Rubbish landlord (well, lettings agency), won't do repair

[Lord Percy]

I have no idea where I stand with this.

Moved into a student house, 6 bedrooms, and when I signed the contract it had a fully functional washer-dryer.

A few weeks later the dryer broke and we reported it to the letting agent. An engineer was sent over and he said a full replacement was needed. It's been almost 2 months now and the letting agent seems to be fobbing us off, continually saying that a new dryer will be 'coming soon', among other blatant attempts to drag things out. It's taking far too long and we're almost certain he has no intention of sorting it out. He recently told us how 'most other students just use drying racks', and, 'you have all-inclusive bills and the dryer uses £6/hour when switched on so it's not great using it anyway' (£6/hour electric rate for a dryer is almost certainly made up on the spot, too - a laundrette is cheaper!).

So we're fairly sure he's fobbing us off.

I'm wondering if anyone here knows where I stand?

I saw this on the Citizen's Advice website, in a section regarding 'wear and tear':

[arry]

Read your lease. Look for a rent cessor clause

[mentalboy]

[dodsi]

The above, absolutely do the above.

[Lord Percy]

I forgot to mention, I've had a look through the contract and it's very basic. No mention of repairs apart from to 'fixtures and fittings', which could easily not include the dryer.

I'm definitely having to look into legal standings, rather than what's written in the contract, because it seems to be be deliberately sparse with information.

[doggone]

Unless it's some kind of industrial machine it won't use more than 3KW per hour so even on a desperately bad tariff more like £2 an hour max.
Drying stuff hung up inside might just about be OK in summer but with winter coming on it's just going to make the house damp when there are several mucky students with lots of washing living in it.

[dodsi]

Six of you, £20 each and you get a new (second hand) washer/drier and then sell it at the end of the year to get your money back.

It's just easier.

That or wait around for another 2 months.

[mentalboy]

[chris-red]

Get everyone to withold rent, tell thel ettings agency in advance and tell them they'll get the money when the new drier arrives.
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[arry]

[grr666]

Landlord is not obliged to provide/maintain/replace appliances unless it says so expressly in the tenancy agreement
and/or inventory of the property. In one of mine I supplied a washing machine, it is PAT tested annually along with
the cooker hood, oven (tenant has own fridge) and electric heater in the lounge which is as far as my LEGAL
responsibility goes, the property is also correctly insured as well. The property is checked for electrical safety
as per the law at the recommended 5 yearly interval or after any change to the electrics.

The boiler is gas safe checked once a year and there are both CO alarms and hard wired smoke alarms
in the property as per regulation. The tenancy agreement and inventory are renewed and reviewed
annually also. Those are the things I MUST do as a Landlord. Anything beyond that really is gravy.

Rule of thumb, if it's a fitted appliance like a built under oven for instance or a cooker hood, electric
shower etc and if it fails I MUST replace, otherwise it's entirely dependent on my relationship
with that particular tenant which is in turn based upon my interactions with them over a tenancy. If they are
dicks, then I'm not as helpful as I might be.

For example, If a washing machine went bang, then I would happily collect it from the property and pay if
necessary for disposal I would also assist/supervise the plumbing in of the replacement. But my tenant
would be paying for the replacement machine unless my relationship with said tenant was good enough for
me to offer to pay for it, but that's really down to how the tenant has conducted themselves in MY house and
in their dealings with me and this varies greatly from tenant to tenant.

Ordinarily, I'd always install a machine as a new let is finished and ready for rental, not least so I can be
sure that it functions correctly and doesn't leak rather than rely on my tenant to check this. If a tenant has
their own machine, then I insist on being the person who installs it for the same reasons above, after
all I'm left with the repair bill if their machine leaks.

There is no obligation to provide a dryer of any sort as there are still laundrettes available in most towns
and all you need is a length of rope and two places to tie it and you have provided more than you need to.

Top tip- I buy appliances from ebay, my last washing machine was a Bosch unit which I collected from a
nice chap in Wales, I paid £50 for it and it looks brand new and works perfectly, in fact I've just sold the flat
it was in and my buyer wanted the appliances as well so has paid a nice cash price for the cooker, fridge
and washing machine, all bought second hand and I've literally doubled my outlay


EDIT- Lettings agents are renowned for doing the bare minimum while still charging the owner the full 10%
or whatever? Often the tenant doesn't even know who the landlord is, I self manage my properties and do 90%
of the repairs personally so I know what's going on with my properties. The only stuff I farm out is
electrical/gas works because it needs signed off. And I pay an agent to find me a tenant in the first place and do
viewings and credit checks etc. Apart from that it's all me.

A landlord I know has just had to completely refurb his flat as the letting agent's he's been
paying 10% to over an 11 year tenancy has done jack shit other than take his money each month.
When his long termer moved out she (the tenant) told me in that whole time there hasn't been one electric
check or inspection, no reviews of tenancy, nothing. Whenever she has reported an issue, there has been
almost zero impetus to tackle it and as a result the place has just fallen apart. Owner has sacked the
agents like they care and just weighed out 15k on a complete refit. If it had been managed properly it would
have never got into that state.
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Currently enjoying products from Ford, Mazda and Yamaha
Ste wrote: Avatars are fine, it's signatures that need turning off.

[Ste]

£6 per hour?

That gets you 45,000watts give or take on a normal domestic tariff.

[mentalboy]

[Rogerborg]

[grr666]

As with anything, the devil is in the detail.
Within reason I can put whatever conditions I like in a tenancy agreement, so long as it is clear to all
parties what means what and what exclusions do or don't apply. I always give them a few days to read it properly
before signing which they normally do when I take them out for lunch to do the signing. In my experience the personal
touch works FAR better than the arms length approach some adopt while entrusting their investment to an agent.
I always greet new tenants with chocolates, flowers, beer and wine with a Welcome to your new home card
and I write my private mobile number at the bottom so they can reach me round the clock.

Because I self manage and self maintain, that essentially puts me on call 24/7/365. If a tenant ever has reason to
call me out, my response time is >12hours, >1hour if a serious problem. It means by proxy that I also re visit
my properties often during a tenancy.

I like to improve them, so I'm upgrading them all the time. I'm having a new back door put in to one
soon, I went there to look at a sticking lock last week and upon close inspection, and by my standards
the entire door and frame would benefit from complete renewal so I'll chuck several hundred quid at paying
for that when I get back from my holidays. Reporting a small issue has quickly got them a new back
door, it encourages my tenants to call me out even for minor things, I don't mind. I get to inspect the
properties more regularly and keep an eye on wear and tear from normal use, and it means things aren't
just left to deteriorate. The owner of the OP's rental property is probably completely unaware there's
an issue. Agents are very good at keeping them in the dark, it's why I won't use them, don't forget they are
usually also estate agents too, so assume lying, deceitful, false, uncommunicative and you'll not be disappointed.
____________________
Currently enjoying products from Ford, Mazda and Yamaha
Ste wrote: Avatars are fine, it's signatures that need turning off.

[stevo as b4]

But from what your saying I take it that managing several properties is your day job, just that you work for yourself and not an agency.

It's a bit different from a greedy land lord that has a 9-5 6days a week job, but who is also letting out properties, and trying to make as much cash with as little input, investment or contact with the tenants. Such a person even with the best will in the world, could never self manage and respond to calls or issues in a reasonable timely manner either!

I liked reading about the way you self manage and how you deal with your tenants and the personal touch as you call it. Giving a new tenant a welcome with a slab of beer/wine/chocolate etc is quite a thoughtful thing and must in many cases promote a good will relationship with the landlord for the future.

I do have my concerns and questions though about what one of your tenants needs to do, or how nice they have to be to you to get you to install a new washing machine?

[stevo as b4]

Also reading this thread reminds me of why renting a property would never be satisfactory to me.

I like to fit my own stuff, do my own bodged repairs and plumbing and electrics that I have not admitted to!

I live in a lease hold property and I'm sure if I read all the small print and lease there's many things I could not do within the terms of the lease.

But I pay the mortgage and I like to keep my property clean and improve/upgrade things. I've fitted ground anchors, front gates, extra security, re-landscaped the gardens, and put in loads of extra heating and electrics including a garage and shed ring main, and outside lighting/power points.

I don't like to be told what I can and can't do, and if I lived in a rental property, I'm sure I would soon be doing DIY myself to my own tastes, and if the washing machine broke, I'd be taking it out and replacing it myself with no PAT test and no seeking permission from a landlord etc.

[angryjonny]

[Baffler186]

Same thing happened to me at Uni. Phone them and say you'll pay a reduced rate until it's replaced. I don't care what anyone says, if I'm shown a place with a working washing machine at £x/month then that's what I'm getting. I ended up going into their office in town, in front of several potential customers, and demanding it fixed. 2 days later we had a new (well, working) machine and were given £50 off our rent.
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[MCN]

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/household-appliances/laundry/tumble-dryers/white-knight-c3a-vented-tumble-dryer-white-21327164-pdt.html

Taking in laundry at the weekends for about a month should cover cost with some pin money.

The work will keep you out the pub.
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Disclaimer: The comments above may be predicted text and not necessarily the opinion of MCN.

[Lord Percy]

Thanks for the replies.

About the £6/hour thing. He was definitely just lying.

It's a local lettings agency with at least 100 properties, mostly for students, and we've now discovered they have a load of bad reviews on google, and the good reviews are blatantly fake. Many ex-tenants saying they've had their deposits withheld, or have been waiting many months to get the deposit back (pretty sure that's illegal?), amongst other things, including issues like the one I've described about my own house.

Thanks gr666 for the fairly detailed posts about landlord obligations. I figured the dryer issues might be a case of 'tough shit'.

The lettings agency are basically cowboys about everything. No deposit protection scheme information yet, and still no inventory provided even though it's been requested.

Oh and name and shame time: Rooftop Living, Hyde Park, Leeds.

I guess the one option we do have is to tell them that at the end of our contract we're going to have moved out and then they'll need to replace the dryer anyway so it's ready for the new tenants.

Having said all this, there's still a very very slim chance that the lettings agent really is working on replacing it, and it really is just taking a very long time. Slim chance of that, but we'll see.

Some people have mentioned withholding rent - I'm not really sure we can do this at the moment because, as said, we can't figure out if there's been any breach of contract. The property is still liveable, we just have to let clothes air dry (on damp days the clothes will sometimes dry with a damp smell). The main issue is that we rented a property with a dryer, and now it's broken. And the lettings agent is a known crook so we want to know if we can fight this at all.

[angryjonny]

[DrSnoosnoo]

As is the case with many Leeds Student Agent companies.

If I was you, I'd go in. And keep going in. I did to get some stuff sorted. Ultimately they will do the least they can until it's easier to fix it.

As for the deposit protection info. The deposit has to be in one of these schemes, by law. Which law? Dunno, but it does

I'd march down there and demand this information. They will have it, they have to have it.

I HATED the way student properties are managed in Leeds. In Huddersfield I had much fewer problems with agencies...

Good luck.
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[MCN]

Be careful on withholding rent.
That could affect your credit score if it gets out of hand.

You may need to borrow money later.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/repairs-in-rented-housing/disrepair-what-are-your-options-if-you-are-a-private-rented-tenant/withholding-rent-because-of-disrepair/
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Disclaimer: The comments above may be predicted text and not necessarily the opinion of MCN.

[Lord Percy]