Landlords!
 

In the Corgi installer magazine this month, a landlord who has 12 flats, but didnt have them certificated by a corgi registered installer, has been fined £24,840 with £13,481.02 in costs, by the Health and Safety Executive, Madhu Bhajanehatti had already been in reciept of improvement notices from the HSE and ignored them.
Another point which recently raised fines for landlords, was failure to have a property re-tested upon change of tenancy.
I personally think this is fantastic, some landlords have, in my opinion, got away with far too much in the way they treat thier tenants, and it is time they were brought to book!

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he should have had his flats taken off him, thats putting the tenants lives at risk


what an arse

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Agree Derek these people need to put their tenants safety first, wonder if they would be happy to live in property which hadn't complied with safety rules!!!

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Probably wouldn't live in these properties with or without safty rules Berne

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How true is that, we couldn't even contact my daughters landlord the other year about her boiler that kept breaking down. Turned out to be illegal and very dangerous:mad:

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i wouldnt live in a private rented house if you paid me

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There are some decent landlords out there but god help you if you get one that isn't interested in the tenants wellbeing!!!

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Rackman is still alive and kicking, unfortunately

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Some people really dont have a choice. With house prices so high and an average £10,000 deposit it is the only choice for those who cant afford a mortgage. :(

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i wasnt referring to affording a mortgage, i would rather live in a council house than a private rented house, at least you know its safe

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Your lucky to get a council house unless your homeless:( Been there done that and with no luck.

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Problem there being if you haven't got the required points you could be on the list for ever. For some people private renting is the only choice:(

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Very true Bernie. We HAD to privately rent because we had too many points. We had to be homeless before we would be put to the top of the list. Something you cant do wjen you have children!

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I am looking at private atm, the council waiting lists are too long :(

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My previous landlord (private..3 properties) took 2 months to provide me with a certificate. told me he had one, but when we moved in, (out of necessity), it wasn't forthcoming. He told me he had mislaid the certificate when I asked him to produce it. I said I wanted proof or I would make an official complaint. Pointed out he was risking a massive fine or even a prison sentence. He then got someone to come round, and both gas fires were condemned.

We already knew the boiler was safe, as the day we moved in we had a leak, and a guy came round and said he had fitted that, so we had just been using hot water - luckily it was summer. The same guy did the gas check, and said the landlord wouldn't spend anything unless forced into it.

Not all private landlords are bad, as not all agencies are bad. I know some, who shall remain unnamed have a bad rep. I seem to have found a good one now, touch wood. Morris property management, in case any one is interested.

PS, anyone interested in renting 2 Horne St, Accrington, if it is advertised, steer well clear! we even had to repair our own stair steps. :mad:

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Well you know now of course that the landlord was blagging you about the certificate, another note worth mentioning, is, when the certificate is issued, one copy has to be left on the property for the tenant, if you dont have a copy, whether the landlord has one or not, then you dont have one, if you see what I mean!

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Don't do it. Why do you want to move?

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same here flashy, too many cowboys!!
I rent, but not private. nor council.......Housing associations rent houses too;)
And the rents cheap!!:mosher:

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Because i will need a 3 bed eventually and this house is tiny!

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When you have the youngster ema you circumstances change, why not have a word with HH and see what they can do, but I agree with others your better off with HH than private, especially if anything goes wrong on the repairs front

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i have been told that theres a long waiting list for 3 beds and in theory ty and the baby can share for a while, even tho theres no room (i cant swap rooms either cos my bed wont fit in the back bedroom)

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Then get a new bed-even if it means getting a single one in the back bedroom but whatever you do don't go into private-big mistake.
My friends just left council housing for private and the guy has moved her numerous times because his 'doing up his houses'...everytime he has left her with building sites to live in and shes even decorated the houses then had to move again....and being a single mum with 3 children if that wasn't hard enough....his moving her yet again.
If she has any repairs to be done he 'puts it on his list'...we all know that means he CBA :rolleyes: and he always turns up for the rent when he pleases-usually before going abroad.....sometimes leaving it till she has £800 stashed away in what she owes in rent money-which is yet another risk for her.
Curerently if you have nuisance neighbours the council deal with it (which has happened alot in Fern gore recently and they have been thorough and sorted out quite a few yobs)), any repairs the council will deal with them (and fast, in my experience), and the rent is alot cheaper than private......all for the sake of a little extra room?

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At what age can baby and Ty not share?

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I dunno what it is but ty is 7 on monday so i dont think its so long.

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Is the baby a girl?, if so then it is ten years old they are not aloud to share with the oppsite sex, if they are both boys then they can share untill they leave home.

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yeah baby is a girl.... its not just about them sharing a room its about having space in general

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I had a girl who was 9 and a baby boy, the council dont care if ya have the space or not, to them a two bedroom house is big enough, then when ya son turns 10 then they will let ya have a 3 bedroom, untill then they wont do anything im afraid:(... unless like ya said you go private :(

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yeah, theres a few reasons i want to move..this is the first council house ive had, ive had problems with landlords and ive had good landlords, its the luck of the draw

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up here you have to have licence to be a lanlord a well known slum provider in glasgow got his took off him...

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So did all his tennants loose their homes then?

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It looks like it is slowly being introduced down here but it looks like you need government permission rather than the council being able to have their own according to the link for a new trial scheme in Burnley;

Burnley Borough Council - Burnley Wins Bid To Tackle Rogue Landlords

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We rent privately and the problem i have in getting anything done is getting hold of the landlord he moved from accy and now lives in Sutton coalfield .
he came round one day and said he was going to clear the back yard and concrete it over,he came with some workmen he is a builder by trade and they cleared all the rubbish and dug the ground right down and got it all ready for the cement and said he would be back the following weekend to finish it that was in August we are still waiting :mad:and he must have changed his mobile number as i cant contact him.
so now every time it rains (which is quite often in Accy) we end up with a swimming pool in the back.
And i have to wear wellies if its rained the night before to put the wheelie bin out:D

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Stop paying the rent mick, he'll soon get in touch:rolleyes:

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If he lifted stone flagstones it is clear that his real motive was to get them

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Now thats why ya shouldnt rent private ;)......bunch o cowboys i tell ya, bunch o cowboys:rolleyes:

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Not all Panther. Ive had several good landlords/agencies over the years.

You can't tar all of them with the same brush.

Would be interested in the figures of appox how many families rent in the uk as opposed to buying. Also how many of those who do rent are authority/HAs/private.
Would hazard a guess the larger number would be private

As for price, how much does the rent on a 2 bed council or housing association property come to these days?

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About £50 - £60 a week

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I pay £52 for a one bedroomed flat that is due/waiting refurbishment

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Was hoping for a more definite price, rather than a £10 quid difference.

They were much of a muchness when I rented from the council.

So whats the rent on your HA property Panther?

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£67 a week, but thats for a three bedroom, and its a big house.

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Well mine is private, not 3 beds maybe, but 2 very large bedrooms, and 2 receps.

Also not yer bog standard authority/HA box...a bit of character.

I only pay 75 per week, not that much difference.

Strange as it may seem, some people don't want to rent council for fear of being stigmatised, or due to the reputation of such estates.

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I have heard that 'swaps' may soon be available between Hyndburn Homes and Twin Valley tenants.

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so what special features does your house have caz?

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Did I say special features? No, I said character..

Have lived in many houses over the years, Blackburn & Hyndburn, at least 6 of them council, and can assure you that they don't have the character of a 100 year old terraced property. :)

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I Too live in a 100 yr old property:D

Still has some of the old fittings, also have a spooky cellar!!!:p

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Not yer average HA/Authority property then! :D A property bought or managed by a HA rather than a purpose built estate.

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Just goes to show panther doesn't it, ya shouldn't generalise! :D

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The comment you made about swaps is partly right Margaret, what is actually happening is as follows:

Twin Valley have been operating a choice based lettings scheme called B-with-us since 2002, we advertise the properties available in the local press, round the local area and on the internet, people would have joined the scheme and received a membership number... each week they look through the advert and if they see a property or properties they would be interested in and they meet the criteria for that home they put their name forward for it...

The Neighbourhood officer for each home would run a shortlist of all the people who have expressed an interest and the person who has been a member the longest is offered the property... the only people who can go above earliest membership date are those with priority status but many homes are advertised with the label... letting based on earliest membership date only so priority would not be considered for those homes.

From next year Twin valley, Hyndburn Homes, Pendle Housing, many housing associations in East Lancs and I think Rossendale are joining to make the scheme sub regional...which means all the homes would be advertised under the B-with-us banner..

Some of the policy and priority criteria will also be changing...anyone who are on waiting list for any of these companies will be moved to one central list but keep the date they first applied for rehousing.

So there may well be options for housing swaps from one area to the next

hope that clears things up and if you are not on any waiting list, get on one asap

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What happens if you are at the top of the list and keep turning properties down? Do you loose your top status?

Thinking about what you just wrote though if people select the house they like form the paper and get it if they are high enough up the list can they just sit waiting forever for the right house for them.

Do you move up the list depending on how long you have been waiting for a house even if your circumstances don't change? For example if a family of 2 wanted to move to a bigger house so they could have another child will they eventually get to the top of the list or do they have to be irresponsible and have the next child first even though their house id not big enough so they can then move up the list?

I ask because the system confuses me. When we applied for a house with North British about 10 years ago we were very low on points. We were however offered and moved into a house within about 3 months.

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Hope that makes things clearer Neil :rolleyes:

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Come on HR you should know Nel likes things in black and white:D

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Repossessions on mortgage default has just been discussed on BBC news
If your landlord defaults on the mortgage on the home you are renting
you will be evicted WITHOUT NOTICE:eek:

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I liv in rented in clayton its a lovely 2 bedroom . new fitted carpets . only £70 a week