Assured Shorthold tenancy. A few plumbing issues have led to damp under the floorboards. Kitchen’s been taken out – all worktops and units below, hob, cooker, washing machine, dishwasher, redistributed around the rest of the flat. Been 2 weeks already, we’ve been away, now we’re back and it’s not going to be finished for another 2 or 3 weeks.

Boiler’s on the wall, unaffected, so still got hot water, and still got electricity.

I’ve done some reading, and it seems abatement is a bit of a grey area, talk of what the courts think is reasonable, what’s habitable… We’d rather stay here and make do than live out of a suitcase in a hotel for 3 weeks, commuting between there and home and work.

Any thoughts and advice would be greatly appreciated, need to talk the LL soon and talk turkey.

Thanks loads!

the best way forward with landlords is ask.. what are you going to do about the rent whilst there is no kitchen?.. a resonable question normally gets a straight answer to work with.. googling worst case scenarios isnt the preffered starting point.

its good to talk..

you’ve answered you’re own question….

You don’t want to move out, so therefore you have to live with it. Be thankful the LL is doing somethign about it.

now we’re back and it’s not going to be finished for another 2 or 3 weeks.

has work been going on whilst you’ve been away? There may be legitimate reasons why it isn’t finished, if the LL can prove this then you not got a leg to stand on.

Agreed, and that’s what I’m about to say but he’s very careful with his money, shall we say, so I’m sure the lowest number he can think of will be pretty low. Just casting about to see if there’s any framework or starting point before I pick up the phone.

Cheers anyway.

You don’t want to move out, so therefore you have to live with it. Be thankful the LL is doing somethign about it.

doffs cap, thank you sir!!

FFS talk to the land lord, he’s unlikely to be a real lord, you can at least ask!!

Did he cause the problem, did he drag out getting it fixed, could it have still happened in your own house with nobody to blame. Are you normally a sponger or are you just dipping your toes in to see what free gifts you can claim?

Assured Shorthold tenancy here too.
I had no heating or hot water for five weeks, mainly because the four (yes this is way too many) other groups involved seemed unable to talk to each other, to carry out a very simple task (cut some holes in the celling). The only reason I now have my heating back is because of an enforcement order brought in by the local council, and them doing the work too!

I’ve got back a month of rent, and told that if I wanted any more I would have to take legal action. I only got this because I went through the tenancy agreement, and all the laws to do with it, wrote them a nice letter and bugged them in a nice way every day until it was fixed. That and staying within my side of the agreement.

Shelter and citizens advice would be good places for info, and in my case the environmental health people at the local council 🙂

Did he cause the problem, did he drag out getting it fixed, could it have still happened in your own house with nobody to blame. Are you normally a sponger or are you just dipping your toes in to see what free gifts you can claim?

If the OP rented the house with a functional kitchen, and now doesn’t have one, then financially that’s the LL’s problem. That’s the beauty of renting.

If the LL is failing to fix it in a manner as timely as you would expect if he was living in the house, then it’s probably fair to seek recompense.

Bloody hell! I pay rent under a contract. The contract allows for a rent abatement in the case of reduction in amenity. He pays a premium for an insurance policy which will pay for the damage from the burst pipe, and for consequential loss of rent.

How the abatement is worked out, I don’t know, and I’ve not been able to find out easily, so I asked on here, where there have been plenty of landlord/tenancy questions.

Thought I might get more advice than abuse. The only good advice I did get was to talk to the landlord, which I said in my first post I was preparing to do.

Cheers megatron and zokes, started typing before I saw yours.

oh, and geordiemick00, I wasn’t agreeing with you. Because you’re wrong.

I’ve not heard of many people getting a rent abatement without being displaced from the property.

It is a grey area, and if your landlord won’t agree to a reduction in rent, then any action you take against him will possibly lead to a notice.
Some general advice here
http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/repairs_and_bad_conditions/disrepair_in_rented_accommodation/repairs_in_social_housing/disruption_and_poor_work

Feel free to email me if you have any questions.

you not got a leg to stand on.

That’s a strange thing to say to the OP.

Are you a landlord yourself by any chance?

Ignore enft’s miserable trolling.

Easy minimum compensation calc. Work out the cost of a takeaway per night minus normal cooking. Then double it to take into account the hassle.