Advice Housing Disrepair This information is accurate as of February 2016
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Housing Disrepair (This information is provided for students with a fixed term AST) If your student house is in bad shape, you should notify your landlord straight away as it is their responsibility to keep up with repairs. Your landlord is only legally obliged to repair the property and maintain it to a safe standard. They do not have to make improvements unless they are written into the contract.
Before I sign a contract Examples of disrepair would be: • Damp • An infestation of pests • Issues with drains or sewerage systems • Problems with water supplies or heating If you notice, or are informed of any issues of this nature
when viewing your new student house, address these with your landlord straight away, and ask these problems to be fixed before you move in. Get any assurances made in writing and always bear in mind, it is the landlord’s responsibility to provide you somewhere safe, secure and habitable to live and study.
What are my responsibilities? Having said this, it is your responsibility to look after your home by using it in a ‘tenant like’ way which means • Doing minor repairs yourself such as changing light bulbs • Keeping your home clean • Not causing any damage to the property and using any fixtures and fittings properly
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• Telling your landlord about the repairs that are needed and providing access when repair work is needed In most cases, your landlord isn’t responsible for repair work until they know about it, so it’s up to you to tell your landlord about any repairs that are needed. Reporting repairs is often a term in tenancy agreements too – if This information is accurate as of February 2016
2 they don’t know something is broken, they can’t fix it.
repairs. However, unless it’s an emergency, they must give you at least 24 hours’ notice in writing. It is not acceptable for them to pop in unannounced or at very short notice.
Your landlord (or their agent), has the right to access your home to see what repair work is needed and to carry out the
What are the landlord’s responsibilities? If you have a written tenancy agreement, it may set out the landlord’s obligations including to carry out repairs, this type of term is called an express term.
of everything you are promised, including the date of the discussion. Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, implies a term into your tenancy agreement that it’s the most important of your landlord’s obligations to carry out basic repairs and this applies whether your tenancy agreement is in writing or made verbally.
Even if you don’t have a written tenancy agreement, any verbal agreements between you and your landlord apply, although sometimes this can be difficult to prove – keep a written note
What does Section 11 cover? Generally, it means that your landlord is responsible for keeping in repair: • The structure and exterior of your home e.g. the walls, roof, foundations, drains, guttering and external pipes, windows and external doors • Basins, sinks, baths, toilets and their pipework • Water and gas pipes, electrical wiring, water tanks, boilers, radiators, gas fires,
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fitted electric fires or fitted heaters. • For tenancies that began on or after 15 January 1989 these repair responsibilities extend to the common parts of a building too for example, entrance halls, stairs and lifts. Your landlord cannot pass on costs incurred of any repair work to you as it is their responsibility under this act.
This information is accurate as of February 2016
3 Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) Many of students live in shared housing, also known as HMO’s and in these cases, your landlord has extra legal responsibilities on fire and general safety, water supply and drainage, gas and electricity, waste disposal, and general
upkeep of the HMO. HMO not only includes shared housing but houses divided into bedsitting rooms with shared facilities, hostels and bed and breakfast hotels that accommodate more than one household.
Can I claim compensation if repairs are not carried out? If you have suffered financial loss, inconvenience or damage to your belongings because of disrepair, you may have a case to claim a rent rebate from the landlord. Examples could be loss of cooking facilities for more than 24 hours, having to move out of your bedroom or losing the use of the lounge due to serious or extensive disrepair, loss of facilities such as a shower, bath or hot water. Discuss the issue of a rent rebate with the landlord or
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agent first. You need to clearly state why you feel compensation is warranted, giving specific examples. If an agreement cannot be reached, you could deduct the money from your rent, however you must be aware that if the landlord or agent disagrees with your claim, they could take the money from your deposit, or take action in the small claims court to recover any shortfall in rent. Seek advice from a professional adviser before taking the step of deducting rent.
This information is accurate as of February 2016
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The Redress Scheme Letting Agent Redress Schemes If your landlord doesn’t resolve a complaint, you can complain to a government-approved letting agent redress scheme. Letting agent redress schemes provide a free, independent service for resolving disputes between letting agents and their customers. The Redress Scheme can act as an independent body to investigate complaints against Letting Agents. If your Agent belongs to a Redress Scheme,
they can intervene when you have lodged a complaint against the Agent and are not happy with the way that it was resolved. If the Redress Scheme upholds your complaint they may ask the Letting Agent to apologise, to award you compensation (up to a maximum of £25,000) or to provide you with some other remedy in recognition of the inconvenience or financial loss that you have suffered.
How do I use the Scheme? First make sure that you have lodged your complaint directly with the agent using their complaints procedure. The agent then has eight weeks to resolve your complaint. If eight weeks have elapsed, or the agent has told you there is nothing further they can do, and the complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction, you can then submit the complaint to the Redress Scheme. Find out which of the three approved schemes the agent belongs to: http://www.goldsmithssu.org/advice
• The Property Ombudsman • Ombudsman Services (Property) • Property Redress Scheme The lettings agent must have been a member of the scheme at the time when the problem you are complaining about first arose. The process for referring your complaint to the redress scheme will vary depending on which scheme your Letting Agent belongs to.
This information is accurate as of February 2016
5 What if my Lettings Agent does not belong to a Redress Scheme? Local Authority agents, universities, charities providing student housing and social housing are exempt from the scheme. Letting Agents who are exempt from the scheme should be able to explain why this is the case.
If your letting agent does not belong to a redress scheme, and you think that they are required to do so, you can report this to the Local Trading Standards Office. If they are in breach of a legal requirement to be a member of a scheme they can be fined up to ÂŁ5,500.
Further Information. Shelter http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/repairs_and_bad_conditions/ responsibility_for_repairs/what_is_disrepair http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/private_renting/problems_ with_renting/letting_agent_redress_schemes
Citizen’s Advice Bureau https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/renting-a-home/studenthousing/students-in-private-rented-accommodation/student-housingproblems-with-repairs/
Contact Us
Visit us on the Goldsmiths Students’ Union website and click on Advice or contact us via e-mail: advice@goldsmithssu.org. http://www.goldsmithssu.org/advice
This information is accurate as of February 2016