Hi, Thank you to everyone that has posted a reply back to me i really appreciate it, its good to know people are willing to help. Thank you Emma, jimmy spangle, angel of sol, bedlington and NewSAHD for replying back you have given me some usefull information and relieved a lot of stress of my head which i am gratefull for. Iv managed to get a hold of my local council and spoke to someone in the housing department. I explained everything that had been going on and they contacted the estate agents who are dealing with the landlord. I received a call back from the housing department and basically she didnt sound to enthusiastic about helping me out and she told me everything the estate agents told her: 1) The garden is a mess and i have beached my contract, i have explained i will get this sorted, garden being a mess is due to putting in new sofas and a bed. 2) the rent was late and i was in breach 3)And she stated she was not prepared to say everything she was told dont really know what she meant by that Ok i have read everything that has been posted on here and to be honest i dont want the landlord to get angry and evict me as i would have to be allocated temporary housing in a bedsit which is in another town an hour away from my family and friends so i dont want to be evicted so i have to be carefull how i approach this. I am on a month by month contract the intial 6 month minumum term ended a while ago and i did not sign another contract. 1) Firstly as for the landlord walking in i was told by the council the estate agent and landlord have been contacting my number but could not get a hold of me, which is true i do not have a mobile at the moment which i have explained to them, but they do have my mums number i personally gave this to them but they are denying this. This is why the landlord has been walking in unexpected to carry out repairs nothing which required EMERGENCY access. Now i have been to the estate agents and given them several contact numbers in order to get a hold of me so they cant say they dont have contact numbers. Now i am within my rights to request that i be given 24 hours WRITTEN notice (if the landlord wants to come and do some repairs) if they cannot get into contact with me by telephone? I stated to the estate agents if the landlord couldnt get a hold of me he should have written a notice to say when he was going to come, they replied with no they want contact numbers so they can do this by telephone? Is the landlord allowed to come and inspect the place even if there is not any repairs? 2) The central heating is fully working now and there are no problems. The only concern is the repairs, which include exposed wire by the sockets and electrical boxes fitted for the central heating and mains switches which need to be boxed off, also the hole in the kitchen wall, a door to cover the boiler. These were written down and a letter sent by the conditions officer for the council in october and they havent been done yet, can i request for these to be done and a estimated timescale of when these will be done? 3) The damp problem i will try to sort my self but what if i cannot can i request for this to be sorted out and when this will be done? the landlord has also stated to me he hasnt been able to get most of the repairs done because he has had hip problems and his son has broken his leg and he hasnt had anyone to help him which i dont think is true, so can i make a request to get someone to do and take it out of the rent? 4) As for my boyfriend visiting, iv been doing some reading on this and basically i think im allowed a visitor to stay for 3 nights maximum as the council are paying for my rent i cant find any information which confirms this, can someone one help me?. I will be writing a letter giving contact numbers for the landlord to confirm he is renting a property in coventry and tell them he is studying at a university over there which he is full time so he is not staying with me. On several occasions the estate agents have stated i am in breach of my contract because i am sharing occupancy of the house. So would this be enough evidence to show them that he is not? What is the maximum nights my bf can stay? I am going to write a letter after i have received a reponse from this post and post this on here for some advice and if possible to make it look more techical and professional, this will be sent to the estate agents, but i want to be carefull as i dont want the landlord to evict me. The council seem to be on the landlords side as if i am evicted they would have to rehouse me and it is more paperwork for them, they wont very helpfull when i explained my situation so i will have to sort this my self. Sorry if anything sounds confusing, but i just want to get all this sorted and enjoy christmas because at the moment it wont be a good one and i wont have a house to live in my kids are being affected by all this too, so i apologise if there any errors or anything confusing.

Hi, sorry to bump this up but im getting quite desperate so please respond anyone.

A minor correction to my last post i stated " i am allowed to share occupancy" it should say " i am NOT allowed to share occupancy.

Hi, Thank you for getting back to me. Well basically the workmen came in for two days to fix the central heating and then dissapeared and didnt come back till 2 and a half weeks later. During the two days the workmen were at the house i came back after dropping my daughter of to school about 10am i walked in to my dining room straight towards my living room door and one of the workmen opened the door and said "Sorry im just with a customer" and sat back down on the sofa and there was a woman sat down and they were talking about something. They did some electric work for another 2-3 days and then for another 2 weeks a trip switch kept switching off the boiler and took the landlord two weeks to sort this and i had no heating. Then the pressure was dropping and i got on to the estate agents it took the landlord another two weeks to sort out. I was told by the landlord he had to wait for the electricians to come and do the wiring for the central heating but he wasnt bothered that i had to stay in the house with my kids with limited heating. even after the heating was done i still had problems with it due to leaking pipes so in total it has taken nearly 2 and a half months for the central heating to be fully working, the leaks and some problem with a trip switch were fixed last week. I really am quite scared of living there nowhence why the reason my bf has been staying over more often i havent really got a choice but to live there i havent got anyone else and he hasnt moved in at all but it has been pointed out to me by the estate agents i am allowed to share occupancy. There was an inspection at my house when my bf was there and the landlord has seen my bf a few times but they keep putting in writing i am in breach of my contract due to my bf staying over. I am going to write a letter to the estate agents highlighting all the laws and rights i do have, but i dont have a clue about any laws or rights so i really do need someone to look at the points i made above in my original post and state what laws and rights are in place and what i can do about each point, i will then write out a letter highligting each point, that way i have everything in writing. For example im pretty sure if the landlord doesnt carry out repairs i am allowed to gain 3 estimates for the repairs and put these to landlord and if he doesnt comply i can carry out the repairs and take it out the rent. But i dont know where this law is or what it is called. So if anyone one can help me please get back to me. It really is stressing me out the way im being treated by my landlord and the breaches i am supposed to be in on my contract. Thank you for replying back to those who did i appreciate it.

Hi, I am new to this site so i apologise if i make any mistakes or sound confusing. I will explain my situation as best as i can, and i will greatly appreciate any help. I am privately renting out a property (house) with my two kids and my rent is paid for by the council. I am 21 and currently on benefits. I have been renting out the property for over a year now through an estate agents and i have had alsorts of problems with my landlord. I dont know anything about legal rights for tenants and the estate agents seem to be taking the landlords side about everything. I am going to write to the estate agent and landlord detailing all my concerns and repairs which need to be done, so anyone who can help me please respond as i am quite desperate now and i dont really know who else to turn to about all this. I have highlighted all my concerns and problems below: 1) The landlord on more than a few occasions has walked in the house without permission. I raised the concern about this to the estate agents who told me they told the landlord he cannot do this. recently the landlord walked in agian and starting shouting for me. My phone has been off for a while due to my phone breaking and i cant afford to get another one yet, but they do have my mums number. They stated the landlord needed to get in the property to carry out repairs but they havent been able to get a hold of me eventhough the estate agents is about 2 mintues away from the house and keep stating they cant get a hold of me and my mum and the landlord needs to get in the property thats why he has been comming in without me knowing. I dont feel safe in the house anymore as im constantly worrying about when the landlord is going to turn up and just walk in i dont know what to do. What laws are in place and what can i do about this? 2) The landlord recently fitted in central heating throughout the whole house which took 3 weeks. The house was fitted with convecter heaters thorughout the house. Two workmen came to fit in central heating for two days and left leaving the central heating not functioning and i was left with no hot water in the kitchen and bathroom for 3 weeks. the only heating i did have was a convecter heater in the living room and 1 in the main bedroom. My kids bedroom had no heating so i could not let them sleep in there rooms as it was really cold. The workmen came back three weeks later and carried out work on the central heating and some electrics for the central heating. The heating worked for two days and went off agian due to some problems and leaks which took another 2 to 3 weeks to fix. Now the house was really cold and i cant explain how cold it was, i decided to stay with my mum, sister, and dad because of this and i was out of the property for two weeks during the period the central heating was being fitted and fixed. Yes there was convecter heaters in the living room but it was not enough heating and it was so expensive to run the convecter heaters i couldnt afford to run these. What can i do about this and are there any laws in place? and can i claim for the time i was living out of the house? 3) Due to the work being carried out for the central heating, in the kitchen the workmen left a hole in the wall the size of a tennis ball and cold air is comming through. exposed electric wires due to a new socked being fitted in the wall, they replaced the old boiler which had a door in place in order to access it with a new boiler and some of the boiler is sticking out and the door off the hinges, the kitchen door is also off the hinges and not been put back on, in the living room there are electric boxes which were fitted to control the central heating and the mains switches which are all exposed and not boxed off. Now i had a conditions officer from the council who took a look at the place and he did state these need to be repaired it has been over 4 weeks now and nothing has still been done for all the repairs. What laws are in place and what can i do about these? 4) There is a damp problem through the whole house, it has got to the stage now when i wake up in the morning i can smell a really off smell, there are damp patches in the bathroom dinning room, and in the living room there are damp patches with black spots and patches, what can i do about this and what laws are in place? 5) The landlord and estate agents has on a few occasions wrote to me by letter stating i am in breach of contract for sharing the house with another person. Myself and my two kids are living at the house and the estate agents know this. My boyfriend lives in coventry and i live in peterborough. My boyfriend is studying at coventry university in his final year and is currently renting out a property. He does come and stay with me every two weeks for 2 to 3 nights and goes back home to coventry. The reason why the estate agent and landlord think i am in breach of the contract because they have seen my boyfriend at the house and think he is living there which he is not. I am aware he cannot not live with me and he doesnt stay longer than 3 nights usually but he has on a few occassions stayed for a week. What rights do i have and what laws are in place for this? I have written a lot on this post which i apologise for in advance but i am really worried about all this it really is stressing me out. The landlord keeps stating laws and has told me i will be evicted if i dont stay within my tenancy agreement but i am positive i have not breached my contract, i clean and scrub the house everyday. I paid my rent 4 days late this week and the amount of phone calls and voice mails my mum received about this was unbelievable but when i need reapirs done they dont respond. I will really appreciate all the help i recieve so please help me anyone!!