Hi guys,

I’m hoping there is somebody here who might know a thing or two regarding legal matters when it comes to rented flats etc.

In a nutshell… I have moved into my current flat in London around 7 months ago, and there has been lots of issues, some of them…

Kitchen sink, which takes 5 minutes to go down (estate agents got contractors in but they couldnt fix it)

Shower/Bath – thermostat doesn’t work properly, its incredibly hard to find a reasonable temperature, as its either really hot and cold

There is a big leak above our bedroom window – every time it rains, we need towels and buckets to capture the water – this has not been fixed even though we have been asking for whole 7 months.

Shower – doesnt have ventilation and mould has been increasingly growing on the ceiling (my girlfriend has asthma, so lack of ventilation and mould doesnt help)

Front door lock is wobbly and anybody with a screwdriver could break in (could void my insurance too?)

Intercom doesnt work – we are on top flat and we cant unlock the door (so have to run down 4 flights of stairs in time for postman)

Flies have been developing in the shower especially, even though we clean it daily, as well as flies coming through bedroom window.

Washing machine broke, and its been 1 month since reporting, nothing back…

So…

7 months later, i got fed up, and few days ago i canceled direct debit, and waiting to hear from them. Do I have any right to do so, can I get into any trouble for not following contract (even though they have obviously not done so!)

Please help!

Just do a runner.

Legally, yes you have broken your contract with them. There will be some clause in your contract about it.

BUUUT it will get their attention.

How did you report the faults? In writing? Verbally? Do you have a record of when you reported them?

I suggest stating very clearly in writing the events/problems, and that until you are satisfied by the work, you will continue to hold their payment. Give them a date by which the work must be complete.

Don’t let them fob you off….. I had a similar situation with a previous landlord.

http://www.justgiving.com/alanscole

In general you have a right to withold payment if what you are getting is not up to scratch. But if they are assholes you’re best off out of it I suspect.

And this property is being handled via an agent? I would be down at the offices yelling like a good ‘un until something is done.

You shouldn’t really cancel the DD though – you might get in to trouble for that.

At the very least I suggest you put every grievance down in a letter asking them to give you a timescale in which they will make good the repairs.

Also – do you have a contract that outlines response times?

Get some real advice. Steve Austin of this forum knows this stuff.

You have avenues open to you but withholding the rent is not one you should use at this time IMO

There are various standards that a renting flat should reach IIRC

Housing advice service / CAB

Problem with cancelling the DD is you just end up in a row about that rather than the things you want to have a row about.

Primarily do all this in writing. Mega mucho important. Record,document, verify.

As a landlord I can tell you that you have no legal right to withhold rent. But I have seen and heard of many instances where rent has been withheld and have never yet heard of a tenant coming out of it badly, so I would say do it. When they ask you about the rent deny all knowledge and say you will get on to it, and then follow up with a run down of all the faults and how poorly it has motivated you to sort out any little payment glitches. And then don’t pay an effing penny till they have sorted it.

Meanwhile go to a solicitor who will likely give you a free consultation (tell them you are saving to buy a house they will want your business on the conveyancing side) they can start talking to the landlord about disrepair and the like. Failing that CAB or shelter, or you may have good success with the housing dept of your local authority, labour gave them some power and money to kick landlords arses and some of the jobsworths are dead good at it. Here in Exeter I have cultivated a good relationship with our housing dept, they’ll effing have ya if you don’t.

I have used these guys painsmiththey were very good, and they do no win no fee on some tenancy issues so a fone call may be all it costs you.

As an example I had some tenants this year who refused to pay the rent because I hadn’t fixed the back gate lock for a year (I had just bought a new dishwasher, forgave them for the mess they left when they moved out for the summer break and I had to clean it up, never charged them interest on their constantly late payments and never charged them for reminder letters which are £10 a pop in the contract).I had honestly forgotten about it but it’s still a bit crap as everyone needs security. So I fixed it pronto and they paid. My options were exactly zero. To get my money I would have to take them to court and all that jazz, it’s just not worth being slack, so keep the pressure on and do not give them any more dosh till they make it all good. You can then sue for disrepair and get some compensation.

If you are going to withold rent (it is different in Scotland) then atleast place it in a seperate account that is not your current account. That way – if need be – you can place your hands on the full amount and you can argue that you have paid the rent just not to the Landlord.

In all though the Courts in E&W take a dim view on witholding of rent, regardless of the circumstances.

I assume that you have have signed a 12-month agreement.

You have a couple of choices and it all depends on what your character is as to what you do.

I would ignore the shower /bathroom not having a vent. It was like that when you viewed the flat so, bluntly, tough.

The other items though are maintenance issues. Have a chat with you local Environmental Health dept as the combined faults maybe enough to get them involved.

As soon as you owe 2-months rent then the Landlord could serve you a S8 notice, which could lead to you being evicted within 14-days if the Courts are free.

You could also speak to a solicitor or the CAB. If you speak to a solicitor make sure you speak to one that has residential letting experience. The CAB will know a suitable solicitor.

All of the above could well take over 5-months to resolve. So you could just find somewhere else to live. There are plently of good flats and good landlords in London to choose from. And you’ve got 5-months to find one.

Landlordzone.co.uk is a good place to find free and accurate advice. This type of issue comes up a lot.

I would ignore the shower /bathroom not having a vent. It was like that when you viewed the flat so, bluntly, tough.

Bluntly, WRONG! I wouldn’t ignore it, condensation leads to mould which is a health hazard and many landlords have been sued for compensation and even prosecuted over it. See the afore mentioned landlord zone.

As soon as you owe 2-months rent then the Landlord could serve you a S8 notice, which could lead to you being evicted within 14-days if the Courts are free.

Just pay a small amount to stay below the two months and they are stuck.

They way I see it is that if he fixes it and you like the place why move, you are helping the landlord to develop into a better landlord 😆 and from his point of view if you stay after all the crap he has given you so far then you are a good tenant..

I believe cancelling your payments was the wrong thing to do. I’ve read similar stories before and the advice is not to stop paying the rent as this means you are in breach of your contract.

Bluntly, WRONG! I wouldn’t ignore it, condensation leads to mould which is a health hazard and many landlords have been sued for compensation and even prosecuted over it.

And there are those that haven’t.

The OP is clearly not teaching the LL anything, as they have been ignored for 7-months. Besides, it’s not the tenant’s job to teach the LL how to ba a LL.

There are plenty of good places in London to choose from. So, as they say, ‘vote with your feet’.

Personally, I’d go down the EH route and start looking for elsewhere to live once the term has expired.

I believe cancelling your payments was the wrong thing to do. I’ve read similar stories before and the advice is not to stop paying the rent as this means you are in breach of your contract.

Technically you are right but I fail to see the negative implications of this for the tenants, as long as they keep the arrears under control then the pressure is on the landlord to solve any problems. Whilst a judge might take a “dim view” of this in the event of any subsequent court action by the tenant for compensation, I can’t really see what a “dim view ” might bring to any action other than a judge looking over his glasses at you in a disapproving way and then finding in your favour anyway because the landlord has been slacker than Jordans love tunnel.As long as you are less than two months in arrears the worst the landlord can do is charge you interest and any charges pre-agreed in the contract for reminder letters.

You have to see it from the landlords point of view, he wants/needs his money. Hopefully a bit of arrears will send him off to the builders merchant and yellow pages pronto.

I would advise that you never make a direct correlation between the arrears and the problems, just make it out to be an administrative problem, and then keep reminding them about the disrepair issues. They will put two and two together and you do not have to implicate yourself as trying to blackmail the landlord..

and there are those that haven’t.

TBH all the tenant needs to do is send the landlord reference to those that have and unless the landlord is criminally insane then he will get off his arse.

He might be criminally insane though in which case your advice trumps mine.

The OP is clearly not teaching the LL anything, as they have been ignored for 7-months. Besides, it’s not the tenant’s job to teach the LL how to ba a LL.

I think you are mistaken, so far the OP has taught the landlord that he is a pushover and the landlord can carry on taking his money for nothing and just take the piss instead.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a landlord so I know how irritating it is not to be paid, but I am generally on top of these things apart from the odd lapse, and when you are on the NON receiving end it motivates you to get out of your lapse.

Besides moving is a mega hassle, it’s more fun to write letters and poke the lazy bastard with the law/withholding rent till he sorts it out and then has to pay you compensation..

Thanks for the helpful advice, as some have already mentioned, I have contacted environmental services before (two months ago, when the cooker SAFETY light exploded with a flash, just missing my face), the guy came in but he wasn’t very helpful, but he did write a letter to them and sent me a copy detailing the issues and asking them to sort it out – to which now still not sorted.

I will take your advice, contact a solicitor or citizens advice bureau on monday and tell the estate agents where I stand. I have never missed a payment or was ever late. Honestly I was being too soft on them (but I have emailed, sent letters and called dozens of times), mainly due to having other problems with finding jobs and settling in a new place.

Thanks!

I think you are mistaken, so far the OP has taught the landlord that he is a pushover and the landlord can carry on taking his money for nothing and just take the piss instead.

Even more reason to move.

I think it’s more fun to live somewhere I’d consider a home rather an occupy a building that’s causing stress because a third party chooses to ignore basic maintenance.

Even more reason to move.

I think it’s more fun to live somewhere I’d consider a home rather an occupy a building that’s causing stress because a third party chooses to ignore basic maintenance.

Yeah yer probs right.. I like doing tossers over though and if he treated me like that I’d stay and make the git spend money on making it a great pad.

Of course it could be bad behaviour by a tenant that has made the LL into one that doesn’t care.

so that is what happened to you how you doing dude and what you doing in that there London?