Landlord is unhappy with decor

[Dogsey]

Hi all,

 

I had an unscheduled visit from my Landlord on Tuesday. The agency rang me at work to tell me an hour before and when I said "I'm at work" they said "No problem, he has his own keys he'll let himself in and measure the windows for replacement.". I had never met the man in the 6 years I have rented this house, and I didn't want people I don't know walking around my home unsupervised. I have expensive guitars and cameras etc... in the property and simply don't want unknown people walking around.

This was because in October, I asked the agent if they would replace the gas fire that blew up (yes, blew up!) 2 years ago as it's becoming winter and I can't spend another winter in freezing conditions living in the house.

The hole where the fire was is now a sheet of tin. It makes the place look like a hovel.

The windows are single pane and wooded. They are also rotten and quite honestly they may as well not be there when it's windy.

When he arrived (with three others - two to measure the windows and one to observe it seems) he noticed that the sink drain was blocked. I reported this to the agent in October and she said that it was my responsibility. I bought some drain rods and attempted to unblock it - to no avail. I then had a professional firm come and have a look and they said that in their opinion the drain had collapsed - thankfully, they didn't charge me for this. I mentioned this to the Landlord when he visited but he dismissed their diagnosis.

I have now received a letter from the agent telling me that he is dissatisfied (extremely, apparently) with the condition of the property inside and out. I had just finished decorating the living room and still had a room full of most of the furniture etc...

In that room the ceiling looks like it's about to collapse where water came through from the bathroom a few years ago. He send a 'friend' of his round to fix the leak - it still leaked afterwards, so he came round again and retiled 'some' of the bathroom - with different colour tiles and a really bad job. This seemed to fix it a little. However, they have never addressed the state of the ceiling underneath. I am loath to spend money decorating that room as it would simply be a waste of time with the ceiling looking like that. I can't use the room when it's in that state for fear of the plaster falling in.

He's given me three months to put the property in a decent state, and he has stated that he will not be spending any money on new windows until he is satisfied that the property is being maintained.

There is also a trellis in the back garden and it has hops growing on it - they are now overgrown. Last month I went to cut them back and found that the trellis is rotten and I didn't trust it to hold my weight when cutting the plants back and as such I have left it. I mentioned this to the agent when she visited in October.

I'm not quite sure what he means by maintaining the property. It is clean and usually tidy - it wasn't when he visited as not only did I have no notice, I am still in the proceeds of decorating and so had sheets and buckets etc... around the place.

The kitchen and bathroom are both nearly 40 years old and the carpets are fraying.

Surely he can't expect me to spend money decorating the whole place when the fixtures are in such bad repair?

Even after I had finished decorating the living room it still looks dated and tatty - due to the fraying carpet and gaping hole covered by a sheet of tin.

Short of moving out, what response shall I give to their letter?

[Dogsey]

As an aside, I moved into the property knowing the condition of it; I had just sold my house and needed to move fast. I took photographs of every square inch of this property before I moved in. When browsing these photos last night it is apparent that the property is in a better state now than it was when I moved in 6 years ago, due to periodic decorating and upkeep by myself.

[raydetinu]

This may help:

http://england.shelter.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/23392/ShelterGuide_GettingRepairsDone.pdf