Gardens & general fair use damage

[memson]

We have just quit our Assured Shorthold Tenancy (6 months) which lapsed in to Standard Periodic about 2 odd years ago.

Our landlord did the usual once over of the property yesterday - he highlighted a number of points that I both contest and some of which I conceed. The meeting degraded into me getting very emotional (Upset more than angry) and having to call my wife over to the property to calm the situation down. Need a bit of advice on the following:

• He claims we are responsible for the toilet flush. We reported they both (one downstairs cloakroom, one upstairs bathroom) were non functional (one was mechanically worn out, the other only flushes with multiple pumps to the handle.) The downstairs one is of a design we couldn't find a part for easily or cheaply (else we would have taken the cost.) As far as I can see though, he is responsible for the sanitation upkeep. Is this correct?
• There was some damage to paintwork. The property generally requires a complete overhall. It was only just passable when we moved in 7 odd years ago.
• There is damage to a sliding built in wardrobe door. The door is mirrored and the metal surround/edge is slightly displaced. To be honest I completely forgot it was damaged, else I would have tried to do something about it. He now seems convinced we should somehow claim on the house contents insurance we had for the property or pay for the repair. The door still works absolutely fine. It is fairly cosmetic. I'm happy to admit defeat on this one, but I'm sure he is trying to find excuses to penalize us.
• The garden. Big, big bone of contention. The house has an extremely large vaguely landscaped garden (three distinct areas, one front lawn, one sunken garden and a secluded corner garden area.) It is probably the size of 3/4 to half a football pitch. There's no clause in the contract that directly mentions a specific standard the garden needs to be kept to and no record of the condition it was in when we moved in. He now seems to believe we completely wrecked the garden and seems to want us to pay for it to be re landscaped. I say "seems to" because I agreed nothing with him concerning this issue yesterday. In truth, the garden is a complete nightmare. Too large for me to maintain, I did my best for the first few years, but after my duaghter reached toddler (a year and a half after we moved in - she is six on Monday) it became impossible to juggle work (I worked away during the week), family life, and upkeep. To compound the issue, we have an alley way that is a major thoroughfare behind the garden fence (there is no exit from the garden to this alley way) which is notoriously rough. Muggings and general fighting on a Friday/Saturday night occur there. All manner of things have been thrown over the fence (traffic cones, glass bottles, clothing, stolen goods, medicines in perscription bubble/blister packs, cans, crisp backets, plastic carrier bags, and much more.) The fence runs the full length of one side of the garden and along the back wall. There is an old delapidated green house in the right far corner, with broken panes and generally dangerous contents. There is a large pile of rubbish in the far middle - created by the landlord doing a quick hack job before we moved in, to which we have added some garden waste to (not really knowing what else to do with it.) So, we pretty much stopped using that part of the garden. We put a small fence across the front lawn and restricted the kids (three now) to stay away from the hazards. Over the years, the numerous trees have grown and blocked out a lot of light, so the grass has slightly suffered. The land lord has spoken to use a number of times about the garden. He became agitated over the last couple of years. Unfortunately, my wife ended up working weekends to help us cover the rent increase he instigated in december 2005. Then with the birth of daughter 2, child 3, and the subsequent issues she had healthwise (born with syndactyly and underwent two major operations) we have been slightly distracted. I have also started working away from home again (big commute from south coast to London.) I'd really love to know where we stand on this issue. I spent 2 days annual leave working on the garden. I cleared all of the overgrown shrubs/weeds. Cut the grass. Took a hacksaw to low branches in an attempt to thin them out. Hedge cut and strimmed all the borders. Completely cleared a pathway that was entirely overgrown. I'm not a gardener, I'm am IT consultant and I sit on my arse all day. I'm not fit and it particularly killed me both physically and emotiaonally.

So, our complaints:

• Toilets, obviously. I reported them over the phone - I left ansaphone messages as he is often hard to get on the phone. He admitted yesterday that he had ignored my messages as he believed it was our responsibility to fix the toilets that "we broke".
• Oven stoped working properly 4 years ago. We were promised a replacement verbally 4 years ago. And then again in 2005. Nothing ever appeared.
• Use of garage - we were promised the use of the garage when moving in, this never materialized.
• Kitchen windows.. basically, wooden frames were rotten when we moved in and pretty much were falling out. He promised to replace them when we moved in. A window was broken in 2002 by a child playing golf in high winds out back of the house (near a playing field on the other side of back alley) but the pane alone was replaced on insurance (we ended up paying a £50 excess that he never returned, but then increased the rent by £50 and insisted he would "forgo" the first month to "pay us back the money".) The windows were finally replaced in the summer (say, 6 month ago.)
• Other double glazed units had damaged seals and went opaque. These were left for 5+ years till the summer, when the units were replaced.
• Greenhouse - we asked to be allowed to dismantle the, frankly, dangerous greenhouse. He ignored our written request (which also listed many of the other issues listed here.) He now claims not to have read the letter, though his wife has previously acknowledged it exists and applogised to my wife last year for him ignoring it.
• Back side fence. In 2003, a section of the side fence was kicked over by youths. We are not sure exactly what happened as it was in part of the garden you can't easily see from the house. We requested his assitance, to which he responded. He and I roped and wedged up the fence and pushed a rusty old climbing frame up against it. I requested a proper fix, and he promised to do so. It never happened. Years later, during the summer, the high winds made the back fence fail and become unstable. I reported this to him and did my best to bodge a repair. He had the fence fixed by the guys that did the windows (yeah, dodgy as heck) and the back fence was stable. However, the side fence was left. When quizzed the workmen knew nothing about the side fence. I had mentioned it to the landlord when reporting the damage to the back fence. The fence caused me an awful lot of stress. I wish I had gone to the doictors and had medical proof. I just grinned and bared, as I was away a lot from home. Every friday and saturday night for the last 3 years, I have had bouts of insomnia and general stress. Not feeling entirely safe. It often caused me to stay awake till 2am or 3am when I could be sure all the pub and club go-ers had gone past. The licensing law changes have actually helped (no 11pm mass exodus anymore) but it has been a real issue for me till we moved 3 weeks ago. I had the first good nights sleep at the weekend in our new house for 3+ years.

There's obviously more. Claims of "doing us favours" because he replaces old, malfunctioning and worn out appliences and installations (shower, water pressure pump, windows, kickspace heater, linked to central heating, in kitchen.) All of which I see as being in his best interests anyway - all things he would need to do now to make the property re-rentable. He also had the flat roof on his garage (that we never had access to) replaced and the exterior guttering (which was old and falling down in places.)

Here are the rest of the facts:

• We have had 3 or 4 contracts with him (assured shorthold 6monthly), one for each rent increase. (£550, £575, £600, £700*)
• Deposit was £100 (I bet he regrets that now, given how much he percieves we owe him, my only sence of glee)
• Lived there since March (or might have been June) 2000, so just over 7 years.
• Rent paid in advance, monthly.

* The last increase was at the same time he mentioned his endowment mortgage had not worked out and so he still owed money on it - made us feel like we were paying his shortfall, was extremely unexpected and IMO unfair and we agreed only to keep the peace as we had no way to move, no money or prospect of getting money to afford it. We requested (in writing as noted above) a number of things to be done to the property. Caused us a lot of financial hardship and made is necessary for my wife to return to work (at the weekends) to help make ends meet.

We had an inventory of the interiour of the property - not the exteriour.

Now the bad. No proof of a lot of the verbal agreements. We also have no proof of the condition of the property prior to and post renting (if I had read this forum prior to today, I would have taken pictures yesterday!)

The inventory is vague. We signed it when moving in- it doesn't list conditions of anything in the house, just the items that are in it and what appliances, installations, fixtures and fitting etc there are. We signed nothing yesterday, so we have not agreed any of his "points" except possibly in informal conversation.

Any comments?

Ta,

Matt

[Ed999]

Read this thread: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...eductions.html

Also read the tenancy agreement, which may contain relevent provisions.

It is usually a question of whether you, as tenant, have damaged the property. That thread explains some of the legal implications, and must be read together with the terms of your tenancy agreement.

"Fair wear and tear" is something which the tenant is NOT responsible for the cost of repairing. But it can be difficult in practice to define what precisely "fair wear and tear" amounts to.



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.

[memson]

I think my largest concerns are:

• The state of the garden
• The inventory

The state of the garden IMO is purely one of taste. I'm just confused as to what rights he has to claim it was in any specific state when he really does not seem to clearly remember himself and there is no (afaik) proof or record that it was in any particular state when we moved in.

The inventory only lists physical items and such in the house, like "kitchen has table and 2 stools" but does not in any way mention the condition of any part of the property. I'm guessing, as all the items on the inventory are present, that is all he could get us on - but does having even a vague inventory without any mention of the condition of the property actually help his case in any way, or is it the same as if he had nothing at all on paper. I'm guessing it only really covers him for the exact wording on the paper and things not mentioned are not enforcable.. am I correct?

I will sit down and do as advised anyway. Hectic week and didn't get a chance to do so yet.

Thanks in advance for any urther advice.

Originally Posted by Ed999

Read this thread: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...eductions.html

Also read the tenancy agreement, which may contain relevent provisions.

It is usually a question of whether you, as tenant, have damaged the property. That thread explains some of the legal implications, and must be read together with the terms of your tenancy agreement.

"Fair wear and tear" is something which the tenant is NOT responsible for the cost of repairing. But it can be difficult in practice to define what precisely "fair wear and tear" amounts to.



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.

[MrShed]

Its the same as if he did not have an inventory. He has no proof of the condition of the garden when you moved in if it was not listed on the inventory.

HOWEVER. Small claims court is based on "balance of evidence". I realise the golden rule here is "no inventory = no deductions", and indeed it should be, but in practice it is who the judge believes. If the landlord had an inventory listing the condition of the garden, then the garden issue would be no contest I'm afraid. The landlord is entitled to the garden back in much the same condition as it was let in.

As a side note, after 7 years I totally disagree with the landlord regarding you being responsible for paintwork.

[Ed999]

In general terms, it is - of course - not just a question of damage.

If the tenancy agreement contains a provision banning alterations by the tenant, then even improvements to the property by the tenant will amount to a breach of contract.

If there is a prohibition on alterations, any type of alteration will put the tenant in the wrong, and he will have to pay for the cost of restoring the property to its original condition.

Where there is no such prohibition, the issue is solely one of damage. The Court will decide, on the facts of the particular case, whether a particular item amounts to damage or only to fair wear-and-tear.

The more vague the inventory is, the worse the landlord's chances. But the Court will, in that situation, simply decide who it believes (on the balance of probability). It usually ends up with the Court splitting the difference, and requiring the tenant to pay part of the landlord's claim.


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.