Hope this is the correct place to ask this.

Daughter is a Uni student and was in a mixed shared house with a number of others both male and female. All paid in to a deposit.

A few months ago the basement toilet got blocked and overflowed. It's one of those macerator types and when the plumber inspected it a new unit had to be fitted - tampons were found in the system and were blamed on the failure.

The landlord is now wanting to deduct the £600 cost of replacement from the deposit.

Of course the chaps are saying this is nothing to do with them. The ladies are (reasonably) asking how can it be proven that they would be responsible?

Can the Landlord do this or does s11 of the Landlord & Tenant Act (Landlord repair responsibilities) apply here?

TIA

Andy

who says males did bring females back to the flat too?

surely there should have been some kind of information provided by the LL that XX toilet is such a system

and such and such should not be flushed down XX toilet..

Hi

The difficulty here is the Landlord has a specific report that details the cause of the fault was a specific item and the Landlord would be unaware who caused this within the HMO thus all being held responsible.

1. As this is a Multi Cultural Society if the Landlord provided information stating xzy cannot be put down toilet it could be seen as discriminatory.

2. Should the specific item named as the cause of the fault be getting flushed down a Toilet?

3. What are the Manufacturers Instructions for the Disposal of the item named as the cause of the fault?

4. Contact your Local Water Authority for your area and ask if that specific item that caused the fault should be flushed down a toilet.

5. Is the specific item that caused the fault Biodegradable?

As the Landlord is unable to pin point a specific individual within the HMO that is responsible for this fault all those within that HMO are being held responsible.

Sadly S11 the Landlord & Tenant Act (Landlord repair responsibilities) yes they have legal responsibilities but on this occasion the cause of the fault is a certain item which the Landlord has a report of as the cause.

Is the Landlord asking each individual within the HMO in writing to deduct a specific amount from there deposit for this repair?

If the tenants are jointly and severally liable in the contract (which is probably normal - but you could check) then the landlord can pursue whoever he likes for any debts.

If the tenants argue about responsibilities they must argue it between themselves and not involve the landlord.

It may be worth checking the plausibility of the cause of the failure. One would have thought that such devices would have a failsafe but I'm no expert. If the device was old, then it would be worth claiming a reduction under the basis that the landlord is not entitled to new-for-old.

in many establishements like B&B's where you cant put anything other thanbog paper down the bog there are signs telling you this and also a hygienic disposal bin. Presume LL has supplied all of this?

How old was the macerator unit? again agree with SteveM on this point, what is fair wear and tear? If the unit is say more than 5 years old then the LL should expect to replace it anyway

Take Solomon's judgement.

Get rid of the toilet, block up the pipes and see who moans most.

H