Hello
Just looking for some advice on my rights as a tenant, would appreciate some help please :)
Me and a friend moved into a house together, to date we have had a number of problems, which are listed below:
We moved in at the end of September, paid a deposit and one months rent in advance when we moved in and signed a six month contract. To date we have still not received confirmation of where the deposit is being held, which I know is breaking one of the landlord rules. We did not receive a 'gas safety certificate for the boiler' when we moved in either - and still haven't.
When we moved in the house was disgusting, the previous tenants and the landlord had not cleaned it (even though the landlord said he'd have the carpets cleaned, which he didn't) and it took nine people and the whole weekend to get it to a suitable cleanliness to be lived in, we took photos of the state of it.
The gas and electric meters were left in debt, we got the gas money back but not the electric.
There were no smoke alarms in the house, we had to fit them ourselves.
The walls had liquid marks and chunks missing all over them and the landlord said we could decorate it without giving any money towards the paint....we did get this back eventually but took a lot of hours of filling and painting!
A week after moving in the electric went, I called the landlord who advised me to climb onto a ladder and fiddle around with the main trip switch as it can be temperamental! (in the pitch black)
Two weeks later, the boiler stopped working. We managed to reset it following the instructions but it keeps happening, we've informed the landlord and requested it be serviced, he said he'd get someone round to look at it, we have not had anyone round yet.
After the bad rain, we began to have damp develop upstairs on the walls on the other side of the guttering, I informed the landlord who said the guttering probably needed clearing, which he did pretty quickly.
The boiler is not reliable and is not working to its full capacity, meaning when the heating is on we still sit there in blankets and hot water bottles and can see our breath and the timer does not work meaning we have to get up in the morning in the freezing cold, surely the landlord should make sure that we are living in suitable conditions?
The damp upstairs has got worse, even though we air the house regularly, but no word from the landlord.
One final thing is last Thursday evening (23rd December) we came back to the house with some friends after a night out, to no heating. We tried to put it on but the boiler had gone again, it was so cold we could all see our breath and as you can imagine this is extremely embarrassing when you have guests. We informed the landlord who has not even acknowledged our message, it is now the 27th December. I know he will be expecting his rent on the 31st but I do not want to hand it over until the boiler and damp has been sorted. Both of us have had to stay at respective parents houses as it is too cold to stay at our home without any heating or hot water which has put a huge dampener over christmas, not being able to go home.
I have my second cold in two months of living in the cold temperature at the house and my housemate has been to the hospital today and diagnosed with trachiaitus and bronchitis, which I can only imagine has developed from the bad conditions we have been living in for the past few months.
What are our rights with regards to withholding the rent? Are we entitled to any form of compensation for this? And where can we go from here if we are having no luck with the landlord?
I would appreciate any help you could give :) Thanks.
Useful link about the deposit scheme as requested:
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/ HomeAndCommunity/Privaterenting/Tenancie s/DG_189120
Also, I know it seems niaive to take a house in that state, its not cheap, we had the undertaking from the landlord he would sort it....after looking into the law in the UK he is breaking a load of rules as a landlord and will be contacting the CAB.
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