Landlord has left lots of rubbish

declfog

I received keys from my leasing agency on Friday to move into a new flat and when I got into the property I noticed that the landlord has left a lot of rubbish stored in cupboards (Chairs, clothing rails, hoovers, lamp shades, old dirty duvets) 3 cupboards full of this rubbish. There's also a cupboard in the kitchen that doesn't open as it's blocked by the door of the washing machine, I can see in the cupboard with a torch and it's filled with dirty dishes and cutlery. I have said I happy to dispose of these items if I could receive some money off of my next months rent for my time and own expense to chuck away his left over crap. He's refused this offer and the leasing agency seem to think this is not a problem. Is there anything I can do about this?

Oh and to top it off the hot water doesn't work in the kitchen either. :'(

Getting_greyer

What would be cool is if you could post one of the things each day to the LL.  Probably not the best advice tho.

anselld

Is the rubbish listed in the inventory?  If not then just bin it.
Report the hot water ... writing, pen, paper, etc.

declfog

anselld said:

Is the rubbish listed in the inventory?  If not then just bin it.
Report the hot water ... writing, pen, paper, etc.

Have yet to receive an inventory. Surely i shouldn't have to use my own money dispose of his rubbish? 

grumiofoundation

Was the rubbish there when you viewed the property?

kazwookie

Stick it in the garage / shed and send a letter telling him / her where it is and can they collect, take lots of photos as well.

Smodlet

The fact all this rubbish is there surely means you do not have full use of the storage facilities provided so (in an ideal world) should not have to pay full rent.  I am not for one second suggesting you actually withhold any rent, that would be a very bad idea but you could point out the limited storage bit, perhaps.  Had you bought this property, rather than renting it, I believe you would have legal rights to dispose of it after a few weeks and/or to charge for storage.  While that does not apply here, you could perhaps again point this out and hope sense prevails.

If it does not, I absolutely second the suggestion to contact Shelter.  Good luck, OP.

princeofpounds

No, you do not get a reduction in rent for this. It's unfortunate but that's how it is.
If you want the legal position, it's this:
- You have been left with a 'bailment' of the landlord's possessions. You have to offer him a reasonable chance to collect these items - sounds like you've done that. Then you are allowed to dispose of them. In theory you can then reclaim costs and sell the items to recover those costs, but the costs are going to be too minimal to bother going to court and the items have no value.

- The way you get back at the landlord is on exit. No inventory on entry means he cannot prove the condition of the house on move-in, and so you have a pretty free reign in terms of how you leave it one exit. So feel free not to clean on your way out - all the better if you do have evidence that the condition on entry was bad, so take those photos and keep those emailed complaints.

- The hot water is a different matter, and is probably a repair that the landlord is obligate to do. 

https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/repairs

Norman_Castle

declfog said:

 when I got into the property I noticed that the landlord has left a lot of rubbish stored in cupboards (Chairs, clothing rails, hoovers, lamp shades, old dirty duvets) 3 cupboards full of this rubbish. There's also a cupboard in the kitchen that doesn't open as it's blocked by the door of the washing machine, I can see in the cupboard with a torch and it's filled with dirty dishes and cutlery.

It sounds like the previous tenant left a load of junk which the landlord has hidden in the flat. Not a sign of a good landlord. Leave the junk where it is for when you leave and start flat hunting.