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Reducing rent paid if years old house problems continue to stay unfixed?
strongeyecontact
Posts: 68 Forumite
Hi there. Any advice/opinions appreciated please.
My niece has privately rented a property since 2018, with one problem after another. Some things have been bodge fixed by the landlord's mates then go wrong soon after again but most just stay in the state it was, despite umpteen visits from the landlord and contractors to inspect things. It's always just a waste of my niece's time, the landlord hopes she'll get bored trying and just go away, which has largely worked.
The problems includes a badly damaged felt pitched roof from the 1970s with visibly missing flashing on the side, 25mm of roof insulation (so the EPC says, we've only just found out), badly fitted doors and double glazing throughout, and a 'conservatory' (using that word loosely) roof that allows water to pour in - this goes across the whole width of the house and is an essential room, it's not just a little unused sun trap. Amongst other things, but these are the worst. My niece has tried to fix what she can, but these things are all big jobs.
Landlord has tried putting the rent up before it was allowed (less than a year since last one) and I have been helping my niece now it is actually a year later. It is being investigated by the rent review board, who are visiting next month.
My question is, regardless of what the rent review board say, what are people's thoughts on reducing the rent paid to the letting agent by say £50 per month, to cover the extra water her constantly running toilet costs (proven on years of water bills), and the extra money wasted on utility bills?
My niece is waiting for a disabled council property to come up, she wants to get out asap, and the landlord already tried evicting her last year, then didn't follow up the section 21 notice, so it lapsed. I think if it ever got to court this year, and it wouldn't be for non-payment of rent, just slight underpayment, a judge is unlikely to evict a single disabled mother with two young children in these circumstances anyway.
More to the point, can she do anything to shame the landlord into taking some action? The letting agent is a complete joke, we've spent over a year exchanging emails since I've been helping out, or trying to, which they get paid to do but I don't! When my niece tried to do an SAR to get confirmation of all the times she'd discussed things with the estate agents, they said they couldn't access previous employees' emails (on the same email account as now?!) and that the landlord had refused to let my niece see any of the quotes or correspondence from their side, as it wasn't her property, so all they sent her was her own emails back!
Looking forward to any thoughts, and apologies for the long post.
Thanks for reading.
My niece has privately rented a property since 2018, with one problem after another. Some things have been bodge fixed by the landlord's mates then go wrong soon after again but most just stay in the state it was, despite umpteen visits from the landlord and contractors to inspect things. It's always just a waste of my niece's time, the landlord hopes she'll get bored trying and just go away, which has largely worked.
The problems includes a badly damaged felt pitched roof from the 1970s with visibly missing flashing on the side, 25mm of roof insulation (so the EPC says, we've only just found out), badly fitted doors and double glazing throughout, and a 'conservatory' (using that word loosely) roof that allows water to pour in - this goes across the whole width of the house and is an essential room, it's not just a little unused sun trap. Amongst other things, but these are the worst. My niece has tried to fix what she can, but these things are all big jobs.
Landlord has tried putting the rent up before it was allowed (less than a year since last one) and I have been helping my niece now it is actually a year later. It is being investigated by the rent review board, who are visiting next month.
My question is, regardless of what the rent review board say, what are people's thoughts on reducing the rent paid to the letting agent by say £50 per month, to cover the extra water her constantly running toilet costs (proven on years of water bills), and the extra money wasted on utility bills?
My niece is waiting for a disabled council property to come up, she wants to get out asap, and the landlord already tried evicting her last year, then didn't follow up the section 21 notice, so it lapsed. I think if it ever got to court this year, and it wouldn't be for non-payment of rent, just slight underpayment, a judge is unlikely to evict a single disabled mother with two young children in these circumstances anyway.
More to the point, can she do anything to shame the landlord into taking some action? The letting agent is a complete joke, we've spent over a year exchanging emails since I've been helping out, or trying to, which they get paid to do but I don't! When my niece tried to do an SAR to get confirmation of all the times she'd discussed things with the estate agents, they said they couldn't access previous employees' emails (on the same email account as now?!) and that the landlord had refused to let my niece see any of the quotes or correspondence from their side, as it wasn't her property, so all they sent her was her own emails back!
Looking forward to any thoughts, and apologies for the long post.
Thanks for reading.
0
Comments
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Under-payment of rent is the fastest way to get evicted. Not recommended.Follow the Shelter process ...
1 -
My thoughts on underpaying rent? Never a good idea.
Your daughter will need previous landlord references for a Council house. Rent arrears are a red flag.2 -
(Assuming this is England..) The tenant (rather than anyone else eg not your good self) needs to report repair issues using draft letter from link then follow process in link. With LANDLORD, copy agent, keep copy. Her contract is with landlord, yes I know agent has done all the paperwork.
https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/repairs/how_to_report_repairs_to_a_private_landlord
She might want to look into rent repayment orders....
https://england.shelter.org.uk/professional_resources/legal/housing_conditions/private_sector_enforcement/rent_repayment_orders
However, sounds like landlord & agent won;t sort things until council and/or courts get seriously involved.
Good luck2 -
A conservatory is not a habitable room. Why do you call it an essential room?1
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Assuming England, be aware that eviction for non-payment of rent under a S8 is a lot quicker and she may be considered intentionally homeless.If you've have not made a mistake, you've made nothing2
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Constantly running toilet? Likely to be a fairly simple fix and one she could do herself with a YouTube video. Shouldn't have to of course but if it's a choice between expensive bills then it's potentially an easy fix.
Don't drop the rent.
Report disrepair to the environmental health team and request an inspection1 -
Judges evict disabled and young single mothers with multiple children all the time. They're not given any special consideration5
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Rent arrears lead to S8 eviction.
Eviction for rent arrears leads to rejection by council for housing (child or no child)..
As explained above, there are processes for dealing with disrepair but reducing rent payments is only sensible in one set of circumstances:
After the tenant has payed for repairs themselves, they can deduct those payments from the rent(not just picking a figure out of the air and reducing the rent by that amount.
But even then there is a very specific process to follow before the tenant can deduct repair costs from the rent. See Shelter guide.2 -
Thanks very much, I'm reading this through and will start the environmental health team report next. It's not on to leave a family in a damp environment, everyone knows that now.anselld said:Follow the Shelter process ...0 -
It's my niece but thank you for your reply.Alderbank said:My thoughts on underpaying rent? Never a good idea.
Your daughter will need previous landlord references for a Council house. Rent arrears are a red flag.0
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