Advice on 2 landlord problems needed

[abz123nul]

Hi, bascially 2 problems. Will be as brief as possible. On 24th september 07 i moved into student accomodation. First time student, first kid of my parents to go to uni so a bit naive as to what goes on. Didn't have any info on the house i was allocated until the day. Met landlord and other housemates that day, gave a cheque for £125, other guys gave different amounts. House was ok, bit shoddy but live-able. Had a couple of problems, got sorted out very briefly. Never saw or signed a contract or inventory & was never told how was protected. Only after I moved out june 08 did i realise about protection schemes. As of now, only been fobbed off by landlord, letting agent and various other uni help/advice centres. Never replied to my letters demanding deposit back or explaination. He says everyone paid up and was damage but i know I was paid up and cleaned up the house before i left. I dont buy that anyway as we never signed a contract so it wouldnt count. Not sure where I stand and what to do next. Next problem, 3rd august i move into different placed. They wanted cheques up front, paid within 6 months, no deposit just agency fee. 2 weeks after moving in had persistantly bad mould all over ruinign my things, rotten floorboards, whole house needed rewiring wires were crumbling, gas wasnt safe, boiler doesnt work properly, plumbing is terrible lots of blockages & leaks, multiple occasions people have left themselves in whilst i have been in shower and also when i was in bed! wanted to leave before contract was up as not happy that house is fit to live in, they wouldnt let us. now i owe £350 but do not want to pay just want to leave to a better place. terrible service, people dont know what they are doing, workers even say they'll never sort problems as they dont want to lose money. just wondering where i stand and what i can do. thanks, any replies will be very much appreciated.

[Kentish Lass]

I think you should contact your local council. Two queries here - is this an HMO (i.e. a house of multiple ocupation). There are very strict laws governing such property if it is. You should also contact the environmental health department of your local council as it sounds as if this place is unfit to live in! They have the teeth to make landlords sort stuff out - and to condemn the property if appropriate which would let you out of your contract!

 

Sounds as if loads of laws being broken here. Gas safety certificate is one - if there isn't one (and you should have sight of a copy) could be a jail sentence for the landlord! Deposit should be protected and you given details of which of the 3 government schemes applies. You can check this yourself by contacting the 3 schemes. Just put in deposit protection into google and all the info you need will appear.

 

You could just not pay the rent and they will evict you (except that if they haven't protected the deposit, they can't issue the correct notice to do so....) - also could be bad for you when asked for references. Might be worth having a chat to the local Shelter, although they are pretty busy - but may be able to give you some advice.

[abz123nul]

Hi. Thanks for replying. The part about the gas safety certificate was quite helpful, as i have never seen one and where electrical goods have been tested and they leave a sticker, it was dated 08-09. I am getting in touch with environmental health as we speak. Now they are saying they are going to take me to court as I supposedly owe £900, when I only owe more like £100!

[abz123nul]

Just an update. Last week i received a visit from one of the letting agents who i'd never seen before. He came round at 6pm on a Sunday out of the blue. Asking when they'd get paid I said when they sorted out the mould and other problems around the house. He came in and said 'yeah we can sort that out, just a little bit of plastering'. He seemed to think it was a simple job but anyway, some builders came around the next day and they were shocked by the state of the living room. Every other word that came out of the guys mouth was 'jesus christ!' because the paper and wood were just peeling off and it stank to high heaven. It was obvious that the problem was bigger than the letting agent thought. I overheard the builders talking to this guy and he just wanted to botch it up but the builders refused. They said they had to pull up half the living room floor, then they said all of it. Then they said the kitchen too. Then they changed their minds again as they said they would re-house us to a really nice place, the letting agent didn't even tell me to my face, the builder did. Then they changed their minds again and moved us two doors down while the do the living room and kitchen floor. Turns out that some weeds dug their roots into the brick and water was just running inside the house. The wood was soaking and rotten, it seemed the house was built on mud, and there was some concrete around the fire that was absorbing the water. At least the builders are fixing it now, but our tenancy expires at the beginning of august so it wont benefit us. After all this hassle, this letting agent keeps coming round bugging me about the rent, the truth is I don't have all the money as my student loan ran out. They also kept changing their minds about how much I owed and my partner (who owes nothing). All the advice I getting is not to pay them, in my eyes they broke their contract as the house was unfit to live in. Builders told us we could have easily fell through the floor! They will take me to court if i don't pay but they are so unreasonable, either they knock of £50 or they want us to leave now and they'll forget about the money (knowing full well we have nowhere to go). The are unwilling to waiver the money even though the house was unfit to live in, we endured lots off hassle, letting themselves in without notice, no gas of energy certificate and lots more. Does anyone know what I should/could do, I don't really want to go to court but I can't and won't pay them.