So many problems...

[clemma]

Me and my OH live in shared accommodation with sole use of one large room. We share the kitchen, bathroom and toilet (I only mention this because I think the rules are different). It's a private landlord. There is no tenancy agreement in place and we have no rent book. The OH moved in here before we got together and never bothered asking for them (it was only meant to be very short term, we have now been here for 2 years).

 

Anyway, we have a whole list of problems with the property which are just getting worse. We have applied to the council for a move as I am pregnant and due at the end of July. However, we are not very successful with the bidding so need to improve our chances as I can not bring the baby back here (for reasons which will become clear - other than the lack of space).

 

The property we are in has the following problems:

 

Rotten, wooden, single glazed windows that do not close properly throughout the property (except the shower room, which has no window or ventilation).

No heating in any room - we have bought an oil heater for our room though.

No running hot water other than the shower i.e kitchen and bathroom sink have cold water only.

Damp on our ceiling caused by the shower room above.

Water runs through the ceiling and on to our bed every time some one uses the shower. (Landlord aware but will not fix as he knows we will be moving within next few weeks, as soon as we get offered a property).

No smoke alarms, fire extinguishers/blankets, no fire escape route or fire doors.

Plaster falling off wall in chunks in our room

We only have use of half a shelf in a kitchen cupboard and one shelf in the fridge. No freezer space.

 

There are probably more issues, but I can't think of any at the moment. Should we bother contacting someone at the council as the property is in such disrepair that even if nothing is done while we are here, I would hate for any other tenant to have to put up with it! Also, I know it's cheeky, but if the environmental health state it's unfit for habitation, then we go up in priority on the council housing list.

 

I am really upset and anxious about all of this - more so now water has started coming through our ceiling. Has any one any advice?

[rebel11]

Hi clemm

 

Theres quite a bit of info here:- http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/renting_and_leasehold

[Ed999]

My comments apply only if the premises are entirely within England and Wales, and only if you were over 18 years of age when the contract began.

 

This posting is supplemental to the information in this forum's "sticky" threads and is NOT to be read in isolation.

 

Bear in mind that you can be evicted from the premises by simply being given not more than 2 months notice, in writing (expiring on the last day of a rent period). No reason has to be given.

 

 

Oral Tenancy Valid

 

There is no legal requirement for a tenancy agreement to be in writing.

 

A verbal agreement is perfectly legal, if the letting is a weekly or monthly tenancy (in fact, for a tenancy granted for any period not exceeding 3 years), if you making it legally binding by moving in and paying rent. Although there is always a difficulty in proving the terms of the letting if it is verbal, the agreement is still valid: but it is then your word against the landlord's as to what the terms of the letting are.

 

However, as you are sharing you probably don't have a tenancy.

 

 

Sharing with other Tenants

 

The distinction between a tenancy and a mere licence is whether you, the occupier, are granted exclusive occupation of a seperate dwelling. An essential element of a tenancy is that the premises form a seperate dwelling, e.g. are self-contained.

 

The leading case of Street v Mountford, decided by the House of Lords in 1985, established that a residential tenancy can only exist if the occupier is granted exclusive possession (i.e. exclusive occupation) of a seperate dwelling. I recommend that link to you, with its illustrations of how the test works in practice.

 

In every case it is a question of fact: the court which tries the case has to decide, on the actual facts of the case, whether or not exclusive possession of a dwelling was granted.

 

 

Where the accommodation or facilities in a single dwelling are actually shared with other people, there might not be a tenancy.

 

If any facilities are shared with others, or with the landlord, then you mightl not have a tenancy, but are merely a lodger (known legally as a 'licensee'). So where other people live in the same building, you have to prove you are not sharing a single dwelling with them (i.e. you have to prove that each has a seperate dwelling within that building, such as a self-contained flat); otherwise you are just a lodger.

 

See, for example, Types of Tenancy.

 

 

Go onto the website of the housing charity, Shelter. It can help you work out whether you have a tenancy or only a licence -

 

Shelter's tenancy checker

 

 

There has been much to-ing and fro-ing as to what amounts to sharing. If the entire property is let by a single agreement, a detatched house, a semi-detached house, a terraced house, even a flat, will be a seperate dwelling. But where more than one agreement is created, for different parts of the house or flat, those parts are seperate only if they are self-contained; not if there is - for example - a shared kitchen and bathroom.

 

Only sole occupation can create a tenancy. Where there is actual sharing of facilities, under two or more agreements, there is no tenancy.

 

If any dwelling is part-let to person A, and part-let under a seperate agreement to person B, that is sharing of occupation, not exclusive occupation, and a tenancy will not exist. The legal effect of sharing a dwelling is that it creates a licence, not a tenancy.

 

But if the court finds on the facts that there is only a single contract agreement, the occupier will inevitably have exclusive occupation, and hence a tenancy.

 

 

Disrepair

 

The landowner has certain statutory repairing obligations if he is a landlord. These obligations are explained at -

 

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

 

But he does not have those duties if there is no tenancy.

Edited June 18, 2011 by Ed999

[Snorkerz]

Can you clarify how many other let rooms there ae in your property? Does the landlord live in the same building?

 

Although I will give further advice based on your answers to the above, it appears to me that your best bet would be to find alternative accommodation - you have a baby on the way so I assume you had planned for the extra housing costs that would be incurred? You now ned a 2 bedroom flat.

 

To give notice to your current landlord, you need to give at least one months notice with a leaving date being the last day of a tenancy period. Tenancy periods ran monthly from when OH moved in (if rent is paid monthly) so if he moved in on 24/1/2010 then his tenancy periods will be 24th of the month to the 23rd of the next. If OH can't remember when he moved in, you can perhaps make an assumption that the rent day is the FIRST day of the tenancy period, so the day before is the last.

 

Unless rent is due weekly, a rent book is not required

A written tenancy agreement is also not obligatory in your situation.