A Tenant's guide to renting

whoschuffed

No chance. £300 each which isn't deductable from the first months rent or deposit? No chance in hell.

tenantb

Hi all

Need some help with the following.

I have been renting the current property for 2 and half years. My contract is up for renewal end of this month. My landlord is limited company and they have appointed estate agent to manage the property.

My request for a 6 month contract or a 1 year contract with a 6 month break clause was rejected. That means if I sign a 1 Year contract I can't move out of the property for any reason before seeing through my whole 1 year. I explained my circumstances that I might have to move depending on where my son is going to get a secondary school place. But they are not having it.

What are my options? can this is be legal that a landlord can force a tenant to see through the whole contract?

Please advice

Thanks in advance

jonareynolds

This is great!

janerobo

hi can someone please help me first time been on this site but trying to get reduction from landlord I pay £895 pcm had major problems no heating hot water or electric they offered me £200 please see notes below of what went wrong
Have not had heating at all in the flat since I moved in April 2013 the heaters only got replaced in February 2014 had to purchase own heaters (£120) to see me through waited over 11 months for replacement

• Have not had a fridge in all this time (when it broke I lost over £100 worth of food) was reported at least back in early November 2013 and had to purchase my own replacement £150 why I waited approx 4 months for replacement
• No hot water for approx a month
• No lighting in house on and off for 6 months due to faulty lights that only got replaced about a month ago and then it was replaced with broken light fittings that still has not been replaced when electrician fitted he said that he would put this up temp so I had light but would come back and replace till this time he still has not done this
• Having to pay own electrician out of hours to come to flat at weekend as landlord did not bother responding to the fact than I had no lights in house apart from one in bathroom £60
• Broken fire alarm - again electrician said he has spoken to landlord about this and that he will come and replace it - Still waiting.
• Broken window that would not shut or lock during winter time
• waited approx 4 months for a full inspection on electrics due to being unsafe and everything kept on blowing and giving off sparks.
• intercom prob only worked about for a month since I have lived there
• plugs in kitchen not working - again waited about 3 months for this to be fixed.
• ceiling leaked form upstairs - breaking my iPhone (£250) and my stereo (£65)

the landlord made no attempt to get problem fixed in a hurry normally had to wait about 3 months or more to get work done in total I had to take approx. 10 days off work unpaid to wait for electrician/plumber to come and when they did they did not do work just looked and left

janerobo

hi can someone please help me first time been on this site but trying to get reduction from landlord I pay £895 pcm had major problems no heating hot water or electric they offered me £200 please see notes below of what went wrong
Have not had heating at all in the flat since I moved in April 2013 the heaters only got replaced in February 2014 had to purchase own heaters (£120) to see me through waited over 11 months for replacement

• Have not had a fridge in all this time (when it broke I lost over £100 worth of food) was reported at least back in early November 2013 and had to purchase my own replacement £150 why I waited approx 4 months for replacement
• No hot water for approx a month
• No lighting in house on and off for 6 months due to faulty lights that only got replaced about a month ago and then it was replaced with broken light fittings that still has not been replaced when electrician fitted he said that he would put this up temp so I had light but would come back and replace till this time he still has not done this
• Having to pay own electrician out of hours to come to flat at weekend as landlord did not bother responding to the fact than I had no lights in house apart from one in bathroom £60
• Broken fire alarm - again electrician said he has spoken to landlord about this and that he will come and replace it - Still waiting.
• Broken window that would not shut or lock during winter time
• waited approx 4 months for a full inspection on electrics due to being unsafe and everything kept on blowing and giving off sparks.
• intercom prob only worked about for a month since I have lived there
• plugs in kitchen not working - again waited about 3 months for this to be fixed.
• ceiling leaked form upstairs - breaking my iPhone (£250) and my stereo (£65)

the landlord made no attempt to get problem fixed in a hurry normally had to wait about 3 months or more to get work done in total I had to take approx. 10 days off work unpaid to wait for electrician/plumber to come and when they did they did not do work just looked and left

wannabe_credit_free

tenantb wrote: »

Hi all

Need some help with the following.

I have been renting the current property for 2 and half years. My contract is up for renewal end of this month. My landlord is limited company and they have appointed estate agent to manage the property.

My request for a 6 month contract or a 1 year contract with a 6 month break clause was rejected. That means if I sign a 1 Year contract I can't move out of the property for any reason before seeing through my whole 1 year. I explained my circumstances that I might have to move depending on where my son is going to get a secondary school place. But they are not having it.

What are my options? can this is be legal that a landlord can force a tenant to see through the whole contract?

Please advice

Thanks in advance

You signed a legal contract. If you break it, then the landlord can hold you to it. That means you are liable for the rent for the remainder of the contract, should you move out. You will also forfeit your deposit, which will go toward your arrears. After that the landlord can take you to the small claims court for the rest.

I am a landlord, but I usually ask for 1 months notice to give me time to find another tenant. I don't pursue broken contracts but then I have a heart and will help my tenants if I can.

wannabe_credit_free

janerobo wrote: »

hi can someone please help me first time been on this site but trying to get reduction from landlord I pay £895 pcm had major problems no heating hot water or electric they offered me £200 please see notes below of what went wrong
Have not had heating at all in the flat since I moved in April 2013 the heaters only got replaced in February 2014 had to purchase own heaters (£120) to see me through waited over 11 months for replacement

• Have not had a fridge in all this time (when it broke I lost over £100 worth of food) was reported at least back in early November 2013 and had to purchase my own replacement £150 why I waited approx 4 months for replacement
• No hot water for approx a month
• No lighting in house on and off for 6 months due to faulty lights that only got replaced about a month ago and then it was replaced with broken light fittings that still has not been replaced when electrician fitted he said that he would put this up temp so I had light but would come back and replace till this time he still has not done this
• Having to pay own electrician out of hours to come to flat at weekend as landlord did not bother responding to the fact than I had no lights in house apart from one in bathroom £60
• Broken fire alarm - again electrician said he has spoken to landlord about this and that he will come and replace it - Still waiting.
• Broken window that would not shut or lock during winter time
• waited approx 4 months for a full inspection on electrics due to being unsafe and everything kept on blowing and giving off sparks.
• intercom prob only worked about for a month since I have lived there
• plugs in kitchen not working - again waited about 3 months for this to be fixed.
• ceiling leaked form upstairs - breaking my iPhone (£250) and my stereo (£65)

the landlord made no attempt to get problem fixed in a hurry normally had to wait about 3 months or more to get work done in total I had to take approx. 10 days off work unpaid to wait for electrician/plumber to come and when they did they did not do work just looked and left

Your landlord is liable for any repairs and in a timely fashion. Put your requests in writing giving him/her 7 days to respond and send your letter by recorded delivery. If a letting agent is involved send said letter to them.

If no response, you can complain to your local authority health and safety dept and they will advise you how to proceed next.

Its landlords like yours that give good landlords like me a bad name.
Goodluck.

beckistar

Hi there just a few quick questions,
Firstly me, my husband and my son moved into a 2 bed terrace 4 years ago we never paid a deposit just two months in advance. We were paying £380 a month which was what we were told was the monthly bill, after 2 years they must of cottoned on that they could charge more dividing the 95 a week by 52 weeks so they said we were in arrears and our rent monthly was £411.66. We went cab and they said we had to pay it back but negotiate because they took 2 years to catch this problem we are paying back £10 a month, not much but enough to keep them off us.
We started to notice that damp was in the property not long after and tried to keep it manageable, they came out a few times to clean it or to waterproof the outside but no major work was done we called them before Xmas just gone and they came and cleaned I rang again in jan this year because it had come back with a vengeance by February they still hadn't come out and our son had to go to the doctor because the doc thought he may have asthma (thankfully he doesn't). We contacted environmental health to get this problem sorted once and for all, obviously we have rising damp and condensation damp which is in all rooms except the bathroom.
We have recently been offered a council property and we have taken it my problem is this, our contract says we have to give them a months notice to leave and when asked about our rent arrears the horrible landlady says she can't give me any numbers because on Monday I will be in debt again for the £95 for that week. I'm so confused about how to approach this I spoke to cba but all they said is I have to give a months notice.
I'm just wondering whether I can hold the rent or give less notice because surely the contract is void due to inadequate upkeep of property.

Please help and sorry thought you guys might need the back story before the problem
Thanks

parmashop

Good post :beer:

Jennifer_Barrett

My granddaughter is now looking to rent a house with her partner. I e-mailed this renting guide to her. She found it very helpful. Great post.