Rental property advice

[ColchesterFC]

Is there anyone with knowledge of rental property eviction disputes?

We've been in our rented house for almost three years. We moved in on 10th September 2018. Since then the landlord has failed to carry out repairs, including to the kitchen sink which was reported as leaking when we moved in and has rotted the kitchen worktop and the cupboard underneath. There is also mould growing in the cupboard. We were recently contacted as the landlord wanted to increase the rent. We refused and said that we wouldn't agree unless repairs were carried out. Last year we were in the same situation and had to go to tribunal where they found in our favour and stopped a rent increase. Since then he hasn't repaired any of the faults identified at the tribunal.

We have now been given a Section 21 notice to vacate (on form 6a) as of 1st December 2021. We are required to receive 4 months notice to vacate. The date on the form is 29th July 2021 but we didn't receive it in the post until today, 2nd August. Can we argue that we have not been given 4 months notice to vacate, admittedly only by one day and ask for a valid Section 21 notice to be issued?

Also, do we have any protection from eviction because it has been served after we have asked for repairs to be carried out? We were contacted on 28th July about the rent increase and replied the same day with the required repairs that were needed before we would accept a rent increase. They have then obviously gone straight to the Section 21 notice as it was filled in the next day.

Any advice on what to do will be gratefully received. We have been looking for somewhere else to move to anyway but there's nothing suitable on the market at the minute and don't want to be forced into somewhere that isn't suitable.

 

[GreiginFife]

I'm no solicitor so not able to advise fully on it and would recommend you do seek actual legal advice rather than golf forum variety but (and I appreciate I am also in Scotland where it differs slightly) I did spend two years working with the Scottish land registry and part of that is the landlord/tenant register system so I got to know some of the legislation and regulation quite well.

I'd probably suggest that your landlord is simply exercising his right to evict whilst following the process as outlined in the regulation (4 months notice - which in itself is quite generous). It starts from the notice being issued, not when you receive it as far as I know.

Whilst you always have the right to contest (well in Scotland you do) it doesn't follow that you will always be successful despite the repairs situation as you previously challenged that under the "rent increase" dispute. Landlords can evict without reason as long as they follow the mandated notice timescales. If he was trying to circumvent that, THEN he would have to give a stone-clad rationale.

Personally (and this is nothing to do with the legal side) I'm more confused by why you would want to remain considering the clear health hazard that the property is with mould growths and terrible state of repair - I get that the market isn't buoyant but surely somewhere you aren't getting mould spores floating in the atmosphere is better than the current situ.

 

[Hobbit]

Although I’ve rented out property I’m no expert, nor know all aspects of your case. When the Court found in your favour, did they stipulate that the property be brought up to standard? If yes, the landlord is in breach of a Court order.

Beyond that, you need to speak to an expert. And I’d move anyway.

 

[ColchesterFC]

Although I’ve rented out property I’m no expert, nor know all aspects of your case. When the Court found in your favour, did they stipulate that the property be brought up to standard? If yes, the landlord is in breach of a Court order.

Beyond that, you need to speak to an expert. And I’d move anyway.

It was a housing tribunal rather than a court order. They only ruled on what was an acceptable market rent for the property in it's current condition, nothing about making repairs. As part of the process the landlord is unable to evict us for 12 months after the ruling which expires in November.

As soon as we find anything suitable we are going to move out. I have been informed by a friend who works for a letting agency that as we've been served the eviction notice we are no longer obliged to give a month's notice if we want to move out. We're desperately hoping we can find somewhere else to rent before next month's rent is due so that we can just move out immediately and leave him with no rental income at all.

 

[KenL]

I don't know why you would want to continue staying there TBH.

 

[ColchesterFC]

I don't know why you would want to continue staying there TBH.

The house layout is great for us. It has a large extra room downstairs that Mrs Colch uses for her work. My younger boy can walk to school and the older boy can cycle to his school. The older one is just starting to get more freedom and can walk or cycle to the park to meet his mates so the location is perfect. We'd have no issue with paying the rent increase if he would fix the problems.

 

[CliveW]

We rent two properties and depending on when and what type of lease you have will depend on how much notice you will need to be given. The Government also changed the rules during the pandemic to protect tenants who could not afford rent due to furlough. This applies to Scotland and as far as I know will apply to the rest of the UK. As already said, seek professional advise, perhaps from Citizen's Advise initially.

 

[BiMGuy]

I know its not your responsibility to fix certain things. But in this instance surely getting rid of the leak and mould is your priority and worth sorting out. Especially if you have kids.

Then sort it out with the landlord.

 

[rudebhoy]

I noticed on Sunday that our kitchen sink was leaking. Phoned a plumber yesterday morning, he came out in the afternoon and fixed it, total cost £50.

I'd suggest you do similar and deduct the cost from your next rent payment.

 

[KenL]

I noticed on Sunday that our kitchen sink was leaking. Phoned a plumber yesterday morning, he came out in the afternoon and fixed it, total cost £50.

I'd suggest you do similar and deduct the cost from your next rent payment.

That was a good price.

 

[Neilds]

I noticed on Sunday that our kitchen sink was leaking. Phoned a plumber yesterday morning, he came out in the afternoon and fixed it, total cost £50.

I'd suggest you do similar and deduct the cost from your next rent payment.

Don't do things like reducing rent payments or withholding rent, leaves you with in a right legal mess and is definitely not recommended

 

[ColchesterFC]

Mrs Colch has been to see a local letting agent she knows this morning for some advice. He's been in the business for almost 40 years and by coincidence is the former letting agent for our property. He has had a look at the emails that we've received and is helping Mrs Colch draft an email to the letting agent saying that we aren't prepared to accept the Section 21 notice as it clearly falls under a revenge or retaliatory eviction after we have asked for repairs to be made. We then have to get the council environmental health department to come round and inspect the property. They can instruct the landlord to make the repairs and if he refuses they can get someone to fix them and then send him the repair bill.

 

[rudebhoy]

That was a good price.

It was, however the guy was a mad anti-vaxxer and I had to listen to half an hour of conspiracy theories so there was a downside.

 

[CliveW]

It was, however the guy was a mad anti-vaxxer and I had to listen to half an hour of conspiracy theories so there was a downside.

Free comedy thrown in!

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Hav

Free comedy thrown in!

Having been on the end of a similar rant from a customer a while ago I can confirm it starts as comedy but soon becomes wearing, very wearing ?

 

[SocketRocket]

Does he hold a deposit on the property? These can be quite big and if you walked you would probably lose it. As suggested I think Citizens Advice is a good starting point.

 

[ColchesterFC]

Does he hold a deposit on the property? These can be quite big and if you walked you would probably lose it. As suggested I think Citizens Advice is a good starting point.

There is a large deposit of approx 6 weeks rent. We were told that as he's served the Section 21 notice on us we no longer have to give one month notice to move out. We're trying to find out if that's correct or not. If it's not then we'll find somewhere else and give one month notice as per our contract.

 

[adam6177]

I got served a section 21 about 2-3 days before Christmas day last year ?

The deposit isn't held by the landlord themselves (at least it shouldn't be) it should be in a new scheme account.

In terms of the rotten cupboards etc - was this all spotted and documented written and with photos when the agent did their inspections of the house? I also presume you have written copies of what's gone on before?

As long as you have that stuff I wouldn't worry about a dispute too much (which I know is easy to say) .... I'd be tempted to say get out of that house and find somewhere new asap.

In terms of giving notice... After we found a new place I just dropped the agent an email and gave my 1 months notice as a matter of courtesy. It's best to try and keep them onside.

 

[ColchesterFC]

The deposit is held in the deposit protection scheme or whatever it's called. If the landlord hasn't done that with the deposit he cannot issue a Section 21. The leaking tap was reported in September 2018. It was temporarily fixed on the last weekend before Xmas 2018 with the promise that the worktop and sink would be replaced. We've got copies of emails we sent every 2 or 3 months since then asking for updates.

The agent has never set foot in the house even before we moved in. The landlord changed agents because the previous one was putting pressure on him to carry out the repairs. As a result we weren't provided with an inventory when we moved in meaning they cannot withhold any of our deposit when we move out.

We also have the paperwork from the tribunal we took him to last year, including photos of everything that needs doing. On top of that we recently managed to get hold of copies of the paperwork from when the previous tenant took him to tribunal in 2017 which shows that many of the same faults were reported back then and still weren't fixed.

The agents are a nightmare to deal with and aren't interested in getting the landlord to fix anything. As long as they get the rent each month they're happy. I'm not at all interested in keeping them onside. We've been looking for somewhere new to move to but with the pandemic and eviction ban nothing suitable has come up so far.

 

[fundy]

The deposit is held in the deposit protection scheme or whatever it's called. If the landlord hasn't done that with the deposit he cannot issue a Section 21. The leaking tap was reported in September 2018. It was temporarily fixed on the last weekend before Xmas 2018 with the promise that the worktop and sink would be replaced. We've got copies of emails we sent every 2 or 3 months since then asking for updates.

The agent has never set foot in the house even before we moved in. The landlord changed agents because the previous one was putting pressure on him to carry out the repairs. As a result we weren't provided with an inventory when we moved in meaning they cannot withhold any of our deposit when we move out.

We also have the paperwork from the tribunal we took him to last year, including photos of everything that needs doing. On top of that we recently managed to get hold of copies of the paperwork from when the previous tenant took him to tribunal in 2017 which shows that many of the same faults were reported back then and still weren't fixed.

The agents are a nightmare to deal with and aren't interested in getting the landlord to fix anything. As long as they get the rent each month they're happy. I'm not at all interested in keeping them onside. We've been looking for somewhere new to move to but with the pandemic and eviction ban nothing suitable has come up so far.

i hope for your sake the deposit is held in an external scheme, know of one agent who used to tell that to tenants but hadnt deposited with the scheme. do you have a receipt/notification from the deposit scheme?

good luck finding something better, the rental mkt is horrible currently