Private renting

[mum2A&L]

afternoon all. - sorry could be a long one:

who is the best group of people / website to turn to in regards to what a landlord is needed to do when renting a property?

Its come to light that we should have a copy of a certificate to say the gas and electric has been checked, and we havn't. Also, someone mentioned to me the other day that a landlord must install fire protection equipment (fire blanket, fire alarm, that kinda thing).

Was just wondering what is the best direction to turn in for help.


Also, what does everyone think about how long it should take a landlord to fix a back door. We rent though a letting agent who has all contact with the owner, and we advised when we first moved (3 yrs ago) that the back door didn't seem very secure. We have since chased, as i put my thumb through the wooden frame the other day because it is so rotten.

They have sent someone out to get a quote (about 3 weeks ago). How long is a reasonable amount of time to get the quote agreed and arrange a date to get the door fitted? I think three weeks is a stupid amount of time to wait, but then we did wait 3 months for them to fix a hole in out bathroom celing caused by a water leak upstairs, and a month to fix a new bolier (during the snow we had at the beginnning of the year as well!!). I don't expect much from them! lol

My back door is so rotten i have to wash it fortnightly (monthly at least) to stop the mold comming back through. Is it worth me asking my midwife to pay me a home visit and see if she can write a letter saying it is a hazard to our health? can she do that / will that speed them up?

 

[Misslarue]

This should help you:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/HomeAndCommuni ... MAodJn8Jyg

3 weeks is too long..........I'm sure they'd be on your case if you were 3 weeks late with the rent! Also I hope you got a rent reduction when you didn't have a boiler (no hot water?) This happen to me once and we got a weeks rent free, woo hoo!

 

[Emmylou]

Hiya,.........let me warm up and I'll do my best to answer you....

......Landlord/ Homeowner Gas Safety Certificate is a LEGAL REQUIREMENT - they are 12 month certificates, and every rented property should have one. Tenants should be provided with a copy of the certificate to keep at the property, at the expiry of the cetificate CORGI allow 28 days for a replacement certificate to be provided - call you letting agent and request a copy of the current certificate. (You could also ask for the previous ones that should show that you've been covered throughout the tenancy).

Electrical Safety Certificate is a best practise certificate and not a legal requirement, If the property is a HIMO (House In Multiple Occupation or is a registered property - more than 3 floors and more than 5 different households worth of people (i.e. unrelated)) then an electrical certificate would need to be shown to the council at the time of registration.

Fire Safety Equipment a landlord should ensure there are working smoke detectors at the commencement of the tnenay, the tenant is responsible for checking the batteries and replacing as and when needed. It is not a legal requriement to provide extinguishers or fire blankets, but is recommended for HIMO's and shared houses.

Ok, how long to fix a back door? It's a difficult one to give you a direct answer on.....is the door insecure at the moment (i.e. unlockable) or is it just rotten and in need of replacement? If the property is insecure then the landlord/ agent has a responsibilty to treat this as an emergency repair, and this should be fixed within 24 hours. If it is a rotten door then we would work on 28 days for replacement from the day it was reported.

Did I miss anything? Let me know if you want any advise on anything else, here are a couple of handy links:

http://www.arla.co.uk/info/tenants.htm

http://www.corgi-gas-safety.com/section ... enants.asp

 

[Emmylou]

Also I hope you got a rent reduction when you didn't have a boiler (no hot water?) This happen to me once and we got a weeks rent free, woo hoo!

If the boiler is broken and you have no hot water, and this means you have no electric shower to obtain hot water from, then the house is uninhabitable, the contract is broken and you can leave if you like during this time without repercussion. If you stay, then the contract continues as normal......but you should get a rent free period or discounted rent in the very least if the repair took longer than 24-48 hours to fix - no hot water is an emergency repair hence the 24 hours. I.e. if it took them a month (which might have been down to the plumber or waiting for a part, not necessarily the agents neglect) then you should request to know why there was a delay so you can establish why, and request a rent reduction on the basis that the house was uninhabitable.

 

[Misslarue]

If the boiler is broken and you have no hot water, and this means you have no electric shower to obtain hot water from, then the house is uninhabitable, the contract is broken and you can leave if you like during this time without repercussion. If you stay, then the contract continues as normal......but you should get a rent free period or discounted rent in the very least if the repair took longer than 24-48 hours to fix - no hot water is an emergency repair hence the 24 hours. I.e. if it took them a month (which might have been down to the plumber or waiting for a part, not necessarily the agents neglect) then you should request to know why there was a delay so you can establish why, and request a rent reduction on the basis that the house was uninhabitable.

Yeah that's pretty much what happened. The boiler broker on the 22nd December so we had no hot water or heating and because it was over Christmas the landlord just couldn't get anyone to come out (I think he could but at an extortionate rate). By the time the new boiler was ordered and fitted it was not working again until the first week of Jan. TBH is wasn't such a huge deal as we were away for Christmas, but I wasn't going to say no to a weeks free rent!!

 

[Emmylou]

Yeah that's pretty much what happened. The boiler broker on the 22nd December so we had no hot water or heating and because it was over Christmas the landlord just couldn't get anyone to come out (I think he could but at an extortionate rate). By the time the new boiler was ordered and fitted it was not working again until the first week of Jan. TBH is wasn't such a huge deal as we were away for Christmas, but I wasn't going to say no to a weeks free rent!!

Well exactly....we dread the emergency call over christmas and new year, can never get a decent plumber to come out for love nor money!! At least they were understanding and gave you some of the rent back.

 

[tracyM]

we were in a similar situation before we bought this place, the problems were half the reason we got it so cheap. We went to the local councils housing standards department and the bloke who came out was brilliant. We put together a huuuuuge list of problems - unsafe electrics, damp, water leaks, lead water pipes, dodgy gas maintenance certificates (the bloke who did it was 'mates' with the landlord), glass doors that needed safety glass, dry rot in the cellar.

The landlord had bought the property about a month before we were due to sign a new lease, but hadn't bothered to get a survey, valuation or even inspect the property. By the time housing standards compiled their report to give him, we'd signed the new lease so he couldnt give us notice, and they gave him 28 days to fix the lot. He ended up putting the house on the market 'investment with sitting tenants' and we bought it.

Give your local housing standards a call. They gave us loads of options, including ways to get the work done without getting housing standards involved officially. We went the way we did because we knew he'd have to sell and we were in a position to buy.

 

[missac]

emmylou is a genius, we are going to rent for a while until we find what to buy, I am going to be picking your brains!!!!

 

[mum2A&L]

this is fantastic! thanks for your help!

Landlord is going to hate me But they are the ones who wanted to put the rent up, so i am going to make them work for their money!

 

[Emmylou]

emmylou is a genius, we are going to rent for a while until we find what to buy, I am going to be picking your brains!!!!

Pick away me dear, it's not a problem (my day job too so I have an advantage - and unlimited access to our solicitor who specialises in landlord and tenant law)

Landlord is going to hate me But they are the ones who wanted to put the rent up, so i am going to make them work for their money!

Well if they expect you to pay a higher rent, then the least you can expect is that they meet legal requirements and provide you with a gas safety cert!!! They have prob just neglected to give you a copy but as you rent through an agent they should know better

 

[Minime]

If they did want to put the rent up what period of notice do they have to give or do they have to wait until you sign your new contract usually yearly?

We just got a letter this morning with new tenency agreement as OH agreed to a further 6 months and they put the rent up by 50%

For that price we could have a 4 bedroom with ensuite and double garage! OH rang them and apparantly it was a mistake thank god!

 

[Emmylou]

If they did want to put the rent up what period of notice do they have to give or do they have to wait until you sign your new contract usually yearly?

We just got a letter this morning with new tenency agreement as OH agreed to a further 6 months and they put the rent up by 50%

For that price we could have a 4 bedroom with ensuite and double garage! OH rang them and apparantly it was a mistake thank god!

Okay my eyes actually did do this 50%!!!!!! wtf!!!!

Okay, so firstly you have to have rented the property for 12 months before the rent can be increased (if you have only been in there for the initial 6 month term then the rent cannot be increased until the month 13's payment), then any increase has to be agreed between the Landlord (LL) & the Tenant (T), if you do not agree to the rent increase you will possibly need to move out - however, if you disagree with the increase the LL can withdraw the increase and still allow you to stay at the previously agreed rent so as not to have an empty house.

I am also assuming you have signed an AST (Assured Shorthold Tenancy) this will be stated on the front of your original contract. Check your contract (the last one that was signed not the one he is asking you to sign now) and see if there is a clause in there about rent increases - I;ve never known an increase of rent for more than 20% and that is when the rent is low to start with.

Notice period: difficult to answer, either you agree to the rent increase or not, if you don't agree with the increase the LL will need to serve you 2 months notice to vacate (if he doesn't wish to stick at the lower rent), this notice cannot take effect until the end of a fixed term contract - It is easier with notices if I know the start date of your original tenancy, and the duration of the current tenancy and its expiry date too.

If you need anything else answered feel free to add to this post or PM me, and I'll do my best............x