Water leak from Rental property

[thamesvalley]

Hi,

I am a private homeowner of a groung floor maisonette. The flat above me is rented through an agent. There is a water leak from the above property which is constantly leaking and growing mould. I have spoken to the tenants who said they would keep an eye on the situation. I asked again several weeks later as it was still leaking, They said they had notified the agent and they would send a plumber round. Its still leaking. Whats the first step to take to resolve this issue.

How can I find the letting agent?
Would contacting the local authority help?

[MrShed]

I would be using the Land Registry to find the contact details for the OWNER of the property. It really is the owner who needs to be aware of/dealing with the situation, not the agents.They are clearly liable for the damage - it may be that the issue needs to go through insurance(on one side or the other). There should also be provision within the lease for such repairs - may be worth reading through your leasehold agreement.

[Ed999]

Are you a long leaseholder? If so, look at your lease to determin who is responsible for repairs to the affected parts of the building (which the lease may define as being partly interior and partly exterior parts of your flat, and may apportion to the landlord and tenant seperately). You may need advice on this from a solicitor.

Is the landlord of your flat also the landlord of the upstairs flat? If not, why not? The freehold of the building *must* belong to one person, as "flying" freeholds are legally impossible!

This is not necessarily a landlord and tenant issue. Escape of water is negligence or a Rylands v Fletcher claim, so you may be able to sue the tenant/occupier of the flat above in tort, directly, regardless of the provisions of your lease. Again, get advice from a solicitor.



Advice & opinions on this forum are offered informally, without any assumption of liability. Use your own judgment. Seek advice of a qualified and insured professional if you have any doubts.

[miss_annoyed]

Sorry new post.

I'm having a recurring problem with the property upstairs due to it's lack of repair this is causing a great amount of stress and nuisance to me and tenants who are currently living in the property downstairs. I'm the owner of the downstairs flat.
There's been quite a few leaks of water into the flat downstairs one resulting in the ceiling falling down. Luckily it happened in a large cupboard downstairs. The upstairs landlord did foot the bill for repair to the ceiling unfortunately this has happened on a few occasions in various places around the flat over the years. I've had damage to computers, walls , floors, personal items which I've always paid to repair. The latest leak is pouring down the walls in a very high ceiling victorian conversion. I've express my concern that it needs their urgent attention but as I've been in this situation before. I have little faith anything will be done for weeks. In the meantime I've asked our tenants ,the wife is pregnant, to monitor the problem from afar but to not enter the spare bedroom. They say is getting worst by the day and covering one walls. All in the space of one week. They've had to move out of the room due to the smelly water and damp. We can't fix the damp or treat the area until what's causing the damp is fix . It also looks expensive the longer it's left. It's running down the external and internals walls to the wooden subfloor.The wall is completely wet and now moulding.
I've called a plumber to assess which pipe from the outside could be leaking and yes it's definately a pipe going into upstairs flat. This information has been passed on to the landlord and agent dealing with maintenance. The landlord to the flat above is also the freeholder of the property . He does little if anything when it comes to maintaining the building , never mind his rented property. He always goes for the cheapest option including not using a registered Corgi engineer to fix the boiler. To the horror of his tenant and us. It's been suggested this ill repair could also be causing the leak.
What can I do to get this sorted out as quickly as possible? I'm worried about my pregnant tenant and the growing mould. Could I fix the leak myself as I know the tenant upstairs and can gain access, then bill him for the repair to his own property? Would I be able to bill the landlord/ freeholder to fix the damage to walls ? Do I have to claim on my insurance to fix the walls? The flat has it's own building insurance as set out in the lease. Can I get the landlord upstairs to pay for the repair considering he's dragging his heels? What can I do to get things moving more quickly? I hate the fact that my hands are tied as a landlord to the flat below I generally try to repair any problems within 24 to 48 hours. Please can any one help me.