Urgent Landlord Help...Please Help!!

Pal

If you are concerned about your safety or your families then go to a solicitor and find out about the tenancy agreement. Is it legal? What would you have to pay to get out of it? What is the notice period and conditions?

The go to the police and ask them what to do. Tell them your concerns and about the racist behaviour. If the solcitor says that you can just walk out without paying, then do so, giving whatever notice the solicitor recommends (e.g. a quick note posted to him giving a weeks notice). Tell the police that you will be moving out and ask if they can send someone round on the day to make sure there is no violence.

Arrange for environmental health to come round. Share your concerns about possible violence with them. They will involve the police themselves if they feel it is necessay.

Does your dad's place have a garden? How about camping in the garden for a couple of months while it is still summer? Failing that, hotels? B&Bs? They might do a deal for long stayers. Friends houses? Friends gardens?

sportbeth

I had a problem with a former landlord regarding bad living conditions and I stopped paying rent until they fixed the problem. This meant I could save up for the new place and argued legally when it went to court that the accomodation was "pre-judicial to health" therefore the retention of rent was considered legal.

I don't think these guys sound too nice and you obviously can't throw your weight around but if you look up Tenancy law on the net, you should be safe to dispute rent for 3 months before they can legally evict you and if you can bear it you can during that time save up your escape fund.

If not, approach your local council. It's not ideal to look for a council property, but they can help you out with temporary accomodation whilst you are in difficulty and you would be better off than at the moment.

chugalug

Do you have Shelter or another housing aid centre near you? You can check on shelter.org.uk and while you're there check out your rights ie to quiet enjoyment etc. From what you say you are in a dodgy position but if its that bad then drastic action is needed. Believe me I've worked in housing advice and some cases made my hair stand on end!! But, although it sounds harsh, if you don't have any faith in the authorities to help you then you have to help yourself. Easier said than done I know but it's a hard lesson to learn and you have to think laterally not conventionally sometimes. How far are you going to move away? If it's a few miles just leave. If you've only got to be there for a couple of months how do you know the landlord won't turn nasty when you give in your notice? Perhaps you should stick it out until you have somewhere else to go. At least you have a roof over your head. I don't know what the answer is. Even if you find out your rights enforcing them could be a problem. What do you want to do? Involve the authorities? Stay put until you can leave in comfort? Pay off the landlord so he lets you go? In reality he can't stop you - it's your fear of what he could do that's stopping you. If you weren't scared what would you do? Decide what you really want and then do it! Good luck.

KittyKate

Hmm, thanks for all your suggestions. I think I might discuss my situation with the council - even temporary accomodation, if it has heating and working appliances, would be the Hilton compared to this dump.

I think our plan of action is along the lines of me frantically trying to find somewhere else to live (not easy when you don't have any cash and have lots of un-sellable posessions!) by ringing the council etc, then once we're safely out, going to the police regarding the state of the house etc - then if our parents get bothered, he'll get arrested. Much as we don't want to put ourselves in danger, the house was freshly painted etc to cover the damp and looked ok for the money when we moved in. It was only when we had to actually live there we realised what a mess we were in.

And when it comes to moving out, well, we could always use the other door (not facing the landlords relatives). The door didn't work for months as it was hung out of alignment (suprise suprise) and we were too scared to tell the landlord in case he made us pay for a new door. We can open it up with a screwdriver and get our stuff out (my best mate, though he doesn't have any room, has offered to drive a van for us day or night).

What a crazy situation - I'll keep you all posted...any more advice welcome. Am now calling the council.

jeeves_2

KittyKate...
I understand where you're coming from, I lived in Bradford for a couple of years when i was a student. these are not normal landlords, there is no reasoning with them. Under normal circumstances I would have said get up n leave, but I understand its not that simple.
How much rent to u owe? If i was you, kisss the £200.00 goodbye, pay what u owe and leave. Why not stay in a B&B for a while. Its not long left anyway. At the end of the day financial loss is nothing compared to the crap you will get from these people. Their answer to things IS violence even if at the end they dont get their cash.
There are some average B&B's in Bradford that u can get for approx £30.00 a night. It is a lot (and this is s'posed to b a moneysaving site!!) but look after yourself. Living in that environment rreally cant be good for your health mentally or physically.
Hope things work out...
Jeeves

KittyKate

Thanks jeeves. Yeah, Bradford landlords are a different breed altogether.

Just rang the council, sorry to say they were pretty useless. After stuggling to understand how my landlord wouldn't fix anything (have you notified him of the repairs..have you given him a fortnight or so, parts aren't easy to get....') I managed to have it explained to me - basically, they send someone over to look at the house, when it's ascertained that it's unlivable, they put me and my partner in a hostel.

This is totally unsuitable - we have no-where to put our belongings, and we have jobs - I work from home as a web designer, I can't very well hook up my computer in a hostel, never mind have internet access!

A B+B might sound good but we can't afford £30 a night and even so our belongings would still be homeless.

Am now stuck again...argh. Imagine laying in bed at night and watching the mice run round the piles of unwashable clothes in your bedroom. I can't believe the council won't give us a normal house, we'd be more than happy to pay rent.

ian99_2

its illegal to fit a gas boiler without a corgi cert, it is also illegal not to have gas safety checks done once a year. I would report them for both or blackmail them with it to get your money back or BOTH. Also i'd record everything on film or audio tape. I'd also tell the uni about it.

KittyKate

ian99 wrote:

its illegal to fit a gas boiler without a corgi cert, it is also illegal not to have gas safety checks done once a year. I would report them for both or blackmail them with it to get your money back or BOTH. Also i'd record everything on film or audio tape. I'd also tell the uni about it.

Er, why? I've graduated, why should the Uni care?

And I don't know how to make it any clearer. My landlord is NOT the kind of guy you blackmail.

I'm fully aware of the illegality of non-corgi fitted and maintained boilers. My worry is that we will have to move out if any authorities find out the house is unlivable.

I am NOT going to get my money back. I've lived in the house and paid my rent. I don't WANT my money back. I want to leave, safely, and not put my family in danger. I also want to avoid paying the £40 repair bill and the other repairs which we can't live without being done should we need to stay here for another 2 months.

Edit: and as for recording anything on film or audio tape, have you been watching too many spy programmes - though your idea is good, I have taken snaps of the worn/broken/leaking parts of the house.

paint

KittyKate wrote:

We've since graduated and both have good jobs, and are in the process of looking for a luxury flat to buy in Leeds

You both have good jobs. Therefore reasonable current/future income and/or savings?

KittyKate wrote:

I can't afford to for about a month, and can't find anywhere for at least 2.

Why? A month's rent in a reasonable house would be about £600 tops. Plus say a month and a half bond (£900). You are both graduates. You can pay for this on your overdraft/borrow the money from a financial institution. Therefore you can afford to move if the circumstance is bad enough.

KittyKate wrote:

We cannot call environmental health as the house is unlivable.

Why? If it's unlivable, surely you must call environmental health?

KittyKate wrote:

if we did have the money to call someone out, they'd see the bare wires hanging over the sink and call corgi/transo, and bam, we'd be homeless!

Or move to a B&B fo a couple of days and then rent another house.

KittyKate wrote:

Er, why? I've graduated, why should the Uni care?

Er, sarcastic much?

I appreciate this is a terrible situation, but IMHO you are not helping yourself. It either can't be that bad if you've put up with it for so long, or you'd pay up, swallow the admittedly bitter pill of paying the scum landlord and move.

seabiscuit_2

as another bradford escapee - you have my full sympathies

your landlords have broken the law in various ways but like many of the landlords in bradford - they just dont care - the law wont touch them

when we had problems with a landlord we got in touch with these people:

http://www.communigate.co.uk/brad/keyhouse/index.phtml

however they told us some nightmare stories of what other tenants had to put up with when they contact the authorities - stories like the house getting repeated burgled until even the pots, pans, cutlery and cooking utensils were gone - i bet if this happened your landlord would expect you to replace it all even though we all can guess who took them

all you can really do is give them their months notice and leave now - dont think about your deposit, dont even think about your months money, for the sake of your health and life - get out now - nothing is worth staying there - money certainly isnt - ive left several of my rented places and never got the deposit back - very few tenants do get it back

btw the university would still help you, they are there for students past and present - youd need to talk to nus bit and they would point you in the right direction (you can become a life member of the bradford nus btw)