.Gov online repair checker for tenants

.Gov online repair checker for tenants

10:16 AM, 25th June 2021, About 3 years ago 16

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The Government has launched an online checker for tenants titled ‘Check how to get repairs done in your rented home.’ Click here to view the page and use the software. The page says:

Use this checker to find out:

– how to get something fixed by your landlord or letting agent

– what to do if your landlord or letting agent are not responding to your requests

You’ll receive ideas about what to do next, along with links to more information.

Justice Minister Lord Wolfson said: “We are committed to ensuring that people have access to early legal support as it is vital that problems are resolved before they escalate. This pilot will help us understand the role of early legal support and how this can be designed around what works for people who need it.

“I am delighted that we are able to deliver this work with support from MHCLG and advice sector organisations.”


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Comments

TheMaluka

10:44 AM, 25th June 2021, About 3 years ago

Pity the government does not also have an online rent checker for landlords titled ‘Check how to get rent collected from your rented home.’

Ron H-W

10:49 AM, 25th June 2021, About 3 years ago

Please note that - like with most measures in recent years - this (currently?) applies ONLY to the private rental sector, NOT to homes rented from Local Authorities (Councils) or from Housing Associations.
I wonder why?
Because, surely, one might expect people in LA or HA homes to need it just as much!
(I have some friends in H.A. housing, and that H.A. seems to be rather unresponsive, but this checker is clearly of no use to them!)

It is also ONLY for England and Wales - not Scotland or Northern Ireland ("at the moment").

Also, reading between the lines of what Wolfson is saying, this "pilot" is to "help us understand ..." - so would currently seem to be more experimental than intended to be of practical use to the tenants.

This, of course, might account for why, if a toilet isn't working, the user is asked whether they have been injured by a fall!
(And, in some cases, it doesn't seem to cater for problems caused to other members of the user's family, rather than only to the person visiting the site!)

Adrian Alderton

10:51 AM, 25th June 2021, About 3 years ago

Mainly refers tenants to the Local Council or Shelter advice. All local authorities have environmental health/private sector housing officers and provide much more comprehensive information.
God help us if this is the best they can do.

PJB

11:01 AM, 25th June 2021, About 3 years ago

I have concerns with the implication that landlords are responsible for "Mice or other pests are causing a problem" or "Damp or mould is growing inside".
Whenever these issues have arisen, always, it has been as a result of the student's/tenant's lifestyle.
I am worried that tenants will use the .Gov website to justify a belligerent attitude toward the hapless landlord.

Ron H-W

11:25 AM, 25th June 2021, About 3 years ago

Reply to the comment left by PJB at 25/06/2021 - 11:01
Even without this "help", some 13 years ago, a tenant found a large spider in her flat - and seemed to think it was my (landlord's) fault!

Seething Landlord

11:36 AM, 25th June 2021, About 3 years ago

Reply to the comment left by PJB at 25/06/2021 - 11:01
If you follow the links in connection with pest infestation you eventually end up at the citizens advice bureau article on this subject which actually is balanced and informative.

TheMaluka

11:53 AM, 25th June 2021, About 3 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Ron H-W at 25/06/2021 - 11:25
Just as a fault in a tenants electrical device was my fault.

Reluctant Landlord

14:00 PM, 25th June 2021, About 3 years ago

lol! I've had complaints along the following lines...

1. no sea view but it is near the coast
2. Lampost outside the flat shines in light at night I can't sleep
3. My baby is now walking can you replace the carpet as it's dirty and not good for him/her to eat food off it

I should write a book - subsidise my tenants rent arrears... 😉

PJB

15:48 PM, 25th June 2021, About 3 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Seething Landlord at 25/06/2021 - 11:36
Agreed. But will the tenant research that far or just infer from the .Gov / Ministry for Justice website that just because pests and mould are listed there, it is automatically the landlord's responsibility?
I would ask our representatives (NRLA) to lobby govt. to correct this unjust inference.

Seething Landlord

18:15 PM, 25th June 2021, About 3 years ago

Reply to the comment left by PJB at 25/06/2021 - 15:48
Who knows what tenants will think or do? If they draw the wrong inference they can at least be told to work through the questions and links to get the right answer.

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