Tenant In Distress – Mowing The Lawn

Reply to the comment left by "Edna " at "28/11/2016 - 07:19":

Edna, you were joking, weren't you? If not, you clearly have no idea of the regulations to comply with if one wishes to keep sheep and the strength and physical ability needed even to regularly trim their feet, never mind the fact that all the wormers, anti-fly-strike treatments and similar pharmaceuticals etc. come in 40 dose minimum sizes with days' long shelf life. Sheep-proof fencing alone could cost her thousands!

Former LL was a lovely old man but did nothing about damp, mouldy, cold house with no central heating and nothing done to it since the 70s?? This story is very odd if I may say so!

I would happily provide longer ASTs for good tenants but mortgage T&Cs won't allow it so it's out of my hands. I imagine this is the case for many LLs.

Reply to the comment left by "Rachel Hodge" at "28/11/2016 - 09:52":

I Rachel, please check out Deed of Assurance >>> https://www.property118.com/the-private-rented-sector-evolution-deed-of-assurance/40949/

It even got a mention in the House of Commons, bottom if the page under "other ideas" >>> http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmselect/cmcomloc/50/50iii111.htm

🙂

I was joking about the sheep. But seriously it is my understanding that if offering a new tenancy agreement your landlord has to now supply an EPC among other things. With no CH and blown partial double glazing how high a rating will he achieve? Just asking. Also, I assume you have had rent increases yearly over the 14 years?

Reply to the comment left by "Jill Harding" at "27/11/2016 - 22:25":

Dear Jill,

Thank you for your prompt reply. Your £360 bill story seems to be a big thing here as it makes so many people spending night time and work hours commenting/helping. Posititive side is everyone has good energy for £360 bill.

But I couldn't find any answers to my questions in your reply. I suspect I may have offended you a little, but not intentional. Sorry if my presumption was a bit wrong. I found it quite good as it's off by 50% (from 40 to 20 years) only without much info provided. The quality remains unchanged though. And other posts remind me that you are a quite strong lady, being able to live in a house without central heating with broken glass for so many years till 62. I would be dead long before as I can't manage wood logs in so many rooms (although I don't have spine problem) or I can't dive in the North sea. I would choose to move out so I don't have to deal with the lawn mower, hedge trimmer or damp or broken glass.

Reply to the comment left by "Mark Alexander" at "28/11/2016 - 07:14":

Good morning Mark, gosh my post/question has drummed up some interest and some replies with a "slur" of it all being bizarre living with damp for 14 years, how could the previous landlord be so lovely..gosh, how minds create when they don't ASK for facts before jumping to conclusions. To call something bizarre when they don't know the facts, is in itself bizarre for people who are supposed to be in a position of "landlord" take time to write a reply, and some, an in depth reply mostly on NHS as obviously the state of it bugs them and somehow holds me responsible because I once worked in the NHS, now that is bizarre!

Still, to your question Mark, the son ( my current landlord) is about 55-58 I would say - his father was in his early 90's when he died in 2014.

The current landlord is rather a "passive" character I would say, as he gets his girlfriend to communicate any information to me, which I don't feel is right, as him, who's my landlord and they are not married. His girlfriend just 60 has a daughter who has a senior role in one the most high-end letting agents in Oxford city, so they use the daughter as a go between although I have never met her -she still prepares the "digital" tenancy agreements which states my landlord is a private landlord, with his name and personal home address for my contact. To make no contact with the letting agent if there is any problem with repairs or emergency's. So I have a moblie number for my landlord who lives about 2 hours away from where I am. Additionally I am being charged £150 by this letting agent, when I did not even approach them to rent this property, where they have never visited the property for my tenancy, taken an inventory(having said that I own everything in it) only the carpets and oven belong to the property. So yes another complaint I have, why should I be paying a letting agent ( until the new regulations come into force) when they don't do anything for me, there are no home checks on the property and of course I'm not to contact them in any circumstances. It strikes me of a bit of nepotism keeping the daughter of the girlfriend with some extra money. As I say, since the previous landlord died in 2014 so many things have changed which are just becoming apparent that I need to keep my wits about me for the next tenancy agreement.

Sadly aging in private rented accommodation is a terrifying prospect, as most people of my age or heading towards 70 or so should be able to wind down a bit - and the baby boomers who have mortgages paid off can relax and feel secure. I've yet to see a 70, 75 or 80 year old be able to work a full time job and earn enough to pay anywhere between £900-£1,200 a month just for rent before they have even got out of bed. Being self employed I have no regular income, it comes in fits and starts so planning is very difficult. As I've said to you before, I don't have a luxury life, I have no car, no holidays in 15 years and live a very frugal lifestyle to ensure I never, ever miss paying my rent.

Reply to the comment left by "Jill Harding" at "28/11/2016 - 12:01":

I see, so your landlord must have been knocking on 80+ when he inherited his moths property then? That would make his mother 100+ when she died?

That is all possible I suppose and might explain why the old man wanted a hassle free life and didn't really treat his rental property as a business. It's all rather sad really.

The son is obviously looking at this from more of a business perspective but I think he's managed to inherit is father daft side if he can't be bothered to maintain the property and look after a good long term tenant.

I do think it is rather sad that you find yourself in this position late in life. The failed housing provision of Government is clearly to blame. If they hadn't self off Council housing at give away prices or if they had used the money raised to build additional social housing perhaps you wouldn't be in this awful position. I think it is wrong to blame your landlord though. If he was a bit more business minded the property would be in tip top condition to attract top dollar in rent or sale price. Either way you would still be in the same position as you are now, hence my comment about the Government being far more deserving of blame than your landlord.
.

Hi Jill
You mentioned that you felt tenants should receive a cut from any gain in the property they inhabit over the period they inhabit it. If, for argument's sake, this cut was 50%, do you also think that they should raise and pay 50% of the initial deposit the landlord had to find upon taking up the tenancy, 50% of all maintenance and repair issues over the years and so on? Also, do you think that if the property then reduces in value over the period of the tenancy - as has happened in many areas of the country - that the tenant should pay the landlord 50% of the loss in value upon vacating?

Reply to the comment left by "Dr Rosalind Beck" at "28/11/2016 - 12:59":

Touché! As I believe they say.

Reply to the comment left by "Rachel Hodge" at "28/11/2016 - 09:52":

YOU: "Former LL was a lovely old man but did nothing about damp, mouldy, cold house with no central heating and nothing done to it since the 70s?? This story is very odd if I may say so!
I would happily provide longer ASTs for good tenants but mortgage T&Cs won’t allow it so it’s out of my hands. I imagine this is the case for many LLs."
ME: Rachel, thank you for your comment, but I always think it wise to ask questions and gain facts before one decides to "inflate a situation" that has no bearing on how the situation has arisen. And as I've said before in this forum, sadly it seems to be women who do this, not the men, they just come back and ask a question, form an opinion based on that, then post.

So, I never said anywhere that I have rented a damp property, or that damp has been ongoing for 14 years - YOU presumed that. When I cam to the property and was introduced to the landlord through a very small family run letting agent, he and I got on extremely well and the property was a shell, as he completely emptied it from the previous bad tenants. He had to evict them as they were hoarders. The property had economy7 heating with heaters in every room apart from the kitchen, they worked perfectly. And would be replaced with CH as and when they became defunct. He had the property redecorated for me throughout with the neutral colors of my choice ( I have an interior design diploma) he put in a brand new kitchen in white and new bathroom. New carpets and kitchen and bathroom flooring was also put down, I also had a say it what I liked. Getting the picture now?

As time went on, in fact around 2008 the ecomomy7 heaters were just not working as well. He replaced the ones not working. 2010 the other remaining not replaced were packing up, they were from the 70's. At this point the family run letting agent sold-up so they could retire - this was the start of my problems. The new company a large corporate run operation took over and no longer was it informal, one to one communication and had absolutely no continuity of service, no one knew what the other staff were doing or had said, and they were slow to contact my landlord regarding any problems and took it upon themselves to deal with me. You have to appreciate my lovely landlord is now is his 80's and not so aware of what was going on. I ended up with only one economy heater working, the replaced one in my living room, so slowly the house became damp in particular my bedroom, which is now quite extensive. As soon as he knew of the damp problem which had not be alerted at the point of raising it, he instructed the agents to deal with it for me, to get quotes and it would be resolved. I cannot tell you the problems I had with these agents, not returning calls, everything automated, no personal contact or as little as possible and the usual fobbing off we are dealing with this and will arrange some specialists to survey the property. Yes, they did this, but again everything took months to move them. Even with my stern emails, calls I was told it was in hand. I even asked for landlords address so I could contact him, they refused, which of course is illegal, but I only know that now. The property was surveyed and instruction given to the letting agents to be relayed to the landlord that the property needed CH throughout, a new solid front door,extractor fans in the bathroom and kitchen and have the "blown" double glazing repaired. NOT broken glass Rachel. This was 2013, so I thought it would be the end of it. But no they say they had an internal staffing problem so the information was not relayed to my landlord. 2014 he died. The new landlord (Son) had to wait for his inheritance to be passed to him so everything was on hold. He officially owned the property in late 2014. He gave notice to the letting agents they would no longer be required at the end of my tenancy in April 2015. April 2015 I have a new landlord, damp still not dealt with, but told it would be dealt with that year. I signed my tenancy based on the original agreement, as I was told he wanted to continue in exactly the same way as his father and nothing would change. December 2016 all I've had done is new door. I'm still waiting for new heating and fans. So I'm afraid, YES a £360 invoice for garden maintenance does offend, as one: all rent rises or changes must be made in writing to give the tenant notice of changes, you cannot just send an invoice by email, saying here are bank details for payment because as a landlord you have changed your mind that you no longer wish to provide the tenancy on the same basis. I am midst tenancy. When I refused, I was informed by email they were sending me the "clauses" of what my new agreement will be from 2017. Nothing personal, no social graces or an ability to communicate on a level where perhaps open dialogue and a compromise could be reached, just telling me, this is what it would be. Never wise to treat me in that manner, I'm always polite, friendly and don't look for confrontation, but once crossed I will challenge anyone and most definitely fight my corner. It disgusts me they want me to pay for something immediately when they have had 19 MONTHS since they took over to resolve my heating and damp problem, it's a disgrace they send me an invoice. I had some heating people visit me in February this year, but nothing was done, why....because the landlord told me they were too expensive, so he would look into something else. ZILCH!!

I live in a rural village and there is no gas available to the village, so one either has to electric CH or underground tanks which is an enormous amount of work to have pipes laid gardens dug up and weeks of work. My next door neighbors had this done and it cost them over 10k in the end. My landlord is opting of electric CH when he gets around to it.