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Hi Martin2410,

You have raised with the letting agents the condition of the boiler and the mould. Action should be taken. It is not good enough for the letting agent to say that they cannot contact their employer. Your proposal to write your three letters is a good idea. Give them a deadline by which you want action to have been undertaken. The weather forecast for the wekend suggests that this weekend would be a good deadline but, to be fair, maybe by the 2nd November

As has been indicated, have a good look at your tenancy agreement to make sure that the nature of your letting is such that the Landlord is responsible for repairing these defects. Generally,  if the tenancy contract is for less than seven years then the landlord is legally responsible, under the Landlord and Tenant Act of 1985, to carry out certain maintenance and which includes repairs to the structure and exterior of the dwelling, basins, sinks, baths and other sanitary installations as well as the heating and hot water installations. So that covers your storage heaters.

Under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998  your Landlord has a duty to ensure that the gas appliances are well maintained and receive an annual service from a registered CORGI professional. I just mention that in case you have any gas appliances.

Your tenancy agreement might just include a clause which empowers you to undertake the work and then reclaim the cost from your landlord. That is all well and good if you have the cash in the first place. It may be an option. Anyway, you may have to take the landlord to court to get your money back which is just more expense. Sadly, you cannot withhold your rent to cover the cost of the works. Withholding rent can lead to eviction even though you have the best of intentions.

If the property is without heat, as well as the mould, there is a suggestion here that the property is unfit. In that case contact your Local Authority if the Landlord does not spring into action. Their web site should include a note on these matters and a contact point. They ought to investigate and if they consider it is in such a state that they have the power to act on your behalf they will and not at your cost. They can take action against the Landlord.

Phil

The other concern is, by involving such high profiled agencies, are we risking being served a 'notice to quit'? 

If you have a fixed term tenancy then at the end of the term it ends and you move. If you do not have a fixed term tenancy there is no reason why they should issue a notice to quit just because you have sought advice from the Local Authority. They have to have grounds for possession recognisiable by law e.g non payment of rent; damaging the property.  Even if they do issue such a notice they need to convince a court that it is an acceptable notice for which a court could sanction its enforcement. No court would grant a possession order on those gorunds.

What kind of tenancy agreement do you have?

Have you applied to go on the Local Authority waiting list for housing? I only ask because if the property is deemed to be unfit then that may assist you rising up the waiting list. It's an option that you may wish to take up just as a fall back position if you really need one

Phil

Quote: Originally posted by Ninja 47 on 22/10/2012

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Private landlords can be a nightmare,many are just there for the money and dont give a damn about the tennants.

In my area if you report it to the council and its deemed unfit or dangerous they will do the work then bill the landlord.

Im an owner of several properties and do pride myself in giving a good product at a good price.I exclusively invest in new builds.

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