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Landlord won't carry out repairs
Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 3:15 pm
by oli90
Because she thinks the house isn't tidy enough. It's not particularly bad at all, it's clean, it's not like there's mould and shit growing up the walls, it's alot better than an average student house with four boys in it. Can she even do that?
Re: Landlord won't carry out repairs
Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 3:33 pm
by cityzen
No. Tidiness is irrelevant. She's chancing her arm.
Re: Landlord won't carry out repairs
Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 3:46 pm
by stormtrace
give citizens advice bureau a call mate, or the local council housing department. it's against the law for her not to make repairs speedily as long as you're up to date on rent
good luck!
Re: Landlord won't carry out repairs
Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 3:56 pm
by noam
exactly you're entitled to not pay rent if she doesn't uphold her end of the tenancy agreement and repairing fittings and fixtures in the house is her end of the deal regardless of what you've done with the house.
if she believes you haven't upheld your end of the agreement then she still shouldn't be entitled to not uphold hers, its for a court to decide at a later date.
sounds like she's skint and doesn't want to do the repairs.
last time i had trouble with a landlord (he was trying to charge me extra rent because despite me telling him in advance not to cash my pre-written rent cheques he did nd the cheque bounced) i told him to take me to court about not paying the 'fine' - i also told him i knew he was skint and dodgy and that if he took me to court i'd not only win the case but fuck him over for numerous infractions. his secretary cried and he shut the fuck up, then i left. punks.
Re: Landlord won't carry out repairs
Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 4:02 pm
by lloydnoise
stormtrace wrote:give citizens advice bureau a call mate, or the local council housing department. it's against the law for her not to make repairs speedily as long as you're up to date on rent
good luck!
this, there are so many laws protecting tenants in the UK, far more than protect private landlords. As long as you are up to date with rent you are entitled to repairs to most of the property that isn't cosmetic or decorative. The landlord must also make sure you have working gas, electricity, water etc.. best thing to do is check your tenancy agreement to make sure she hasn't popped in any weird clauses but if it's basic repairs to something that is required for peaceful enjoyment of the property she is breaking the law by refusing
Re: Landlord won't carry out repairs
Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 4:10 pm
by oli90
lloydnoise wrote:stormtrace wrote:give citizens advice bureau a call mate, or the local council housing department. it's against the law for her not to make repairs speedily as long as you're up to date on rent
good luck!
this, there are so many laws protecting tenants in the UK, far more than protect private landlords. As long as you are up to date with rent you are entitled to repairs to most of the property that isn't cosmetic or decorative. The landlord must also make sure you have working gas, electricity, water etc.. best thing to do is check your tenancy agreement to make sure she hasn't popped in any weird clauses but if it's basic repairs to something that is required for peaceful enjoyment of the property she is breaking the law by refusing
The bathroom door wont open again if you close, my house mate was trapped in there for about 35 mins whilst she ignored her phone, when she got back to me she just told me not to close it and contact her when the house is in a "decent state".
Re: Landlord won't carry out repairs
Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 4:32 pm
by lloydnoise
oli90 wrote:lloydnoise wrote:stormtrace wrote:give citizens advice bureau a call mate, or the local council housing department. it's against the law for her not to make repairs speedily as long as you're up to date on rent
good luck!
this, there are so many laws protecting tenants in the UK, far more than protect private landlords. As long as you are up to date with rent you are entitled to repairs to most of the property that isn't cosmetic or decorative. The landlord must also make sure you have working gas, electricity, water etc.. best thing to do is check your tenancy agreement to make sure she hasn't popped in any weird clauses but if it's basic repairs to something that is required for peaceful enjoyment of the property she is breaking the law by refusing
The bathroom door wont open again if you close, my house mate was trapped in there for about 35 mins whilst she ignored her phone, when she got back to me she just told me not to close it and contact her when the house is in a "decent state".
edit** read your post wrong. If the door won't open then you have clear issues with health & safety (massive fire hazard vibes), he must fix it, if he doesn't, don;t pay your rent. Citizen's Advice will probably say the same thing but worth chatting with them, they are pretty damn helpful
Re: Landlord won't carry out repairs
Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 4:37 pm
by oli90
She changed her mind just I was emailing her to tell her she was obliged to get it fixed. Must've realised she was in the wrong
Re: Landlord won't carry out repairs
Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 5:25 pm
by pkay
totally trash the place now
Re: Landlord won't carry out repairs
Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 5:26 pm
by fractal
burn the whole place down, that'll teach her
Re: Landlord won't carry out repairs
Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 5:40 pm
by firky
Your uni probably has a list of good and bad landlords, tell her you're going to inform the uni of her actions and she could go on the bad landlord list. it's got a special name but I can't remember what itis called :\
Re: Landlord won't carry out repairs
Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 9:51 pm
by test_recordings
noam wrote:exactly you're entitled to not pay rent if she doesn't uphold her end of the tenancy agreement and repairing fittings and fixtures in the house is her end of the deal regardless of what you've done with the house.
YOU HAVE TO PAY RENT EVEN IF THE OTHER PARTY IS NOT UPHOLDING THEIR PART I unfortunately found this out myself after one of the houses I lived in got so bad we had to call the council's environmental health team to get them to sort it out, I took legal advise and we were told to keep paying the rent because otherwise it would look bad on us as there's more proof of unpaid rent than someone not doing repairs. If it went to court, and it still might go to court even after 2 years, we'd have to have EVERYTHING covered or they'd fuck us (they did anyway but they're still trying to get more out of us)...
Take legal advise and in the mean time just do as the contract says. Keep records of EVERYTHING sent, said, agreed etc with dates AND times. A good first step is to write a letter (every occupant needs to sign it along with printed names) saying what you want from them in writing within 28 days and send it via recorded mail (keep the receipt) - that way you can definitely prove you tried to sort it with them, if they ignore it goes against them. Landlords and estate agents will try and dick on you in anyway possible if they can, often relying on the fact they know the rules better than you, so if you know the ropes too it makes it hard for them to pull fast (and easy) ones...

Good luck! Tidy the house up though, just make it spotless every time they come round at least