Landlord issues, many of them

[baconbuttyman]

Our land lord lives on the premises, he is joint land lord with his brother who lives in Australia, The one here, is in massive debt, we are talking £50,000, he uses our front door to his granny flat but we have the run of the rest of the house, we are and have been happy for the past 12 years here, we pay minimal rent while basically keeping the house in sort of repair, we dont have the funds to keep the property as it should, we have just fitted a new kitchen and bathroom at OUR expense, along with many other repairs etc.

He has been going down under to visit his brother several times over the past two year or so, I have even asked him if he was thinking of emigrating, he said no, which was obviously a lie, he told my wife yesterday he was moving to Australia on 5th Nov this year, this has come as a bit of a blow as we have lived her for 12 years, how can he just drop all his debt and emigrate....????????????????

we are talking £30-£40,000 on credit cards, which include 2 charges against the property, and about £4500 in water rates, couciil tax coming out of his ears, i mean mega debt (we have checked with the council that we are not libel for the CT arrears)

he said we can still rent but we know his brother will hike the rent up to market value, but he wont do the repairs that need doing, we may have an option of buying the property, due to repair of the house that would valued at £100,000, but how would the debts that he has at the property and charges on the house if we buy it.

But we think he is lying to appease us, to keep us on the good side and he will still go for good, we know the process of moving and getting accepted takes about 2 years for the application, he says it's all accepted and sorted

 

Now, if he drops us in it which we know he will, is there any way we could put a spanner in the works for him regarding his emigration, if nothing else but to bide us time

[Surfer01]

If you buy the house, the charges will be paid off first before the LL gets any money as they cannot be transferred. Other debts against teh property are of no consequence as only the charges are valid.

[baconbuttyman]

Our landlord's live in Australia, the property is owned by two brothers, one who lived in Australia already and the other lived with us in a granny flat , tbh he lived like a pig, but that didnt affect our area, he has since moved to Australia with his brother, we had the rest of the house, how ever, he left massive debts and the place in massive disrepair.

 

Now they have a letting Agent involved and work is slowly being done to the property, Recently the house was rewired, but the electricians have left it in a right mess and we have been told it's our responsibility to put this work right by redecorating by our Agent and landlord

Where the sparky had to channel out the walls, it was filled with green expanding foam. Now i was under the impression that any repairs a landlord makes in regards to this sort of thing, he has to put it right afterwards, that includes the decor if the work he has had done has damaged it

you will see on the pics wht i mean with the expanding foam to fill the chanels up, this is all over the house in every room, why should we have to put right the work he has carried out

any advice would be appreciated

[mariner51]

So you expect LL to undertake major int redecoration during T at considerable disruption to your quiet enjoyment?

Most current rewires use surface cabling and surface plastic conduits where internal cables cannot be pulled through.

IMO LL is resp for remedial redecoration following property fabric repairs.

I would suuest inviting LL to modify any move in report to reflect current condition.

[f16]

When the electrician finished he should have carried out a test and left you a copy.

In addition the local authority also has to be notified.

I've never heard of using expanding foam on wiring chases

[king12345]

Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!

Expanding foam to cover chased walls!?!?

Why did he not fill the walls with one coat plaster?

It would have been easier, faster, less messy and ready to paint next day.

Crazy!

[baconbuttyman]

The rewire was embedded in the walls, destroyed our decor in the process, the spark did get it all tested with cert in place for legalities,

Its like they are now putting new floors in and are telling us we have to pay for the carpeys we paid for to be re fitted

[rebel11]

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/repairs_and_bad_conditions/repairs_in_private_lets

[mariner51]

Dedicated sparky to even sink wiring into wall, most re-wire using surface trunking as required.

Was there a safety issue/improvement Notice requiring re-wire?

Is property a HMO?

How long have you been in occupation?

When does your fixed term end?

When was property last decorated internally?

[raydetinu]

Any rewire is subject to building regulation approval or be undertaken by a certified electrical contractor, who is registered and self certifying.

The sign off check certificate should with the agent, ( you should have been given a copy )

Check with local council and also check that the contractor undertaking the rewire was suitably qualified.

The LL is certainly responsible for making good any decoration and you should be compensated for the disruption/inconvenience.

Send letter to LA and LL asking for details etc.

If not carried out correctly your lives could be at risk!!!

[JoeyJoeC]

Surely using the foam would be a fire hazard? Especially around the electrics!

[Mr.P]

Surely using the foam would be a fire hazard? Especially around the electrics!

 

Not necessarily. However, using it to fill in chasings and holes in plasterwork is nothing more than a bodge-job and makes one question the electrical work. Polyurethane foam is not a suitable substrate for papering over or painting.

 

If a contractor had done this in my home, he would have been forcibly ejected and payment reduced to cover the cost of a plaster.

[f16]

There is also another point.

 

If the foam is in contact with the cables, you could end up with polymer migration.

This "breaks down" the insulation on the cable and can cause big problems.

[mariner51]

Any sub-surface electric cabling should be protected by continuous subsurface uPVC or metal strip before embedding, to provide some resistance to later .power drill holes.

Was the re-wire orig planned for T void and delayed?

Who required re wire? Council, LL or serious electrical fault/NICEEC inspection?

How long has OP been in residence?

Still trying to decide if OP means rewire damaged LL wallpaper or wallpaper hung by T?

[f16]

Agree with post # 12.

 

"Should be protected by"..... But was it ?????

[baconbuttyman]

Can our landlord do these things

 

Hi Guys

Apologies in advance, this is a complicated one

 

We have lived in a rented property for nearly 14 years, The property is owned by 2 brothers, one in Australia and the other in a granny flat (which had its own large ensuite attached to the back of the flat) attached to the our home but used the same front door as us, I know that this was not a standard tenancy but that was fine at the time

 

 

We only had a tenancy agreement in the name of the LL in Australia and he claimed to be the sole LL, His brother who lived in was not the LL , we now are aware that BOTH owners are actually classed as the LL in the eyes of the law, but we are also now aware that our old agreement was not a true short hold tenancy as one of the house owners was living on the same premises as us with the same front door.

 

 

Over the years, the LL that lived here neglect his home and the house has gone into some disrepair, Gutters, GSH, old fuse box, leaking roof, damp (not severe) failed flat roof, failed renderin g on the extension and the list goes on, BUT we were paying next to no rent as per our agreement so we were ok with that. £500 pm including all bills, but they never paid the bills so we had to ajust the rent and WE paid the bills, this arrangement went on for about 9 years. Up until nov 2013.

 

 

I did as many repairs as I could, I fitted new kitchen, bathroom toilet etc, we Never had any safety certs, ever.

 

 

Why did we stay you ask, well, it was our home, we were happy there, kids settled in school etc, His mess never impacted on us, we put air fresheners on his door, and it was ok. It really was, he lived in filth n squalor and we kept/keep a clean home

 

 

We did email the LL in Australia and told him about his brother state, he said, don’t bother me with it, sort it out with him.

 

 

However, the LL who lived here fell into some sort of depression over the years, failing to look after himself by cleaning his flat and his flat began to crawl with maggots on the floor and after a while his ensuite toilet became unusable due to the faeces all over it and we suspected he used the shower for no’2 ugh, I even went in and put strong toilet cleaner in it to remove the smell but I wasn’t prepared to clean it for him, this was a grown man In his 40’s who went to and from work every day!!, He never used our facilities which were very separate from his, we tried to encourage him from many angles to sort himself out, but to no avail, he finally cleaned it up to a degree when he left,

 

 

Any way as of November 2013 last year, The LL that lived here with us in the building, upped and moved to Australia with his brother.

 

 

BEFORE he moved to Australia, the other LL (who owns another rental property) asked is letting agent to “POP” round to see us about paying rent etc. we knew that the rental agreements would change and that rent would go up as we would then become proper tenants with rights.

 

 

When the agent came round, she wanted to look around to assess the rental price, she was gob smacked at the state of disrepair, we were use to it, she wasn’t, especially after seeing the LL’s other property and how nice that is, We took her in to the live in LL room, she was horrified, we made her go into the bathroom, she had to wash her hands twice when she came out due to her own disgust.

 

 

In an email to the LL in Australia, her exact word about us were “Those poor people”. But we were use to the house.

 

 

So over the next few months we hammered out a deal and agreement, the LL struck up a schedule of repairs, to which all repairs should be finished by the end of the first 6 months of tenancy, we have a 2 year agreement and our rent is £600 pm and we pay the bills, which is standard and fair as we have the house and it was soon to be renovated. Happy days. We signed the tenancy on the understanding that the Schedule was adhered to.

 

 

Before the tenancy started, they rewired, put in new GSH plus we got him a free boiler, this allowed relevant safety certs to be issued, alls well at this point, Tennancy agreement was signed on 20th January 14.

In Feb the front and back room was partly re boarded due to woodworm

 

 

The schedule of repairs time has now come and gone, very little has been done apart from the guttering. We have asked the agent and the LL to carry on with the repairs as agreed, to which we have been met with nastiness especially from the Agent, we have been constantly made to stay in for workmen who never turn up due to another job coming in.

 

 

Also, when the electrician dug out all the channels for the new wiring/sockets, they filled the gap with green expanding foam, leaving our decoration in a right mess on every wall, we assumed the LL would make this good, nope, he now says it’s for us to redecorate the walls, er no, you made a mess you need to sort it out.

In our out house, we have two windows and a glass aluminium back door, Our back neighbours garage is about 3 foot away from our back door so this lets in little light, this is where we have out freezer, washing machine and dryer, the roof is a flat one, the waterproofing has failed and it leaks in, The LL was fully aware of this and was part of his schedule of repairs. We cannot use the electric light in the OH due to the leak.

 

 

The leaking roof was to be sorted with in 6 months of the start of our tenancy according to the schedule of repairs

 

 

In this out house, one window was falling out and the other has a rotten frame,

 

 

The window that was falling out was boarded up permanently. Reducing the light in the room.

 

 

On 10th August, the floor was wet in the OH due to leaking in, the door to the outhouse from our kitchen has a step down in the the OH and the leak is now up to there, due to the flashing on the flat roof failing also. I slipped off the step in to the actual OH and broke my ankle in two places. Remember that I can’t use the light in there and this issue was to be sorted within the first 6 month of the tenancy

 

 

This issue is currently with my solicitor. So no more on that subject

 

 

However, we have asked the LL to repair the window frame that is rotten, to be sorted, The LL in his infinite wisdom has now said that he will get some one to board that window up permanently, he does not see the darkness of the room as a safety issue in his own words. This would leave the OH is greater darkness.

Also has said that we have to stop using the out house and that is is only to be used as a fire escape, my question is this, can he decommission rooms willy nilly, and simply board up windows permanently.

 

 

We are in a position now where we are being made out to be bad tenants, when we are not, we have been told by the agent, you have only got 17 months left, thank god, also the LL just said in an email that we are free to leave when ever we like, now that just makes us dig our heals in, we pay our rent each month on time every time.

 

 

Can we affect the repairs our self and take it out of the rent????

 

 

I don’t think the LL realized how bad the other LL let the property go and I don’t think tbh he can really afford the repairs, It seems to be that he is taking things away that needs to be repairer, de commissioning rooms cos he has not stuck to the schedule, the granny flat was cleaned out and sterilized by me so my daughter could use it, we did not renovate the granny flats ensuite as the LL said this would be done in his schedule of repairs within 3 months, that is way out of date now.

 

 

We know he had to take a loan out for the rewire and GSH fitting Cos he told us, he is using our rent to affect repairs, his words again, but we now think when the repairs are complete we will be evicted after our term which is a stab in the back tbh.

Edited September 6, 2014 by citizenB
spacing to making reading easier

[citizenB]

Ouch, I will put some spacing in your post above to make reading easier, but can you please ensure that you do this yourself if you post again

[baconbuttyman]

yeah sorry, i forgot, was done in word originally

[raydetinu]

This may help;

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

[baconbuttyman]

Please bear with us, this is in depth.

We have rented our home for nearly 16 years, we have always paid our rend on time every time, we have made improvements to the property, we are currently up to date with rent and all other bills.

 

Our home is owned by two brothers and their mother who died in 1998 according to the land registry.

 

long story very short,

up until Nov 2015, one our landlords lived on the premises, although the tenancy agreement was in the other brothers name who lives abroad.

 

 

The LL who lived on the premises had his own granny flat although used same cooking facilities and front door as we did. He moved abroad to join his brother in Nov 2013.

 

The property fell into disrepair and the LL never did any repair work, it was left to me to sort out, although i only did what i could

 

Through out all that time from when we moved in we never had any gas safety certificates or EPC.

 

They got an agent on board who was shocked at the state of the property and the fact they had no legals (her words) in place.

 

The LL devised a schedule of repairs which if completed would have given us a lovely home to live in.

 

We signed a new tenancy on the proviso that these repair would be completed with in 6 months after that date (mid January 2014), by which time they had updated the wiring and the central heating system. We had signed a 2 year tenancy.

 

they replaced a floor in one of the rooms due to wood worm and thats all they did, for 13 months.

 

We have an outhouse attached to the kitchen, which at the time of signing the TA was in very poor repair,

flat roof had failed and leaking in the property,

outer rendering was disintegrated and failing,

the brick under neath was crumbling,

This was supposed to have been done and refurbed by April 2014.

 

Over the months between April and August 2014, we were asking for the repairs to be picked up and completed as agreed,

 

 

to which we were stone walled and met with utter disrespect from the agent,

we were constantly let down and stood up by her workmen,

 

 

we waited in many times for this person or that person etc, who just didnt turn up, as we are self employed this was eating into our work time.

 

The agent actually sent my wife a text saying that if were were not happy with the work men, they would stop sending any round, also she said, thank god you only have 17 months left on the tenancy.

 

In the August 2014, i broke my ankle in two places due to the wet flooring in the out house (currently in courts) due to the leaky roof.

 

The landlord then sent us an email stating we had 4 days to pack up and get out,

the reason was that he said he couldnt get any insurance on the property due to the disrepair,

 

 

we said no, we wouldnt just up and leave like that as we know it was an illegal request , we wanted to stay as was our right to do so.

 

by the time to leave came and went, we got another email stating crisis over, new insurer found, we also found out that as he owns the property out right, there is no legal requirement for him to have insurance.

 

The agent began to ignore our requests for repair, it took her 5 weeks to get a leak fixed.

 

i smoothed things over in an effort to improve relations,

still no improvements were done,

out house remained in poor state,

so did most of the building,

 

 

when they rewired in Dec 2013, the electrician channeled out the walls then filled the gaps with expanding foam, the LL would not repair the damage to the wall paper, the have left it like that ever since.

 

A pain of glass fell out of the window in the out house, the LL arranged for it to be sorted, not by replacing the glass, but by permanently boarding it up, which took away the light in there, he also removed the electric from the same out house too

 

We took it upon our selves to re decorate the up stairs bedrooms in 2015 and asked them to pay for it, reluctantly they agreed.

 

no further repair under taken that year,

we signed a new tenancy in January 2016,

the agent would not give us time to look at the agreement,

she insisted it was signed there n then the rent was upped by £50 pcm too.

This time a 6 month tenancy??!!!!

 

we sent them an updated repairs list,

to which the agent spat her dummy out and went mad at,

we simply said it was our duty to do this as responsible tenants.

 

by this time we were well miffed at being strung along all the time,

in the march a new schedule of repair was set out, as of yet nothing has been done on this schedule, yet in July they issued us with a none fault section 21.

 

Over the whole period of the past 30 months, the agent ahs repeatedly sprung visits on us,

made arrangements for this n that person to visit and assess, with out the statutory 24 hours notice,

 

 

up until March this year she was not registered with any redress scheme,

She has put unfair ts & Cs in our TA,

 

can her behavior be classed as harassment at all

[dx100uk]

several threads for complete history merged

 

 

dx

[BazzaS]

What outcome do you want?.

If they haven't yet brought the property up to a reasonable standard, do you think they ever will?.

Should you have been thinking of renting a property that the LL keeps in good repair, even before the s21 notice?

[mariner51]

When did you move in originally?

Do you have an AST or AT?

With disrepair over several years, why did you not report LL to EHO/TRO?

You suggest you even agreed to new AST during this period. Why?

Why has LL/LA not tried to lawfully evict you yet?

Suggests to me you are reasonably content with your living conditions and just trying to keep LL on wrong foot, otherwise you would just give due Notice.

[baconbuttyman]

We have applied for a mortgage so we are looking to get out, why should we move because our LL wont do the repairs, this is our home and has been for a long time, we kept being promised the repairs

[baconbuttyman]

When did you move in originally?

Do you have an AST or AT?

With disrepair over several years, why did you not report LL to EHO/TRO?

You suggest you even agreed to new AST during this period. Why?

Why has LL/LA not tried to lawfully evict you yet?

Suggests to me you are reasonably content with your living conditions and just trying to keep LL on wrong foot, otherwise you would just give due Notice.

 

January 2001, AST, which is now a rolling tenancy, we reported the place to the local authority several times and tbh, they were useless.

We believed the LL & LA when they said they would bring up the standards of the property.

They have issues us with a S21 with error which i wont go into.

NO we are not content with it, we have lived here for a long time, we have paid our rent on time every time so we deserve a nice house to live in, we believed their promises, trying to keep the LL on the wrong foot, seriously, how does that work lol, again, rent on time every time. we have fitted a kitchen, bathroom, made repairs to garage roof etc, we are bloody good tenants, the LL and LA are a disgrace