Back in June I rented a property and paid a years rent in advance, thought it'd be easier and less hassle. Anyway, since moving in I've had various problems, culminating with a pretty serious blockage in waste pipe, each time I report a problem it takes at least a week for the letting agent/landlord to attempt to deal with, for instance the blocked pipe, took nearly 2 weeks to get sorted, and only got something done when I threatened to take legal action. I've heard nearly every excuse possible why it takes so long, I'm starting to feel the service I recieve is basically crap, and was wondering if there is any reason why I cant demand my money back and I'll pay monthly. Can anyone offer any words of wisdom?

Thanks.

 

If I were the landlord I would ask why you wanted to do that and then assume you intend to with hold your rent as you see fit if there is an issue..

I would look at getting the letting agent and landlord to sort your problems quicker.

Jake

 

I dont intend withloding my rent, just feels that while they got my money they seem to do what they want and ignore me.

 

As for getting them to sort probs quicker, NO CHANCE! Reported the blocked drain to them, waited few days, no reply. By this time the waste water had started backing up in to kitchen sink, washing machine, over floor etc, couldnt really drain any sink etc in house, so told them again, was told it wasn't their problem, sort it myself. Took advice on the problem, was told it def their problem to sort, asked politely and waited, then finally lost my rag with them and was told to leave office, they had right to be trated with respect and I had no right to speak to them in such manner. What about me? I'm the fookin tennant, paying them my cash to be treated like a twat. I paid £8k in years rent so hope you can see why i'm pissed with them.

 

Whats the service level agreement between you and the Letting Agent to respond to problems?

My contract as a Landlord states the Agent will contact me if my Tenant has any problems with stuff like that, I have 24 hours to respond. In the event I dont respond in this time the Agent will respond on my behalf and make a decision on repairs etc... on my behalf.

Check your contract, and if they are in breach of it talk to them about it. If no joy go see Citizens Advice.

Ps: I know its no help now but I would never have paid a full years rent up front

 

You'll need to threaten legal action to get anything done, I had to do the same with my letting agency, which is why I'm now looking at buying somewhere...

I had a window put through by vandals at about 3am on a Sunday morning, got an emergency glazier out to board it up (would have done it myself if I had any wood, nails, hammer, etc ), that cost me £145. Quick flick through my contract showed I had to get a crime-reference number from the police to pass to the letting agency, so I rang them Sunday morning to report it (didn't expect them to do anything, so wasn't disappointed when they didn't even send anyone out). Was called back a few hours later with the reference-number, so then waited until Monday morning for this gem of a conversation with the letting agency:

Me: Hi, I'm calling to report damage to the property by vandals early yesterday morning, a rock thrown through an upstairs window.
Them: Which one?
Me: Top of the stairs on the landing.
Them: Right.
Me: I've got the crime-reference number here, from reporting it to the police, and as per my contract, I'm also drafting out a written report of what happened, which you'll receive in the next day or two.
Them: Okay.
Me: When do you think you'll be able to get someone out to repair the window, then, and how do I go about claiming back the money paid to board up the window?
Them: Nothing to do with us, you pay for the boarding-up, and you organise and pay for the replacement window.

Cue 5 minutes of me stating exactly why that was wrong...

In the end, I called work and confirmed I wouldn't be in, and popped up the road to the Citizen's Advice Bureau with all the details. They had a look through my contract, and agreed with me that it wasn't my responsibility to organise or pay for the repairs, or the boarding-up, so they printed out a load of info, and I went home again and set to writing out a 3-page A4 official letter to the letting agency, quoting the various parts of my contract and various Tenancy Acts, to show exactly why it wasn't my responsibility.

In all this time, I'd left the window boarded up with the smashed glass on the outside...

A week or so after sending the letter, I got a call from them, saying they'd agree to pay both the refund for the glazier (I'd sent a photocopy of the invoice with the letter), and someone would contact me about replacing the window at their cost.

WIN!

Three weeks later, they put my rent up £45/month, but since I'm moving out soon, and it was a bloody expensive window, I won't be here long enough for them to claim the money back that way!