UK: what are my rights as a private tenant?

Question

When we moved into our house a year ago my landlord promised to do a lot of work on the house and gardens, it was never put in writing but its still not been done.

The following are the problems, please state a reaosn for each i.e. if they have to sort it, can i refuse to pay rent?

1. Dampness - Leakage from roof has been sorted but do they have the clear the mould and re-decorate, considering we paid to decorate and its now been wrecked??

2. Drop the curbs - they put a drive in but they have never dropped the curbs and we are worrying aout our tracking on the car

3. Windwow with vent in utility room to stop damp from tumble dryer

4. Electric shower unit doesnt work, need a new one (we do have a bath tho)

Please help, I feel we are paying rent to them but they arent keeping up their side of the bargain, can I refuse 2 sign the contract? or add in that they have to sign to finish the work by the time of the next contract in 6mths?

Answer 1

Get it put in writing before you sign the contract, you should be able to have him repair the damp but nothing more UNLESS its in writing.

A landlord has the responsibility to Provide that everything under the contract is in safe and working order, nothing more.

Answer 2

I am a private landlord and would suggest that Mr Trend Vampire should be ignored: he clearly does not know what he is talking about and is an estate agent.

1. Speak to the housing officer at the council and ask him to inspect the damp at the property. If the damp such that it is unhealthy then he will apply pressure on the landlord to have it dealt with. If he fails to do so then the council will appoint a contractor and invoice the landlord.

2. Unless the landlord agreed to drop the kerb in return for some consideration (eg payment or your agreeing to take the tenancy) then he is not obliged to do so.

3. I would buy a tumble dryer venting kit and ask your landlord for permission to make a hole in the nearest exernal wall with a diamond core drill to fit it, stating the reason why. You can hire one cheaply and the problem will be sorted easily.

4. If the landlord supplied the shower and unless your tenancy agreement states otherwise then he is obliged to repair or replace it, provided that it has failed due to reasonable wear and tear rather than abuse by the tenant.

Under no circumstances should you withhold rent. The fact that you have a baby is not an issue with regard to possession - if the landlord wants you to leave without giving you a reason and serves a valid section 21 notice on you then you will be obliged to vacate.

I hope this helps.

Answer 3

You can't refuse to sign the contract nor stimulate what he signs for, if you need a house i wouldn't aggrevaite the landlord too much if your coming up to the end of your current contract. He may just decide your too much work and ask you to leave, leaving you with no house at all. The only one of those that really needs tending to now is the mould issue, that can be dangerous so get onto your local health and safety department to have them get onto your landlord. If the drive was already there when you moved in and no where in writing does it say he was dropping the curb i dont believe he has to do it. the window vent isn't upto him to install, if it wasnt there to begin with its not his problem. the tumble dryer is your responsibility so so is the vent. the electric shower he will need to fix but its not overly importnat if you have a bath and definatily not somehting you can stop paying your rent for. Firstly you need to send a letter to your landlord stating the problems, keep a copy as well. If he doesnt repair things then you need to get onto the health and safety department. I wouldnt just not pay your rent, he will have grounds to evict you!

Answer 4

i have studied estate agent laws  ( there are not that many)

in the end: the UK law states, that a tenent must have in a poperty that they are rentin

hot water, clean water

heating & electric

until u buy u own god damb house, shut up and be nice to he agent an they might get it fixed

1: dambness need to be sorted asap

2: drop the curb? i know ur jokin, u must   not hav that much of a good car if ur renting

3:  window? what about it?

4: u got the bath

this is true

if u stop payin rent then he is in his righ to give u notist, if u have a baby he can never get u out by the law, but he might send the goons around to thow your stuff out and change the lock,   seen it done before

Answer 5

Number 1 is very bad as you can get deadly sick from black mold and many insurance companies in the States3s won't even insure against mold remediation repair.

2 this is dangerous and downright against any town building code i ever heard of i bet he never got a building permit to do this go to your building Dept or to your town attorney and ask you have been treated badly.

#3 the  vent window or vent through the wall any Sears or Walmart sells a dryer vent kit that he could have installed.

#4 This is  just adding insult to injury you have to be firm but polite he has taken utter advantage of you and by the way owes you for damage for item number one.

Just you wait and see how much he will pay to have the mold problem fixed and even the fine he will get for it. Write a letter return receipt so you have a record of giving hiim notice so he can't say he didn't know about it.

i hope you don;t have a child near that mold.

And don't get pregnant till this is taken care of and inspected and tested by the dept of building codes in your town.

I know I'm a landlord. This guy is bad people.

.

The Dept of housing and Urban development in the usa has  very strict standards on mold in homes they resell after people go bad on home loans it's very dangerous stuff child or adult. Stand up for your rights he's a real bum this slumlord.