disrepair in rented house.

[purple-em]

Hello every one, hope someone can help us! Moved into house end of march last year with partner, 6 yr old and 2 week old baby. First had problems with water coming in due to state of roof within the first week, moved in yo find damp and mould on walls in both kids rooms. Informed agent of this, 4 weeks later no response so took advice from Housing Renewal Officer who wrote to them saying must fix it. Builder turns up, unbeknownst to us at the time just went on roof, put some silicone in the holes. Anyway, summer comes, dry weather, no problems. By september all manner of problems with water coming in, saw builder end of november with a list of problems, both he and I signed and dated it,said work would start soon. In between all this were calls to the estate informing them of the problems. Rarely did we receive a call back. Mid december bathroom ceiling taken down due to rotten roof joists. Concrete tiles from roof fell through into bathroom about week later, again informed agent, nothing done. Builder eventually came back beginning of feb, took all roof tiles off, replaced most of the felt so had felt and batten since then, no tiles, builder only been back 3 days since, agent not interested, mould getting considerably worse, last weekend we were on roof pulling felt back over roof as had come detached in wind. Now have been given our notice despite having only taken this on as it was meant to be a long let! Also had to spend 3 weeks turning gas off at the mains outside house, despite calls to agent took this long to get someone in. There is more but I have rambled long enough, any advice would be appreciated!

 

Also we are awaiting visit from Housing Renewal Officer next week as surely we cannot be left with an inadequate roof, broken gutters. Just wanted the roof done, not to lose tenancy! makes my blood boil.

[rebel11]

Hi purple

 

Welcome to CAG

The guys will advise as soon as they are available. In the meantime heres some info :- http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/repairs_and_bad_conditions

Thread moved.

[purple-em]

Hello everyone again. As an update to my earlier post this is where we are now...........Housing Renewal Officer came, was here a long time, lots needs doing in the house. We know this as last week an electrician came unexpectedly to fix a wall socket and left the HRO's report here, 32 separate breaches! I wrote an official letter of complaint to the letting agent last week,( not mentioning a thing about the report as not sure if we should have seen it.) I received a reply yesterday accusing us of blackmail! The letter the letting agent wrote ended like this - " It would appear from the last paragraph that you are trying to blackmail us and the LL into withdrawing the Notice of Possession."

My last paragraph that they refer to reads like this-" We feel that LL and yourselves should complete the repairs and reinstate our tenency. However, as you are aware we have already contacted our local MP and will have no hesitation in taking the matter further if no amicable agreement can be agreed." Our letter had also referred to a list (with photos) of belongings we had to get rid of due to the mould upstairs, they have not responded to any of the issues I have raised except to say that everything was done as quickly as possible! Still a year on, we are waiting for the flashing to be fixed, house is soaked! Surely it is dangerous ground to be chucking accusations of blackmail around? Obviously blackmail was never my intention. I would be grateful for any help and advice, thanks.

[Aviva]

They know they are in the wrong so are trying to scare you. You were simply stating the fact that if they don't remedy the situation you will have to take further steps. If you haven't done so already you should get some legal advice about whether you can make a claim against the landlord for compensation.

 

But if I were you I would look for somewhere else. The agent and the landlord have shown they don't care about the property or carrying out their obligations. I think you will continue to have problems with them.

[raydetinu]

Dont forget to check Depsit protection situation, as you are leaving.

[purple-em]

Thanks, we are going back to the Law Centre tomorrow, and viewing a new house midweek! Hopefully they can advise on the wording of my next letter,absolutely prepared to keep up the battle with the agent.

[purple-em]

And also, one more question, I haven't yet signed and returned our part of the notice of possession, merely an oversight more than anything else, are there any legal implications if I don't sign it?

[raydetinu]

If the deposit is not protected they cannot ask you leave under a section 21 order! If rent up to date, suggest you dont pay anymore as you are moving anyway.

I think you have a good defence that the property is poorly maintained and would be justified in leaving.

[Ed999]

Please read the FAQ concerning disrepair in private rented accomodation -

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?74057-Disrepairs-in-privately-rented-accommodation

 

 

It is not a legal requirement for you to sign the section 21 notice, nor the county court summons / claim form. But you MUST complete and return the court's Defence form, if you are defending the eviction or need time to find new accommodation.

 

Until you are certain of obtaining new accommodation, you must be careful not to leave yourself homeless: an eviction notice will be with you very quickly under a section 21 eviction, once the two months notice has elapsed, and you may then find that you have to be out within 28 days.

 

If you paid a rent deposit to the landlord or his agent at the start of the tenancy, you probably won't get it back; so if the landlord is holding the equivalent of one month's rent your best tactic is to not pay the final month's rent, i.e. to let him take it out of the deposit.

Edited April 7, 2011 by Ed999

[purple-em]

Hello again, quick update, we have moved out, hooray! Also been to Law Centre for advice, told us to go straight to ombudsman, says we have strong case. Lets see what the letting agent will throw at us this time, they are already disputing lots of the health and safety report, saying they believe we are responsible for alot of the breaches, although they have stopped short of telling us what they are..........Am more than ready to take them on, Law Centre said be prepared for more scare tactics, but only because they know they are in the wrong. Thanks to eveyone for the advice, sometimes nice just to know you are doing the right thing.No doubt will be back soon for more help!

[purple-em]

Hello again, a quick question, we paid the estate agent our deposit in cash, This was put into the TDS scheme, but they have recently sent us a cheque for the deposit minus a small amount for damage to a step. However, there is no mention of this dispute on the TDS website, so, do they have to raise a dispute through them or is just sending a letter to us ok? We can categorically prove that the damage was down to shoddy work ( paving slab laid over an empty hole), not the quad bike being taken up the steps, it is far too wide and didn't fit. What should we do? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Steve__M]

I think it is up to you to raise a dispute with TDS if you can't resolve it with agent. TDS is an insurance scheme where agent or landlord holds the money. They don't have to do anything to make a deduction. You are the one who has to do something to raise a dispute.

[sir_gilmour]

Hi

Welcome to The Consumer Action Group.

 

 

I am just letting you know that as you haven't had any replies to your post yet, it might be better if you post your message again in an appropriate sub-forum. You will get lots of help there.

 

Also take some time to read around the forum and get used to the layout. It is a big forum and takes a lot of getting used to.

 

 

Once you start to find your way, you will soon realise that it is fairly easy to get round and to get the help you need.

 

It can be bit confusing at first.