Landlord in need of help!

[MR2Phil]

Hi,

 

When I met my now wife, she was living in a two bedroom flat that she'd owned for the previous three years or so...we tried to sell but she'd, unfortunately, bought it at exactly the wrong time...so we let it out. We had one awful set of tenants but, for the past two years, have had the perfect tenant, the sort all landlords want!

 

We've had the odd issue with little things like washing machine breaking down, shower pump giving up etc...these were always sorted as quickly as possible and the tenant has been happy in our flat.

 

The problems now begin though...but not with the tenant. Three months ago, our tenant reported a damp patch on the ceiling above the bathroom...this had also spread into the ceiling above the master bedroom. It had begun to grow black and mouldy. I reported this to the management company who deal with building issues and were told they would sort it. Great.

 

A week later, the tenant texts me again to say that a contractor had been round, had painted over the mould, but that it had come back worse than before. It took many emails back and forth with the management company before they sent another contractor round to look at it. I went to the property as well this time.

 

He looked at it and said "Yeah...must be some of that dodgy piping they got over from the Netherlands in the 80s...it's leaking somewhere else, we definitely stopped the last leak". It was like something out of Only Fools and Horses. I expected Granddad to crash through the ceiling, complete with a large chandelier...but I digress.

 

I took a photo of the now saturated wall which clearly showed water trickling down it. I emailed this off to the management company begging them to sort it.

 

All together, this has been going on for three months. I have no idea where to turn to get this sorted. I have no idea where I stand legally...can I get contractors in myself and bill the management company? Apparently, the insurance company instructed the contractors to do the "bare minimum"...unfortunately, I only have this verbally.

 

My poor tenant has informed me tonight that it's worse than ever...nobody seems to be listening to me at the management company...what can I do to speed this up and put things right?

 

Please help!

[Steve__M]

Do you have any insurance? And does it include legal cover? Either way they might provide advice.

 

My inclination would be to get the lawyers involved. If it is a proper management agency then hopefully a snotty legal letter with threat of costs might encourage action.

 

BTW the "dodgy pipes from the Netherlands" has a ring of truth to me (though I expect it is a common excuse). My friend and I were doing up a house. He is a relatively competent plumber, but was having trouble with a leaky connection despite redoing it a few times. The gas man who was around at the time suggested it was a "dodgy batch of pipes that came into the country a few decades ago", so we changed the pipe and solved the problem.