Just signed 12 month lease, problems noticed on moving in

genegenie

Hi Guys,

I'd appreciate some advice on this one.

Just signed a 12 month lease yesterday, paying security deposit and one month's rent in full. When we viewed the property we didn't see a couple of issues, which we just noticed today upon beginning to move our things in.

The main one is that the oven door doesn't close properly. It looks perfect on inspection. However when in use the door doesn't seal properly and it leaks a strong stream of heat from one corner.

The other issue is with the shower in the en-suite. Only upon stepping in to the shower could we see that the shower enclosure fixture is broken (corner piece which holds the two rails together is cracked with a screw missing) at the top where the two doors meet. If you press upon the top rail holding the doors together, it completely separates in two pieces. Also there is no fixture to hold the shower head in place against the wall, this is missing.

The shower is annoying but could be sorted with a bit of DIY. However, the broken oven is untenable. Does anyone know if they're obliged to fix these issues since we signed the lease?

Our confidence is fairly shaken, we would be tempted to not move in at all and just serve 28 days notice (as outlined in the lease) and sod the rent and deposit. Any advice about this?

sunflower27

I'd contact the landlord with a list of things that are wrong. I had to do this a few years ago and found they were very happy to sort everything out as they needed the rent money and houses/apartments can be hard to fill.

toby08

Hi i dont have experience but my brother has rented for 20 yrs.his advice ìs to contact the owner.he said for the most part it will be sorted with no fuss

Monife

Definitely contact your landlord. They might be happy to fix the problems and might not know about them.

Myself and my partner moved into an apartment a month ago and only when we were cooking the second night, noticed that there was no extractor fan (the hood was nailed shut and no fan thing above). We asked him to install one and he had no problem with it.

You might find that your landlord couldn't give a sh*t. But then, you can serve your notice or threaten to do so.

genegenie

Brilliant, thanks for the advice guys. Feeling a bit more positive about it now, hopefully there'll be no fuss.

We're going through an agency, who mentioned that the landlord himself would be coming to cut the grass in the front and back every few weeks from April - October. We're a bit iffy about this, as we'd rather not have our privacy infringed, but presumed it was because the landlord owned the lawnmower & it wasn't listed on the inventory. We checked the shed in the garden today, and it turns out that the lawnmower is in there.

I'm a recreational gardener (already have a few pots for the patio ready to go), so I wouldn't mind cutting the grass myself. Do you reckon it'd be unreasonable to request that the landlord stay away and that we take care of the garden ourselves?

Monife

genegenie wrote: »

Brilliant, thanks for the advice guys. Feeling a bit more positive about it now, hopefully there'll be no fuss.

We're going through an agency, who mentioned that the landlord himself would be coming to cut the grass in the front and back every few weeks from April - October. We're a bit iffy about this, as we'd rather not have our privacy infringed, but presumed it was because the landlord owned the lawnmower & it wasn't listed on the inventory. We checked the shed in the garden today, and it turns out that the lawnmower is in there.

I'm a recreational gardener (already have a few pots for the patio ready to go), so I wouldn't mind cutting the grass myself. Do you reckon it'd be unreasonable to request that the landlord stay away and that we take care of the garden ourselves?

Not at all. If the lawnmower is there, I don't see any problem at all. In fact, if I was the LL, I would be more than happy to leave the job to you. That being said, perhaps the LL does it so he can check everything is in order, some like to do that. No harm in mentioning it anyway, don't ask, don't get.

odds_on

If you contact the landlord by phone or text him or see him face to face, always follow up with a written request for repairs / replacements. Normally you would give him "a reasonable time" to effect repairs - usually 2 weeks is sufficient. If he fails in this obligation you have the right to break a fixed term lease.

Always, always when dealing with landlord or his agent put things in writing and keep a copy. Should it be necessary to make a claim with the PRTB you have your evidence. You could also take photos of the problems to strengthen your case.

genegenie

Thanks for the advice again guys, spot on. Went to the house again today to take pictures of anything amiss and am compiling them into a document to email tomorrow. While there we discovered that the back door wasn't locked, nor can it be locked (the lock is stuck, won't turn). There's a deadbolt on it and that's all that's securing it. Luckily there's an alarm on the house.

Needless to say this is a much more serious issue than the rest of the stuff, so we won't be moving in until this is resolved. Gonna call them first thing tomorrow, then follow up by email with a list of things which need to be sorted. Hopefully it'll go well... *crosses fingers*

mydearwatson

To be fair, it's very unlikely that the landlord would have known of any of these problems unless he was the last person living in the place before you! The outgoing tenants would be unlikely to inform him before they moved out, particularly if the issues only arose recently, in case their deposit would be withheld. And, if at all possible, you would probably get the problems resolved more quickly if you go directly to the landlord rather than just reporting the problems to the agency.

As for the lawn mowing thing, he'll probably be delighted for you to do it rather than him. It's good though that he is willing to play his part in the upkeep of the garden - a lot of landlords don't bother - the fact that he does this is hopefully a good sign of what he'll be like as a landlord!

genegenie

mydearwatson wrote: »

To be fair, it's very unlikely that the landlord would have known of any of these problems unless he was the last person living in the place before you! The outgoing tenants would be unlikely to inform him before they moved out, particularly if the issues only arose recently, in case their deposit would be withheld. And, if at all possible, you would probably get the problems resolved more quickly if you go directly to the landlord rather than just reporting the problems to the agency.

As for the lawn mowing thing, he'll probably be delighted for you to do it rather than him. It's good though that he is willing to play his part in the upkeep of the garden - a lot of landlords don't bother - the fact that he does this is hopefully a good sign of what he'll be like as a landlord!

You're more than likely right, I'd say the landlord isn't aware of the issues especially since an agency is managing the property. The house is actually finished to an extremely high standard (looks like the landlord either lived in it or plans to live in it at some point) but that the last tenants didn't look after it well; oven is a state, ceramic hob has burn marks, stains inside the kitchen presses, shower enclosure broken etc etc. If the agency doesn't respond favourably, I'll ask to contact the landlord directly. I'm sure he'd prefer that his house were well maintained and would be horrified if he knew that the back door wasn't locked.

I'm actually looking forward to meeting him when he comes to cut the grass now, hopefully we can have a nice chat over tea