Landlord not doing a thing..

[jensav]

My family and I moved into our home almost 5 years ago now and in all that time the landlord has been pretty much useless

 

We found the house via the Whitegates website, they did all our credit checks and we paid them various admin fees to continue our tenancy over the course of the last few years. We always pay our rent and even when my hubby was made redundant we had the rent covered from our savings until the housing benefit were able to fix our claim.

 

When we moved in the garden looked like a jungle... the landlord openly stated he knew nothing of gardening and so had just left it. We fixed it up and put a load of new plants in.. we removed a dangerous rockery and paid someone to build a wall in its place and put up a gate to keep our children from running on to the road (which we paid for out of our own pockets as we wanted the gate for the children's safety) and we bought all the plants and extra soil, stones etc.

 

When the neighbour complained our fence was leaning and she was worried a particular panel would fall down we replaced it and asked the landlord for a 'donation' to the cost of £50 (the cost was actually in the region of £150) which he never gave us.

 

All of this was fine but then the real problems began. The drains to the property became blocked and the landlord was not answering his phone, Whitegates gave us a "We are not responsible for repairs, the landlord doesn't pay us for that, you'll have to get in touch with him".. which we couldn't.

 

We had sewage backing up onto our driveway and 3 young children and so we had no choice but to call out Dyno Rod. It cost approx £110. This happened twice and we paid twice from our own pocket. The landlord has never refunded our money, as it turns out he has the drains covered by British Gas Homeserve which he neglected to inform us of and consequently he decided that had we left it over the weekend (both times it happened on a friday) he would have got them to come and repair it.

 

Since then things have gone from bad to worse. The guttering at the front is blocked and when it rains pours water onto the front steps below which was particularly dangerous in January when we had all the bad weather problems and a six inch thick layer of ice formed on top of the step.

 

The guttering at the back is blocked and pours water onto the top of the conservatory roof which is now leaking into the house.. there is damage to the patio doors which now will not close properly and the joinings between the conservatory and the house are damp and dangerous and falling down.

 

We have repeatedly asked the landlord to sort out the guttering problem and his reponse was to say he would "borrow a ladder from a mate and go up and have a look" but he didn't turn up and the last time we saw him he asked my husband if he knew anyone with a ladder cos if he did then my husband could go up and clear them!!

 

The last straw came this week. In February we were burgled. They broke in through the conservatory door by breaking the lock..the door wasn't secure and of course the landlord wasn't answering his phone. we had no choice but to arrange a locksmith to come out and fixed the locks and put new safety handles on too in accordance with a request from our contents insurer. This came to a cost of £350 which again we had to pay from our pockets.

 

Today (6 whole weeks after our burglary) we have received a text message from landlord saying he could only get £250 from his buildings insurance.

 

I cannot take anymore. Every time I phone him to ask him to do something he either doesn't call back or he makes excuses. I have paid him £30000 in rent over the last 5 years and he does nothing.

 

I'm at my wits end..but I LOVE this house (even if its falling to pieces) and my children are happily settled with friends on the street and school round the corner.

 

What can I do? Please help me.

[jensav]

Just checked my notes on the things we've fixed..

 

We also have replaced an inner room door because it came off it's hinges whilst it was closed and had to be broken down to open it. We replaced the bathroom floor tiles that were peeling up and broken in places, we also replaced the broken ball cock in the toilet and paid for it fitted and at the time the plumber advised it would need a new pump as it was "on it's way out" but to be honest I just can't afford anymore repairs. The plumber was right, the pump is gone and we are struggling to get the toilet to flush.. the landlord says he's not responsible for this as its "wear and tear" and we should arrange for it to be fixed.

[MrShed]

You can write to him demanding the return of the money in question.

 

You may have difficulty in forcing the issue more than this though, as you had no agreement to perform the work then bill him. Nor did you give him the opportunity to fix (although, please do not misunderstand me, I understand exactly why you didnt).

 

With regards the toilet, that is NOT fair wear and tear, and is his responsibility to fix. Write to him giving him 7 days to fix. If he doesnt advise you will perform the work and deduct the cost from the rent.

 

I would do the same with the guttering - although the guttering is a different issue really, as it COULD be construed as tenants responsibility to keep clear. I would doubt it though.

[jensav]

thank you for your reply

 

With regards to the door locks we didn't really have any choice but to go ahead and fix it as the door was wide open with the handle broken and the lock busted too. We were burgled overnight and it was discovered at 6am, first phonecall was to the police and then the insurance and then the landlord... who didnt answer the phone (I wonder if he's screening me actually..lol), a message was left and he didn't respond and so we called again at lunchtime and left another message and again no response.. we had to get the door fixed. Eventually the landlord phoned us at about 7pm so we actually saved him the call out charge of a 24 hour locksmith.. not that he sees it that way.

[MrShed]

As I say, I fully understand why you did not await his permission to perform some of these works.

 

The issue is that without following due process (i.e. giving him opportunity to perform the work, and informing him that if he doesnt resolve you will have the works performed and deduct from the rent), I cant see you having much luck regarding reclaiming this.

 

You can however do this for the guttering and toilet

[jensav]

I see what you're saying. I find it all so very unfair to be honest though. We're not asking him for anything more than it cost us, we know we can't claim for the other things we've already paid for and we were willing to stand that as a loss.

 

But to give him a bill for a job that needed immediate attention and not his usual useless response and then for him to wriggle out of £100 of it - which is obviously his "excess" for his insurance - just makes my blood boil really.

 

Still, I thank you for your reply again, I'll get to writing that letter and let you know what happens

[MrShed]

Absolutely, and it is unfair.

 

I would be inclined to include in the letter that you consider the lock to be his responsibility so the insurance situation is irrelevant - he needs to reimburse you the full cost.

 

I just dont think you can go any further than that that is all.

[JimmySpangle]

Normally I agree with what you are saying MrShed, but on this one I see it differently.

 

The OP had the property broken into via the door. That is the landlords area as it is structural as in an access to the property. Teh OP tried in vain to contact the LL for urgent repair for security and could not contact them.

 

The fact that they made the effort to get approval first is enough IMHO to demand a full reimbursement for the lock repair. If necssary, through the courts who I am sure would favour the tenant.

[jensav]

The landlord has confirmed today that the reason he's only giving us £250 as opposed to the £350 it cost us is because there is a £100 excess and he doesn't see why he has to pay that.

[JimmySpangle]

Because it is HIS door, not yours! You didn't damage it so why should you pay? When they catch the burglars he can sue them for the rest. until then, he can pay you.

 

When HIS door was damaged by burglars, they broke into his property. it may well be your home, but it is HIS property and the external doors are his responsibility.

 

He may well have been able to get it repaired cheaper, but he didn't answer your calls and you cannot leave your home unsecured. In reality you have done hime a favour by getting it repaired, but it is a repair to his property.

 

You need to let him know politely but firmly that you have taken advise and youi regret that he will have to reimurse you. If he still refuses then you will have to send him a letter before action formerly demanding the money owed within 7 days or you will issue proceedings through county court.

 

I have every confidence he will pay youi with a push.

[MrShed]

Just deduct it from the rent instead of that Jimmy.

[pascha]

you get 1/ hour free with a solicitor. go and tell them everything. i had an arse of a landlord once. the law is more ont eh side if the tenant than the landlord!

 

if you went through an agent, i would assume you have a tenency agreement yes?

[jensav]

yes. however everytime we phone Whitegates we get the same response "The landlord is responsible for repairs", all they did in the first instance was advertise the house on their website 5 years ago and they collect the rent... thats it.

 

To be fair though when we couldn't get hold of the landlord via the mobile number he gave us on the day we were burgled my husband phoned whitegates and they gave us his home telephone number (he didn't answer that either) and they did email him to tell him to contact us urgently so they were of some help albeit not much but still they are unwilling to get involved in matters such as repairs.

 

I don't want to stop his rent or take money out of the rent, I'm not a bad tenant, I don't ask for money for decorating and I'll do most small jobs myself if I can and like I say we are very happy here.. we've made it a lovely family home and to be honest we're pretty shattered that not only have our young children of 2 5yr olds and an 8 yr old been deeply distressed at having an intruder in their house whilst they were sleeping but now they may have to move from the place they've called home all this time too.

 

So I am worried that if I force the issue too strongly he may decide to give us notice to move out too.

 

I'll never understand why people can't just do the right thing by people.

 

Thank you very much for all your replies

[MrShed]

So I am worried that if I force the issue too strongly he may decide to give us notice to move out too.

 

Therein lies the problem.

 

As he doesnt want to pay, there is no way of forcing him to pay that doesnt risk this.

 

therefore you need to weigh up your options, and decide if you do indeed want to force the issue.