House in Disrepair: What are my rights?

solventblackbird

This is an email I've just sent to my letting agent - I think it describes the situation I'm in accurately. I've been in the house around two and a half months. When I viewed the house there was water damage to the ceiling in one of the bedrooms - I was assured the leaking tiles had been repaired and the redecoration would be complete before I moved in. It wasn't done, and the ceiling has leaked badly every time it has rained since. They've sent a roofer on around five occassions and each time they say the problem is fixed, but the next time it rains, it leaks again. I've no idea about roof repairs or what the problem is. I've got a six month contract and I was planning on moving at the end of it anyway. Can anyone let me know what my rights are if they refuse a decent reduction in rent or me breaking the contract early, and can anyone advice what kind of percentage of a reduction would be fair? It is only a two bedroomed house but the rest is in good repair. My daughter cannot use the room when it rains, and when she uses my room I need to sleep on the sofa.

Thanks (email copied below).

I'm writing to pass on my new home phone number: (***). I am usually at work when you are, though, so it is probably better to continue using my work phone number as the main point of contact.

I think we need to have a conversation about the situation with the leaking roof. It is raining heavily again and as I speak the water is pouring through the roof into my daughter's bedroom. I have had to empty the bucket once already this evening and I anticipate having to get up again in the middle of the night to do this again or risk it overflowing. As always, I've had to relocate her to my bedroom so that she can sleep. I've been advised by Shelter and the Citizen's Advice that these are totally unacceptable living conditions.

I appreciate the fact that the roofer has visited on numerous occasions and I want to emphasise I am in no way dissatisfied by the level of service I am receiving from your agency as a tenant. Nevertheless, the fact remains that he has been unable to resolve the problem and during rainy weather one of the bedrooms in my house is uninhabitable. With this in mind I'd like to either meet with you or talk on the telephone about breaking our contract early without penalty to me or receiving a reasonable reduction in rent until the matter is resolved and the room is redecorated. Because my problem is not with your service but with the house, I would be more than happy to relocate to another appropriate property on your books if this is possible.

I will be available on the work number (*****) on Monday and will telephone you after lunch if I have not heard from you before.

fc123

we rented a place that had loads of problems (too numerous to mention) and they weren't apparent when we viewed.
eg; moving in day; OH fell through the floor in Utility room...floor rotten and wet from leak.
I posted LA a list of problems, they sent round the most rubbish, cowboy repair blokes I have ever met (OH is in the trades) and I asked for 1 month rent free, which I got.
I didn't pursue leaving tenancy early (as we all couldn't face moving again so soon) therefore, we suffered the place and moved on as soon as the 6 months was up.
Our daughter was quite stoic about it all, her room had all sorts of problems including faulty socket that gave her an electric shock :eek: .

I sympathise as one just wants to get on with living, but we put it down to experience and when viewing house we are in now, I took 2 hours on 2 visits to check EVERYTHING. Longer than when we bought.

Good luck...don't be fobbed off. Our LA though I was a pain in the a$$ (he once said "You shouldn't be renting, you are to used to owning" (jumped up 'Nigel' 20 something type).

I did quote building regs / Health + Safety stuff too them too (OH knows all about this) which made me even more unpopular.
The place wasn't cheap either.

But we left, I got good refs (rent paid on time) and I hope that the saying "What goes around, comes around " is true.

Good luck

solventblackbird

Well I had an email back today from the agents saying that he was trying to fix the problem as fast as he could but he can't send a roofer when it is raining because they won't go on the roof when it is wet for health and safety - which is fair enough. I do think they are working to resolve this but the fact is that it is NOT resolved and every time it rains I loose the use of a room in my house. He said he would ask the Landlord about a reduction but mentioned nothing about the contract being broken early.

I certainly don't want to be unreasonable but I want to know how much of a reduction is fair and if there is anything else I can do if they refuse to reduce my rent or let me out of the contract.

Anyone?

tbs624

The Landlord is responsible, under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, for repairs to the structure and exterior of the property. From what you say, it sounds as if there has been an ongoing problem with the roof that predates your tenancy.

The Landlord and/or his agent are therefore in breach of their legal/contractual obligations. You could write to the Agent and/or Landlord and explain that, in failing to remedy the problem, they are in breach of their legal obligations to you as a tenant and that you feel you have no option but to give early notice to quit if the matter is not resolved within 7 days. You seem to have acted very reasonably with them so far, but the fact remains you are entitled to have a home that does not let the rain in through the roof. Take photos, keep copies of all letters/records of phone calls and go to your local CAB or Council private tenancies officer for further advice. The landlord/ agent perhaps needs to employ a more competent roofer, and there are obviously plenty of days when the weather will be suitable for them to be working on the roof, so there is no excuse for him not to get it resolved.

solventblackbird

Thanks for that - they are sending the roofer tomorrow so I will talk to him then and see what he says. They always say it is the kind of job that they don't know if it is fixed or not until the next time it rains. Because I have no idea of the work involved I am not sure if the roofer is competent or not, but the situation hasn't improved at all despite all his visits and that seems unreasonable.

I will speak to them on the telephone on Monday and then see what they say - might be a case of ending the contract early if they refuse a significant rent reduction, but what I really want is the roof fixed asap and to stay the six months.

Thanks

chappers

roof repairs can be tricky as water could be comming in somewhere else and only exiting over your daughters bedroom.Also it can be coming in through the slates or flashings and running down the felt and leaking out over the bedroom.

But to be honest his best chance of finding the leak is to come round when it is raining, he doesn't have to go on the roof but may be able to find the leak easier from the inside.
How complicated is your roof, if it is just a plain roof with say achimmney init there are only a few places it could be leaking, either the flashing around the chimney , the ridge tiles or any slipped or missing slates or tiles.

What is the general state of the roof.
If it is filling a bucket in a couple of hours it must be quite a serious leak and should be quite easy to track down.

solventblackbird

Thanks for that - the last time I spoke to the roofer and he said he'd repaired one part of the roof earlier but because the water was coming into the room through the exact same place he thought it must be around the chimney - and he did all around the chimney last time but it made no difference. The leak is always in the same place and hasn't diminished throughout any of the work. I will make sure I am in tomorrow when he comes so I can let him in to have a look inside if he needs to.

Fingers crossed!

pinkshoes

I would certainly ask for a rent reduction! You're in theory now renting a 1 bed property as the 2nd bedroom is unusable, so you should be paying the equivalent of a 1 bed property rent, backdating it since you moved in! Do some research and find out how much a 1 bed property rents at!

They ought to come round when it's raining, go up into the attic, and find out where the water is coming from, as perhaps it's travelling along beams/pipes, then dripping down into the room, hence the leaking part is not directly above where the water is coming in. Or you could try doing it yourself, taking care not to fall through the ceiling!!

clutton_2

do not go into the roof yourself - you dont know if wet timbers may have become unstable.

get roofer to come back when it rains and get him into the roof space - as others have suggested.

this is very tricky - leaks from rooves are notorioiusly difficult to track down - and at least the LA is getting workmen to you every time you complain - they do seem to be trying to help

how much is your rent ? then we miight b e able to suggest a percentage for a temporary rent reduction until the problem is solved.

does the LL know exactly HOW much water is leaking into the inside of his property ? he may want to get another roofer.......

real1314

fc123 wrote: »

we rented a place that had loads of problems (too numerous to mention) and they weren't apparent when we viewed.
eg; moving in day; OH fell through the floor in Utility room...floor rotten and wet from leak.
I posted LA a list of problems, they sent round the most rubbish, cowboy repair blokes I have ever met (OH is in the trades) and I asked for 1 month rent free, which I got.
I didn't pursue leaving tenancy early (as we all couldn't face moving again so soon) therefore, we suffered the place and moved on as soon as the 6 months was up.
Our daughter was quite stoic about it all, her room had all sorts of problems including faulty socket that gave her an electric shock :eek: .

I sympathise as one just wants to get on with living, but we put it down to experience and when viewing house we are in now, I took 2 hours on 2 visits to check EVERYTHING. Longer than when we bought.

Good luck...don't be fobbed off. Our LA though I was a pain in the a$$ (he once said "You shouldn't be renting, you are to used to owning" (jumped up 'Nigel' 20 something type).

I did quote building regs / Health + Safety stuff too them too (OH knows all about this) which made me even more unpopular.
The place wasn't cheap either.

But we left, I got good refs (rent paid on time) and I hope that the saying "What goes around, comes around " is true.

Good luck

Erm, stuff goos refs. If your dtr got an electric shock you should have got something doen about it - that is appalling from any perspective - tenant, landlord or just casual observer. Did you tell the LL? What did they do / say?

Rabiddog_2

The roofer doesn't have to come when its raining! a hose or buckets of water are just the same sort of water. Actually if the roof has been seen too, then that is probably not the cause of the problem. I bet its a leak or some other point of entry.
I personally think your letter of complaint is far too personal, something you might send to a mate rather than to a business organisation. You should list your complaints, the length of time you have been inconvenienced, your time scale for putting it right, your DEMAND for compensation, the negative health implications for your family and your future actions if nothing is done. Harrumph! :mad: