Money Moral Dilemma: Should we push for a rent reduction or show 'forbearance'?

Archergirl

Why do people spend so much time an effort answering hypothetical questions when they are so many real ones?

Jeremy535897

Because they are easier.

Archergirl

Jeremy535897 said:

Because they are easier.

Lol, and it dosen't matter......

Thrugelmir

Amazing that people would rent a property without inspecting it first. 

REJP

You accepted the condition of the flat when you moved in.  Clean it yourself if it is unsanitary.
Write to the landlord, not phone or email, asking for repairs to be done as soon as Coronavirus restrictions are lifted.  How many burners are on the cooker?  If it is the four burner hob, make do on the working burners and the oven.
A polite letter asking for a rent reduction due to poor facilities will be better than confrontation.  Remember that he or she has an agreement with you made when letting the property to give you notice to quit, though as noted in other comments you cannot be evicted during the crisis we are in.
When movement restrictions are lifted ask for repairs to be made urgently.
If the bed frame stops you using the bed, dismantle it and put the mattress on the floor.  I could see that being a problem for older people though.
However if the landlord is being unreasonable you can go to a Rent Tribunal later.
I believe you get more with sugar than vinegar!  Never show yourself to be aggressive in these situations, it can backfire.  Be firm but fair however difficult it might be. 
Some comments suggest you should not have accepted the property in poor condition, but we don't know what your circumstances were at the time.  However, I do repeat that polite discussion in writing is the best way forward.  If it does not work, then you go the Rent Tribunal route if necessary.  Keep copies of correspondence, telling the Tribunal you emailed or telephoned the landlord is not solid evidence.  Keep landlord's replies in case they are needed.
Did you take photographs of the problems when you moved in?
Good luck with negotiations.

CapeTown

stalin said:

Nobody can be evicted for the next few months. So refuse to pay rent until it is fixed. #rentstrikenow

Really bad idea - I assume that they have signed a tenancy agreement so could face court action if rent not paid. OP - ask for a rent reduction because the house is not fit for purpose - or you could ask that you clean it and fix the faults if landlord gives you the money for it ( obvs gas rings you leave)

Stalin - you seem to be quite bitter towards landlords. I like many others try to be a good landlord. I work full time as a nurse in the NHS - currently working in ITU. I have no pension ( ex husband - long story) so the money I get goes towards my old age. I voluntarily halved the rent for my tenants - despite the fact it has cost me a lot of money. We are not all money grabbing 

Peripathetic

Archergirl and Jeremy, I've actually registered to comment because of your assumptions.  My student daughter is in a similar predicament which is why I am reading and adding to this.  They viewed and placed a deposit on their current student house in November 18 months ago, and were told that there would be renovations between (student) tenants so that the house would be 'beautiful' (the agent's word) for them to move in on 1st September  The holding deposit (50% of the regular rent) to be paid for July and August would give them access for storage purposes.  Despite assurances to the contrary the building works continued into September and they had no access at all until 15th and had to share the house with builders and their debris. They paid the contracted rent but notified the agent of a list of problems. Some were eventually dealt with but not all, notably a shower that was so badly installed it was unusable. (The agent then accused them of not cleaning it because it was mouldy - she had entered without notice or permission). New bedrooms had been created by cutting two in half, and some permanently locked so that they only had access to 80% of a house (which was rented in total, not as individual rooms). They wrote asking for rent reduction pro rata for breach of contract, explaining each issue and its relevance, but by January they still paid full rent as the landlord said he would meet them to discuss their issues.  Then he claimed to be self-isolating and now the last payment is due; they were offered a reduction of £600, not even equivalent to one week's rent.and are now being threatened with court action. They still have only one working shower between seven, two of them have rooms half the size they saw when they viewed, one bedroom has so much damp the student is forced to sleep in the living room, the newly-plastered kitchen is blistering with rising damp, one of the toilets is leaking at the base - I could go on.  I just wanted to post this to show that not everyone has the chance to view in advance what they will actually be getting.  Tenants (especially students) can be a nightmare - but this lot were actually told by the landlord that they had been good tenants! The landlord may be in it to make a living, but if his good intentions are not realised then he is not a good landlord and not doing his job properly.  Neither is the agent! Rant done, thanks for reading if you got this far. 

Jeremy535897

Peripathetic said:

Archergirl and Jeremy, I've actually registered to comment because of your assumptions.  My student daughter is in a similar predicament which is why I am reading and adding to this.  They viewed and placed a deposit on their current student house in November 18 months ago, and were told that there would be renovations between (student) tenants so that the house would be 'beautiful' (the agent's word) for them to move in on 1st September  The holding deposit (50% of the regular rent) to be paid for July and August would give them access for storage purposes.  Despite assurances to the contrary the building works continued into September and they had no access at all until 15th and had to share the house with builders and their debris. They paid the contracted rent but notified the agent of a list of problems. Some were eventually dealt with but not all, notably a shower that was so badly installed it was unusable. (The agent then accused them of not cleaning it because it was mouldy - she had entered without notice or permission). New bedrooms had been created by cutting two in half, and some permanently locked so that they only had access to 80% of a house (which was rented in total, not as individual rooms). They wrote asking for rent reduction pro rata for breach of contract, explaining each issue and its relevance, but by January they still paid full rent as the landlord said he would meet them to discuss their issues.  Then he claimed to be self-isolating and now the last payment is due; they were offered a reduction of £600, not even equivalent to one week's rent.and are now being threatened with court action. They still have only one working shower between seven, two of them have rooms half the size they saw when they viewed, one bedroom has so much damp the student is forced to sleep in the living room, the newly-plastered kitchen is blistering with rising damp, one of the toilets is leaking at the base - I could go on.  I just wanted to post this to show that not everyone has the chance to view in advance what they will actually be getting.  Tenants (especially students) can be a nightmare - but this lot were actually told by the landlord that they had been good tenants! The landlord may be in it to make a living, but if his good intentions are not realised then he is not a good landlord and not doing his job properly.  Neither is the agent! Rant done, thanks for reading if you got this far. 

Not sure what assumption you think I made. I merely answered the question "why do people spend so much time answering hypothetical questions" with the correct answer, based on much experience of the forum. I made no comment on the merits or otherwise of the original post, or on whether a property should be viewed in advance of renting it. There will always be good and bad landlords, and good and bad tenants.

ventriloquistdummy

njt1907 said:

It's a national pastime to attack landlords for being rich landowners and to be hostile because they don't work and just wait for the rent to come in. I must be doing it wrong. I drive a 17 year old van and have spent 13 years renovating absolute wrecks and turning them into good houses so people don't live in the dumps I used to to live in when we rented in the 90's. I work nights and weekends doing repairs and maintaining standards and  yes eventually, this will be my pension. Your landlord is almost certainly a normal person with a job, debts and a conscience. If you get on the phone and ask he'll probably do what he can to resolve the situation. We can do this type of job even with the lockdown. If he doesn't then speak to your council's housing standards team and they will deal with it for you and he'll be pulled into line. Just don't follow the advice of the morons who've clearly got an anti-landlord bias because they've listened to too much Corbyn and hate anybody who's got (probably through work and sacrifice) something they haven't. Private landlords are decreasng in number rapidly so enjoy dealing with them while you can before you start having to fight for council houses and long waits for poor quality repairs. I speak from experience.

Got something they haven't? In this case, a habitable place to live that provides shelter? That isn't even something that should be up for discussion in one of the most advanced economies in the world. But then again, fairly typical for a landlord to expect a pat on the back for making a property fit for human habitation. For all of the "I'm such a good landlord" chronicles seen on here, it doesn't change the fact that by owning more than one property, you are actively reducing the chances of others ever owning a property of their own not only through reducing the pool of properties available to purchase, but also by pushing the prices of those available properties up to unaffordable levels.

ACARTER6

You should absolutely request a refund.  As a landlord myself I would expect to rent out a property in a fit state and reduce the rent if unable to replace or repair broken items.  I suggest you take photographs of absolutely everything as evidence and resort to the TDS if necessary.  Give your landlord a reasonable amount of time after restrictions are lifted to make good the property and contents and try to reason with him/her before taking further action.