message will suffice as written communication?

Only if your tenancy agreement states that a text message is acceptable. If not then as G_M said you have to write a letter (paper, stamp, envelope, etc) to the 'address for serving notices'.