Deduct from our Rent??

snowgal

Hi, Im looking for peoples opinion on situation we have with Landlord. In June we emailed them and asked them would they get the surrounds of the house done, power wash, gutters, patio etc. Weve been there over 8 years now and we have forked out a few times. They agreed to it and said to send on receipt. So at the end of June I sent it on and they said thats fine theyll get it sorted asap. Then at the end of August I sent a polite reminder and they said it was in the post. Again waited, and in October said I hadnt received it and gave my bank details. Its now a month later again and still nothing. My husband wants to deduct from our next rent payment at this stage as he said we have given plenty of notice. But Im not sure thats the way to do it?? The bill was €500 that we paid..
Thanks for reading, any thoughts?

Gatling

Unfortunately you cannot deduct anything from the rent it's a big no no,
You should talk to your landlord direct

Mrs OBumble

Contact the landlord again and propose this to them.

That said ...

If it was my house, I'd be saying "no way in hell am I paying E500". As a LL, I pay for gutters to be cleaned, because it needs to be done to keep the property in good order. Costs about E100 each time. The rest is just cosmetics. If you really want it to look prettier, then get yourself a powerwasher next time Lidl have them on special, will cost you about E80 and some time to do it yourself.

Graham

snowgal wrote: »

My husband wants to deduct from our next rent payment at this stage as he said we have given plenty of notice. But Im not sure thats the way to do it?? The bill was €500 that we paid.

Don't do it. I'm afraid there are no circumstances under which you can make deductions from the rent of your own accord.

As frustrating as it may be, if you make deductions from the rent you're running the immediate risk of receiving an arrears notice followed by the termination of your tenancy.

davo10

At 8 years, is op in the first 6 months of a new Part 4 cycle ?

snowgal

thanks for the replies, I figured as much myself. Will do another email and wait and see....

Mrs O Bumble, the power wash was actually thrown in for free as we had used the guy ourselves every year to get it done. It was gutters, broken fence, patio damaged slate..So not just to look prettier. Also we had done the gutters ourselves every year but felt we shouldn't really have to pay for that tbh...

hawkelady

davo10 wrote: »

At 8 years, is op in the first 6 months of a new Part 4 cycle ?

Reason for bringing this into the conversation?

Fian

Probably worth bearing in mind that your landlord discharged a tax bill yesterday. Which was around 50% of your annual rent, less expenses. Might not be teh easiest time of the year for him to discharge a bill for cosmetic cleaning.

Browney7

Fian wrote: »

Probably worth bearing in mind that your landlord discharged a tax bill yesterday. Which was around 50% of your annual rent, less expenses. Might not be teh easiest time of the year for him to discharge a bill for cosmetic cleaning.

Yeah, a tax bill that came out of thin air?

If OP has it in writing from LL/Agent he'd pay then they need to pay up. They are taking the p1ss with the delay. OP, mention in the email how long you've been waiting is unreasonable and that you'll have to explore all avenues for reimbursement if the money isn't received by whatever date you deem reasonable. Follow up with a phone call to confirm receipt of same

snowgal

Fian wrote: »

Probably worth bearing in mind that your landlord discharged a tax bill yesterday. Which was around 50% of your annual rent, less expenses. Might not be teh easiest time of the year for him to discharge a bill for cosmetic cleaning.

Yea that's fair enough but in fairness the bill is due from June...

pauliebdub

Can you speak to the landlord directly instead of sending emails, it's a much more effective way of communicating?

davo10

hawkelady wrote: »

Reason for bringing this into the conversation?

Landlord can terminate tenancy for any reason in the first 6 months of a new part 4 tenancy cycle. If relationship between op and LL deteriorates, LL might decide it is time for a change.

Sarn

davo10 wrote: »

Landlord can terminate tenancy for any reason in the first 6 months of a new part 4 tenancy cycle. If relationship between op and LL deteriorates, LL might decide it is time for a change.

This has changed. The termination must be given before the next cycle begins rather than in the first 6 months.

vmb

Can you speak to the landlord directly instead of sending emails, it's a much more effective way of communicating?

I disagree.

Could be slower way of communication, but emails/letters cause less confusions in the long term.

For trivial things, a call is ok, but I'd always want to have some prove/conclusions of the conversation via email

pauliebdub

vmb wrote: »

I disagree.

Could be slower way of communication, but emails/letters cause less confusions in the long term.

For trivial things, a call is ok, but I'd always want to have some prove/conclusions of the conversation via email

It makes the OP's request impersonal or like they are chancing their arm trying to get the landlord to pay for the repairs. The landlord may not even read the emails I would phone the landlord and then follow up with an email if I wanted to have something in writing.

Mrs OBumble

snowgal wrote: »

It was gutters, broken fence, patio damaged slate..

How did these things get broken? If you believe it was wear and tear, were they notified to the LL to get them fixed as they happened?

Fixing breakages is quite different from "getting the surrounds of the house done".


I'd agree re email being ineffective. Now so many people read them on the phone, they don't read as carefully, not do follow ups as carefully as in the days of sitting at the computer to read emails.

Bananaleaf

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Contact the landlord again and propose this to them.

That said ...

If it was my house, I'd be saying "no way in hell am I paying E500". As a LL, I pay for gutters to be cleaned, because it needs to be done to keep the property in good order. Costs about E100 each time. The rest is just cosmetics. If you really want it to look prettier, then get yourself a powerwasher next time Lidl have them on special, will cost you about E80 and some time to do it yourself.

500eur every 8yrs to make the property look nicer is a waste in your opinion Mrs O'Bumble? If it was my house, I would be willing to show the same respect for my property as I would hope my tenants would. I would also be very interested in my property being maintained to a decent standard to show the surrounding neighbours that I have respect for their area.
Would you redecorate the interior? How is the exterior different? :rolleyes:

Just because LL is not the one living there, doesn't void the fact that they are the owner. LLs have a responsibility to keep the property maintained. If they have tenants who are creating you unnecessary work/expense then that's one thing. But 'the surrounds of the house done' is reasonable after 8yrs. As a LL you should be willing to keep your very good tenants happy.

pauliebdub wrote: »

Can you speak to the landlord directly instead of sending emails, it's a much more effective way of communicating?

I'd imagine that given the circumstances the paper trail would come in handy

snowgal

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

How did these things get broken? If you believe it was wear and tear, were they notified to the LL to get them fixed as they happened?

Fixing breakages is quite different from "getting the surrounds of the house done".


I'd agree re email being ineffective. Now so many people read them on the phone, they don't read as carefully, not do follow ups as carefully as in the days of sitting at the computer to read emails.

Mainly weather related. the broken slate had been there over 2 years, had told them. To be honest the point of the post is just about the right way in going about getting the agreed amount not the cosmetics vs not. They agreed to pay no problem but haven't.