Absent Landlords.
 

My youngest daughter lives in a rented house owned by a person in the south of England, this property is managed by a company in Stockport, the gas combi boiler has broke down on countless occasions, the repair people say the boiler is leaking water and blowing the gas out, in effect it needs replacing. The landlord is reluctant to fork out for a new boiler so she and her 3 children are being passed from the management co to the repair co like a yoyo, how would you address this ridiculous situation.:confused:

Re: Absent Landlords.
 

She has my sympathy, not too dissimilar to my situation now and it seems to be very difficlut to find an answer.

Re: Absent Landlords.
 

Very strongly.

Hope its not leaking any harmfull fumes into the propery.

Re: Absent Landlords.
 

if she recieves housing benefit tell te council to stop making teh payments to teh landlord until it is fixed, she is entitled to do this

if she pays her own rent simply stop paying it and if tehy threaten eviction point out that it can take the courts up to 1 year to get her out

Re: Absent Landlords.
 

6 weeks for eviction process as far as I've been told.

Re: Absent Landlords.
 

not if you make it difficult as hell especialy if your a squatter it took months for my mate to get somone out of his house and tehy left it trashed

depends how awkward you are preppared to be

i personaly would stop paying teh rent and use what i save to rent somewhere else

Re: Absent Landlords.
 

It's difficult to be awkward and try things like squatting when there are kids in the house.

Re: Absent Landlords.
 

Talk to CAB to start with. I would reckon that a letter giving then say 4 weeks to fix it or she will get it done and withhold rent untill the bill has been paid sounds like a reasonable plan of action. CAB will be able to tell her if it is the owners responsibility (Which I reckon it is) or the management companies.

Re: Absent Landlords.
 

She doesn't need to start squatting. Just refuse to pay the rent. They aren't holding up their end of the contract so why should she! She just needs to keep records of everything that goes wrong and all the times shes got in contact with her landlord/company that manages it. So if they go for an eviction they don't have a leg to stand on. My parents did it in the past and it worked for them.

Re: Absent Landlords.
 

Actually not that simple im afraid Ian, i already tried my old colleagues at the cab there is little that u can do other than look for somewhere else or contact the HSE or take a private small claims suit. When all this cuffufell with the housing law implimented after 1997 we thought that included Private landlords - seems they are law onto themselves as far as scrupilous landlords!!! There seems little protection for private tennants!


As i was told:
You dont pay the rent - despite the repairs issue then you breach the contract so gives them more the case to evict you [quicker]. You can get the repair done yourself & charge the landlord & in writing inform that the money will be deducted off the rent to cover cost of repair. Keep copies of all correspondance. Generally tho they have u over a barrel anyway cos they are usually short term lease tenancies upon review on renewal & if they so wish can terminate the contract then, you'll only have to look for somewhere else to live.

Re: Absent Landlords.
 

It may have changed now, but it worked for my parents a few years ago. As soon as they stopped paying rent they were straight round to fix the boiler.

But the suggestion Mel made seems to be the best, to get the repairs done and then charge the landlord.

Re: Absent Landlords.
 

Thats what i was told a few weeks ago enquiring on behalf of lancsdave as i used to work there, so really no things havent changed not even since i last private rented 14 years ago:eek:

Yes ianto's daughter could try that KEEP IT IN WRITING KEEP RECEIPTS, but if its a case of needing a new boiler then that could prove rather difficult to pay out right for it & ensuring the ability to get the money back from landlord would be the next tricky bit.

Re: Absent Landlords.
 

i didnt say she shoud squat i said she shuodl hold back the rent and the 6 week thing is noncense a landlord cant throw you out for withholding rent because vital repairs need doing teh courts would laugh at him

you do have to pay teh rent eventualy though which personaly i think is wrong , if a landlord is been awkward it should hurt him financialy

send a letter stating you want teh repairs doing within 24 hours or the rent stops until it is fixed , if it was somthing minor i would say a week but heating is vital in this weather especialy with kids

Re: Absent Landlords.
 

Now with this problem cropping up now twice locally i wonder if an email to Greg Pope will help highlight this situ ????

[email protected]

Something needs to be done, there are landlord companies & privates taking money & running from their obligations.

Just an idea.

Re: Absent Landlords.
 

there wouldnt be so many private landlords needed if the council hadnt sold off all tehir properties in teh first place

all most landlords care about is getting mortgages paid on properties and selling them once teh value goes up and its teh poor sods living in them that have to go without basic things like heating just so it dosnt cut into the landlords proffits

a lot of landlords barely cover mortgages and teh houses pay for themselves via the housing benefit and they cant afford a new boiler as they live in a lot of cases off a standard wage which runs their house , everything is fine while the rents getting paid but once somthing is needed likea major repair liek a new boiler they dont have the money to do it and as long as its not them going without heating they are in no rush to get it sorted

Re: Absent Landlords.
 

Yeh can do that but the landlord is shifty enough to auction the house off than to put a new boiler in!! Its not easy to stay in a property with an eviction hanging over u with kiddies in tow is what he is saying, no heating/hot water is bad enough, these companies are arsewipes with the law loopholes protecting them rather than the tennant!

I know someone who has got a notice to quit cos the landlord has given the property to his son to live in, its such a uncertain way of living is private renting unlike councils & HA's whom are bounded by rules & regs, & following potocol that protects the tennant as well as the HA/council.

Re: Absent Landlords.
 

Another useless toothless waste of government money. :mad: :mad:

Re: Absent Landlords.
 

Do you have Household Contents Insurance.

If so Check if it includes Legal Cover or offers free legal advise.

Re: Absent Landlords.
 

Just a word of CAUTION.

If your daughter does decide to bear the cost of a repair or new system she cannot deduct the cost from the rent. All that will do is give the landlord an excuse to issue an eviction order.

Even if she takes the landlord to the Small Claims Court, when she wins her case, which she most surely will, she has still to get the money off the landlord. He can drag that out for years if he’s a mind to. She could send the Bailiffs in but that costs more money.

If via litigation she does get her money the landlord will be looking for revenge so she had better watch out. He will find some way of evicting her.

Her best option is to contact one of the bona fide Housing Associations and get onto their list. With children in a house with no heating, even though winter is all but over, her circumstances should give her some sort of priority.

Re: Absent Landlords.
 

Thank you my friends I am not an impetuous man, where me and mine are concerned it becomes personal the reason for the thread was to gather information, as I personally have never been down the rental road, my daughter pays £10. 00 a week top up rent and woe betide she is late sending it, eviction notices follow the day after, if the mangement company can spur into action so rapidly why can they not do the same with the 'absent' landlord who lives in the tranquility of Kingston Upon Thames, his ethnic backgruond I will leave to your imagination. I have tried the council and all the other so called landlord regulation bodies, so come on Hyndburn Councillors that represent residents of Belfield Road ,Where do we go from here? Ps good to see you back jambutty, members please keep your ideas comming as my daughter cannot be the only tennant in this disgracefull situation. I could resolve this situation by dipping into my savings, but why should I have to? again thanks for all your input.

Re: Absent Landlords.
 

Strangely enough we have come back in tonight from my daughters football training and the boiler is working again. I suspected it had some sort of airlock in the system and it looks like I might have been right


Heads and brick walls spring to mind. :mad:

Re: Absent Landlords.
 

these are the reasons i would never rent private!!

Re: Absent Landlords.
 

Unfortunatley there isn't enough social housing to go round. And believe it or not a lack of heating & hot water combined with a law breaking landlord gives you very little in the way of priority points. The funniest thing I find is that I have been told I'm the lowest of priorities because I have no links with Accrington. My daughter doesn't go to school here and I don't work here. The fact I live here and PAY council tax is totally irrelevant :mad:

Re: Absent Landlords.
 

I remember that once with me when i needed a council house in ossy, they would not give me one because as you said lancs i have no links as i live in accy!!
my parents live in ossy and ive was bred in ossy for 21 years before i moved out, and they say i have no links!!
yet iv seen people moving in houses who are from huncoat and even shadworths, what bloody links have they got!!??

Re: Absent Landlords.
 

....so i went elsewhere, and got a nice 3 bedroom house!!

IN OSSY!!!!

Re: Absent Landlords.
 

Usually a friend in high places in the council. Trust me when you have contacts like that it helps been there and done it up here.

Re: Absent Landlords.
 

Your right spuggie but I don't fancy asking PB for any favours as god knows what pay back would be, I have just found out the absent landlord had the house valued last year, and the valuer in confidence said 'he' the landlord, was remorgaging several properties to buy some more in the area as they are so cheap. I wish I knew who his bank was.:mad:

Re: Absent Landlords.
 

Ian I found that a bit of nepotism helps. Never needed a councilor just a member of extended family that worked there. :o

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I hope he doesn't buy at auctions :eek:

Re: Absent Landlords.
 

Update, after the 6th telephone call to the management company to no avail, my wife has been to the council office they took the details and have promised to send an officer round tomorrow, my daughter has already done this before and it came to nothing, I think my wife will have been a little more assertive, so any councillor monitoring this thread I say again the house is in Belfield Road, get your finger out the kid's are freezing.

Re: Absent Landlords.
 

but dave they couldnt very well say you are the lowest priority cor yer a DINGLE.:D

Re: Absent Landlords.
 

Re: Absent Landlords.
 

There are Willow, but getting anyone from the council to get involved is as hard as it was for Churchill to get the Yanks involved in WW2.

Re: Absent Landlords.
 

Another broken promise from Hyndburn Council, no Council officer called round to inspect the unheated hot waterless property as was promised on Thursday, time to take the proverbial bull by the horns myself, as my daughter scalded herself taking hot water upstairs to bath the youngsters. I shall have to refer the matter to Messr's Sue Grabbit and Run.

Re: Absent Landlords.
 

Apologies for draging this rather selfish thread back, but I feel this needs to be aired in view of the present topics regarding the Hyndburn Councillors, yesterday 28-3-2007 my wife rang Councillor Paul Barton leaving a message on his answering service at 4pm, Councillor Barton replied at 6pm taking the details of the problem, he then called my daughter and later visited the property, this morning the letting agents rang to inform us that a new boiler would be installed on Friday the 30-3-2007, the gas installers also confirmed this. This is after a family with 3 young children have been without hot water and central heating for almost a month, I would like to publicly thank Councillor Barton for his promt intervention in resolving this ridiculous situation. I. T. Walsh. (Ianto.W.)

Re: Absent Landlords.
 

Does this mean Councillor Barton is also my local councillor if I live round the corner from your daughter ?

Re: Absent Landlords.
 

That's hopefully good news.

It's also good to hear something positive about a local councillor for a change.

Re: Absent Landlords.
 

I would think so lancsdave, do you know, I always thought we were in Central Ward where we live, but it turns out we are in Barnfieild and we live in the town centre.:confused: I wonder if the Barnfield Councillors know there are any houses in this area, as we have never seen a Councillor in 20 years, even more:confused: .