Unfurnished/ minor repair house, can I be refunded by landlord?

Danleo171

Hello,
I am soon to be moving into a new property however it is in need of a lot of furniture, beds as a priority and then storage space, wardrobes etc,

The house is is also in need of some minor repair for damaged locks, broken oven and could probably do with painting inside and outside.

What I am wondering is if I have any rights to be reimbursed for the cost of fixing these problems and which problems I am entitled to be reimbursed for.

I have not started paying rent as I am waiting on the current tenant to move out and the landlord does not live in Ireland.

If anyone can offer any advice on my rights to be funded for this or if there are any other schemes which I could use to help cover these costs please let me know.

Thanks

Samuel T. Cogley

Reimbursement only attaches under the following, as far as I'm aware.

(g) without prejudice to any other liability attaching in this case, reimburse the tenant in respect of all reasonable and vouched for expenses that may be incurred by the tenant in carrying out repairs to the structure or interior of the dwelling for which the landlord is responsible under paragraph (b) where the following conditions are satisfied—

(i) the landlord has refused or failed to carry out the repairs at the time the tenant requests him or her to do so, and

(ii) the postponement of the repairs to some subsequent date would have been unreasonable having regard to either—

(I) a significant risk the matters calling for repair posed to the health or safety of the tenant or other lawful occupants of the dwelling, or

(II) a significant reduction that those matters caused in the quality of the tenant's or other such occupants' living environment,

Oven would likely be covered, painting not IMHO. If it's an unfurnished let, you need to supply your own furniture.

Curious1002

How did you find this place - through Daft, Agent or you know the landlord personally?
Was the apt advertised as furnished? Were there pics where you see a bed, wardrobe, shelves, oven etc? Hope you saved this ad with pics as it can be helpful in the future.

But first of all dont do anything yourself for a short while. You have to communicate with the landlord or the agent first and point out everything that needs to be done. He/she will then either accept all the works, partial works or nothing at all.
You can also schedule The Dublin City Council inspection of your place and they will issue the landlord a letter with list of urgent works/repairs and will give them a specific time to have them done, otherwise your landlord will be penalised.

If the landlord refuses to do the urgent crucial works, like in the post above, you will be able to do these works yourself or pay someone to do them and get the receipts. Better to always pay someone to do them professionally otherwise the landlord can say that you broke something that was working fine before. Also, how would you know how much to deduct from your next rent for your own work? Everything has to be agreed with the landlord first or, if he/she doesnt respond to you, you still will need to send them info of what you plan to do and how much it will cost them and a timeline.
But remember the communication is key because one day you can end up in the RTB fighting for your deposit back.
You are vulnerable for the first 6 months if there is no lease so if you do something they dont like they will kick you out on the spot.
I dont know your situation so hard to advice. No harm to give a call to Threshold or RTB and have a chat about your options.

dennyk

The landlord would be responsible for ensuring the property meets minimum standards. A working oven is definitely a must. I don't believe locks are technically a statutory requirement, but if they are provided, then they must be functional, and the landlord would need to repair them if they aren't. Painting isn't really a requirement unless the paint is in such bad shape that it is somehow creating a hazard. You can repaint at your own expense provided you obtain permission from the landlord first, though, and the landlord cannot unreasonably refuse permission to repaint.

Other than the appliances listed above, landlords are not obligated to provide any furniture. Unless the place was advertised as furnished or your lease specifies that certain items of furniture are included, your landlord does not have to purchase or provide any furniture for you, or reimburse you for buying your own. If you don't want to have to purchase a lot of furniture, you'd need to find a furnished rental instead (which shouldn't be difficult, as the vast majority of rentals in Ireland are at least partially furnished).

For furnishing the place on the cheap, look for used stuff on Gumtree DoneDeal or Adverts. Often you can find stuff very cheap, sometimes even free (though you'll usually have to pick up the item yourself). Large charity shops will also sometimes sell furniture. Secondhand furniture stores can offer some bargains as well, though they do tend to be a bit more expensive than the other options. Finally, look for large wholesale furniture outlets and see if they have any "scratch 'n' dent" items, display items, or pieces from broken or mismatched sets that they might be selling for cheap; don't be afraid to bargain.

The one thing I will suggest is that if you can possibly afford it, buy a brand new and decent quality mattress; used mattresses can be full of all sorts of nasty ****e, and a poor quality or worn mattress can cause serious back problems after a while.

All that said, unfortunately you may have some trouble at the moment sourcing furniture safely (or at all), given the current situation; most shops will not be open and people may be reluctant to list stuff online or have strangers coming into their homes to pick up items (and god knows what you might be exposing yourself to in the process, either...). If you are desperate for a few pieces like a bedframe and mattress, consider ordering those online from Argos or Amazon or whatnot and having them delivered, then just living without the rest of the furniture for a while until things get better.

ted1

Danleo171 wrote: »

Hello,
I am soon to be moving into a new property however it is in need of a lot of furniture, beds as a priority and then storage space, wardrobes etc,

The house is is also in need of some minor repair for damaged locks, broken oven and could probably do with painting inside and outside.

What I am wondering is if I have any rights to be reimbursed for the cost of fixing these problems and which problems I am entitled to be reimbursed for.

I have not started paying rent as I am waiting on the current tenant to move out and the landlord does not live in Ireland.

If anyone can offer any advice on my rights to be funded for this or if there are any other schemes which I could use to help cover these costs please let me know.

Thanks

How do you know the landlord owns the property ? Might it be a scam ?

He may well get the things fixed when the tenant moves out and before you move in.

Graham

Danleo171 wrote: »

What I am wondering is if I have any rights to be reimbursed for the cost of fixing these problems and which problems I am entitled to be reimbursed for.

No, at least initially.

It does sounds like there may be issues you can ask the landlord to address, particularly in areas that are covered by the minimum standards for rented accommodation.

You would be better off just having a conversation with your future landlord to ask if the issues you've identified will be addressed before you move in, or if you're willing to do the work, ask if he would be willing to cover the costs.