Estate Agent not honouring what they promised

Blue_Diamond

Emmia said:

And I'd be seriously considering whether you do actually want to move into this property.

Mould is bad for your health, and do you want your furniture to be affected by damp/mould?

Very good point about furniture 👌 

Blue_Diamond

housebuyer143 said:

Not sure I would have rented a property with visible mold from a landlord who doesn't care at all about his property. Refusal to replace extremely old and manky carpet screams slum landlord.

Did you get it in writing from the agent? 

I didn't get that they would professionally clean the carpets in writing, but I did email them saying that as agreed, this is still outstanding. 

I had no choice to move in, as my previous landlord wanted a £600 monthly rental increase 

_Penny_Dreadful

As the carpet is mouldy I would write to the landlord at the address for the serving of notices given in your tenancy agreement telling them the carpet is mouldy and therefore the property does not meet the requirements of the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018. I’d also threaten to escalate the matter to the council’s environmental health team if it’s not dealt with tout suite. 

A carpet clean is not going to resolve the issue of an old, mouldy carpet, it needs replacing by the sounds of things. 

Blue_Diamond

Update... 2 weeks of hounding down ES, they finally agreed to replace carpets. Also, the boiler had broken down, and taken 13 days to replace with new boiler. So no hot water apart from electric shower, and no heating. 

As I have been staying in temporary accommodation, this has cost me £1200 for 2 weeks. I told ES I won't be moving in until boiler and carpets is all sorted. 

Question is, shouldn't this extra £1200 be covered by the ES?? 

Thank you all for your advice, much appreciated 😊

Blue_Diamond

Update... 2 weeks of hounding down ES, they finally agreed to replace carpets. Also, the boiler had broken down, and taken 13 days to replace with new boiler. So no hot water apart from electric shower, and no heating. 

As I have been staying in temporary accommodation, this has cost me £1200 for 2 weeks. I told ES I won't be moving in until boiler and carpets is all sorted. 

Question is, shouldn't this extra £1200 be covered by the ES?? 

Thank you all for your advice, much appreciated 😊

FreeBear

Blue_Diamond said: As I have been staying in temporary accommodation, this has cost me £1200 for 2 weeks. I told ES I won't be moving in until boiler and carpets is all sorted.

When you do eventually move in, take lots & lots of photographs. Store multiple copies on CDs, in the cloud, and perhaps make hard copies. You may need them when you leave and the LL starts making wild claims about the state you left the place in.

_Penny_Dreadful

Blue_Diamond said:

Update... 2 weeks of hounding down ES, they finally agreed to replace carpets. Also, the boiler had broken down, and taken 13 days to replace with new boiler. So no hot water apart from electric shower, and no heating. 

As I have been staying in temporary accommodation, this has cost me £1200 for 2 weeks. I told ES I won't be moving in until boiler and carpets is all sorted. 

Question is, shouldn't this extra £1200 be covered by the ES?? 

Thank you all for your advice, much appreciated 😊

Legally the landlord had to sort the boiler within a reasonable timescale and 13 days from the issue being reported to a new boiler being installed is within the realms of reasonable. You still had an electric shower and presumably you could boil water in a kettle or on the hob if you required hot water for washing dishes etc. Heating at this time of year isn’t necessary. 

If you are going to try and use the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 to try and claim compensation for staying elsewhere I would stick to the mould because it is unreasonable and unsafe to move into a home that is already covered in mould.  I'd be embarrassed to let a property in that state.

Are rental properties in your preferred area(s) in short supply?  This place sounds so awful it might be worth trying to unwind the tenancy and moving somewhere else.

https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/private_renting/how_to_end_a_fixed_term_tenancy_early/right_to_unwind

silvercar

I’ve merged 2 seemingly identical threads, hence some posts may look like duplicates.