Rental contract help

buckshee

We've been in our flat since August 2007. The only thing that's been done by the owner since we moved in was to replace the rotten windows with double glazing , one pane of which got cracked when they put it in 5 years ago and has never been fixed.

I've always done any running repairs myself and even some decorating .

Landlady has now decided to put our rent up by £100 a month. Contract is up for renewell next month we are currently looking for somewhere else to move. If we sign a new one year contract can we still move in a couple of months giving one months notice?

sillav nitram

it should be in your agreement, what your obligations are, if you wish to leave early, if it isn't, then i think you may be ok to move earlier, without incurring any penalties?

SuperCliveMendonca

If you sign a 1 year contract, normally you have to be there for at least 6 months before any notice can be given by either party. I would double check that. What you want is a 'rolling' contract, whereby you can give a months notice, landlord 2 months notice...normally from my experience. As a landlord myself, 5 years at the same rent and then a rise is not unreasonable, landlady probably realises she is behind the market for what she can get for the rent - I did this recently to a mate who rents my flat, his rent hadn't changed for 6 years.

SuperCliveMendonca

re the repairs and decorating, depends on the relationship you have with your landlord, and how nice you want to keep the property. Repairs should be done by the landlord, however if it is inexpensive to do some, better do them yourself if you are OK with DIY and want it done asap.

I am doing some repairs shortly to another property, remove old decking and replace with turf (tenant not happy with that, but more cost effective as decking just rots over time if not cared for), window sill and a bit of plastering. The tenant has done their own decorating, but their choice as the decor was fine.

buckshee

We've got a flat roof on the porch which is rotten and leaking which we've been telling her about for a year , damp in the bedroom and bathroom walls wasp nests in the loft .

The electrical fuse board is made of wood and in a truly shocking state (I'm an electrician so know just how bad it is)

The carpet throughout are in a bad condition due to wear and tear and the ceiling in our kids bedroom had caved in before we moved in a has had the worst repair job I've ever seen.

I wouldn't mind if she was promising to deal with some of these things but the rent is getting increased and still these items won't be done.

The annoying thing is we've been looking for somewhere to move to for a while as we want a garden for the kids but now we may end up somewhere we don't really want to be as we have less time to decide.

All this with just one wage coming in and 17 month old twins is a real challenge

golfaddick

I'd tell her taht I would pay only pay the extra £100 pm when she replaces the carpet and does the necessary repairs, otheriwse tell her to stick it. she is unlikely to get a new tenant in (apying the extra money) if the place is not up to scratch.

Time for you to man up !!

SuperCliveMendonca

Move out as soon as you can, crap landlord, especially for your 2 nippers. AGree with Golfaddick, don't pay your rent until repairs are done - it's illegal. If it went to court you are in the right - I've had all this going on recently.

I have a 2 bed Victorian Conv Basement flat coming up in Eltham (opposite T Tallis school) around end the month, if that is any good £800pm, having new boiler fitted, and redecorated throughout.

buckshee

Thanks for the offer but we're really looking at somewhere where we are neither under or over someone else as I can't take noise above and I'm sure no one wants to hear my kids running about above them.

We're in Lee at the moment , looks like moving out a bit is our only option .

LenGlover

As an electrician have you got a mate who could come round and inspect the place because you are worried about its safety?

He could hiss through his teeth, as tradesmen do, about how expensive it would be to put right.

You could then offer to do the work for no rent increase, rolling 1 month notice contract, new carpet etc.

Addickted

Get onto Lewisham Council Environmental Health Department and get them to carry out a inspection on your property. The Housing Act introduced a Housing H & S Rating system and most 'private' rents will fail somewhere along the line - whether it's damp, electrical or fire safety.

At least threaten it as the possible cost of rectifying for your landlord could be enormous.

Clem_Snide

If you sign up for another year as has already been said the chances are you will be lumbered for 6 months atleast.

I doubt very much that the landlord has anyone else lined up, so offer her another month. Sure she'd much rather have the money than have the place empty.

What is your budget? There is a 4 bed 5-6 doors down from me on for 1300 a month. Pretty sure they'd take 1200.

suzisausage

if she hasn't got anyone else to move in, and she doesn't want to spend money doing it up, tell her you'll pay on a month by month basis so she can find someone to move in long term, and you don't pay the hike in rent.
does she have any idea that you are looking to move out? she might become more flexible if she knows you're moving on sooner rather than later and be more patient with the rent increase?

DanDavis

SuperCliveMendonca said:

Move out as soon as you can, crap landlord, especially for your 2 nippers. AGree with Golfaddick, don't pay your rent until repairs are done - it's illegal. If it went to court you are in the right - I've had all this going on recently.

I have a 2 bed Victorian Conv Basement flat coming up in Eltham (opposite T Tallis school) around end the month, if that is any good £800pm, having new boiler fitted, and redecorated throughout.

That's estate agent geography...........Thomas Tallis school is firmly in Kidbrooke!

Covered End

That's what I thought. Nowhere near Eltham :-)

razil

I have a 2 bed purpose built first floor flat in blackfen with own gdn 850pcm up for rent immediately - old tenants are splitting up

Nicely done up, very new boiler and and washing machine

Drop me a pm if interested

buckshee

cheers for that razil

need somewhere with a garden we can walk straight out onto though really so the Mrs can get on with things in the kitchen and so on and just leave the kids to their own devices .

I'm sure we'll find somewhere . Weirdly enough my Mum is in the process of selling her two bed house in sidcup and the fella buying it is letting it out so we may move in there. Typically this is after I've gone to the trouble of clearing all my crap out of her loft.

Addickted

What difference does a new boiler make?

Just interested.

C.Walsh'sLoveChild

Cost to run is cheaper

buckshee

I would say it will improve efficiency which would make the bills smaller

razil

Less likely to go wrong the previous one was a cheap piece of pap that went wrong all the and wasn't all that old. New one is a a top make too. Some landlords just put in cheap stuff and don't modernise etc

buckshee

ie my landlord

she hasn't had the boiler serviced in the five years we've been here

C.Walsh'sLoveChild

gas or electric? by law, gas boilers have to be serviced every year in rented properties

razil

Safety checked (not the same as serviced)

buckshee

she's had the saftey check done but never a service.

Dan you also being a sparks like me are probably astounded that there is still no law regarding electrical checks

C.Walsh'sLoveChild

ah ok, I stand corrected said the man in the orthopaedic shoes

razil

They very nearly did recently i thought, i agree though and definitely for house sales, was a mistake to backaway from hips.

buckshee

It's weird as though there is no legal requirement as such you are as a landlord responsable for the health and saftey of your tennant in regards to you propery so if anything happened due to shoddy electrical systems then you'd be in trouble .

If I was a landlord I'd make sure at the very least that I got a sparks in to do a visual check just to make sure everything looks ok even if they don't issue a certificate

CatfordCat

To the best of my knowledge (I'm not a lawyer) there's absolutely no need for a new contract every 6 months / year with a rented place - it's a nonsense laregely encouraged by parasite letting agents so that they can extort absurd fees from all concerned for doing 2 minutes 'work' changing the dates on a document and printing it out again.

Once the initial period (usually 6 months) is up, a tenancy can trundle along until one party or another gives notice. I'm almost certain that - so long as the original agreement was written properly - then an annual rent increase can be applied without the need for a new tenancy.

If you do sign a new agreement now, you may well find there's a minimum 6 months term in it. If you decline to sign it, I'd assume that would count as giving notice.

From past experience, pretty much any landlord / agent who (when you go round to look) promises they will repair / replace / remove something before you move in, is lying.

There are certain obligations on landlords to keep a place in decent condition, but since landlords can, after the initial 6 months, give tenants notice to quit whenever they like and for no specific reason, trying to stand up for your rights carries the risk of getting notice to quit.

Shelter's website has quite a lot of advice on the rights & responsibilities of both tenant and landlord (this page applies to private tenants in England, the law is subtly different in the 4 countries of the UK)

kings hill addick

I've been letting out a number of properties for fifteen years and I have never said I was going to repair or replace something when I had no intention of doing so. I have also always done what I said I would do. I have always returned all of the deposit to leaving tenants, and I have always fixed anything that went wrong as soon as was possible, irrespective as to the cost to me.

I have, however, had several tenants that have left my property without paying the bills, the rent (I've had two tenants evicted owing me six months rent) and some have stolen the white goods and furniture.

I find comments like "...pretty much any landlord / agent who (when you go round to look) promises they will repair / replace / remove something before you move in, is lying." quite insulting to be honest.

I'm guessing Catford that you are not a landlord, and that you are not still owed in excess of £25k from tenants that lived in your house for nothing, otherwise you wouldn't just make statements that suggest that all landlords are greedy and dishonest.

suzisausage

our former landlord was awesome when we rented too kings hill. he used to fix things within hours if they broke - washing machine, boiler and when someone put glue in our lock. he let us roll our contract on when it was due for renewal as we were buying a flat opposite and it was dragging on. then we found tenants for him (our mates) to move in when we moved out saving him fees with the agent that we never spoke to. except when we communicated with them and had to pay them £50 to extend contract for a further 6 months at one point although when i told the landlord this he gave us money back as he said it was outrageous as they only had to print 3 pages of paper and put it in the file. He told us after that to always speak with him directly instead of them. he owns about 15 properties around Lee.