How do we stand ?

[agamemnon]

This evening we just had a visit from a debt collection agency looking for the home- owner i.e. our landlord.

He is behind with his mortgage payments and is facing repossession. Also this is not just the start of the procedure but it’s following up a previous court order that he has failed to honour.

This is the first we were aware of any financial problems our landlord is having.

The debt collector was actually very helpful and felt sorry for us, she has said that first of all we should go to the court and state an interest in the property. Secondly we should go to the council and inform them of a series of problems we have with the house and try to get the council to force the landlord into paying for the repairs.

At the moment we are not on a council housing list, and by complaining and trying to get the council to sort the problems as our landlord in incapable this could fast track us up the housing list.

The basic problems we have with the house are:

1 The mains electric was condemned and given a prohibition notice due to poor wiring, an almost total lack of earth and a fault to earth on the down stairs rings main causing it to be run as a radial circuit and only allowing us to use 15 amp rather than a full 30 amp.

2 The bathroom has serious damp problems since he dug up the sewer pipe to the toilet from outside of the house and failed to do a correct job, leaving us with a sizable hole under our house.

3 Not one single window has been fitted correctly and we now have cold draughts around every window frame due to cracks and big gaps in between the window frames and walls.

4 We have no landlord certificate on anything in the property. We even had to fit our own smoke detector.

5 I also have doubts if the gas boiler and cooker where fitted by a corgi registered fitter, as the manuals for both have not been filled out in the correct places for guarantee purposes.

At the moment I am out of work waiting for physiotherapy on a shoulder injury and am receiving benefits to pay my rent.

Where do we stand as far as making sure we know when we will have to move out of the property?

Also does anyone know how we stand with the council and getting housed by them?

[roboraver]

I am by no means a expert ! so take everything I say with a pinch of salt (Am sure a more experienced member will come along) but from my own situation I think you need to contact the Environmental Health first of all and ask them ASAP to come and Visit your property, they do have the power to up you up the housing list.

If the property will be re-possesed (Which does seem likely unfortunatly) thenyou should start looking for another place, but do not move until you get the court order and a date, if you do move before this then you will have made yourself intenionally homeless and the council will not have a obligation to re-house you.