Bats in the belfry, windows are jammed - London flat renting, deposits & landlords

There are some pretty strict procedures for proper eviction. I would get legal advice to check whether LL is following these + about that deposit, as LL sounds like they might be liable (as @duncs says).

Thoughts with you, as this is not a nice situation - but is one that can and will be sorted!

^ seconding this

Haha. No. My eviction and the discussion concerning my colleague above are separate. My deposit is protected, everything is above board, bar potentially the LL not having an HMO licence where one is required.

And I say potentially as, if an HMO licence is required, it will be under additional requirements set out by the LA (Camden). I just got off the phone with Shelter and after a pretty comprehensive chat have been told that there is no way to stop the eviction, but only to delay it.

Best case circumstance is that we find a new place before the notice period is up in July and I can move without having to deal with any of the BS court hearings. Worst case scenario is that we stay, having not found anywhere in the meantime, and then get given an extremely short notice on a court issued possession order. Gonna be a fun few months...

bummer. Did they have a break clause, is it the end of a fixed period, or are they claiming you've voided the contract somehow?

Shelter are right [funny that] - once the LL wants you out it's a case of when rather than if.

There is a break clause, sadly yes. Frustrating, and a right ballache financially but hey ho. That's how it goes.

Yeah. Sorry to hear about it. :(

Sorry to hear that dude.

Our kitchen ceiling roof was leaking this morning. There is a flat on top of ours which must also be damp.

Last time this happened - about 6 months ago - I spoke to the family in the flat above us. The water had come through the roof and into the childrens bedroom. When I asked them who their landlord was they couldn't/wouldn't tell me. I then called my landlord to find out if they knew the owner of the freehold (I figured that's who would have to repair the roof). They said they didn't. Could that even be possible?

I then called up the real estate who was previously managing our flat before the landlord decided to cut them out and manage the flat herself. Again, they said they didn't know the owner of freehold either.

Straight after that first leak, the family upstairs moved out. Literally within a day or two, dumping all their water logged stuff in the front garden including soiled nappies and other filth (another story). Some quick repairs were made to the upstairs flat and a new family moved in.

Now there is a leak again and I expect the whole thing to repeat.

Is my landlord lying? Surely they must know who the freehold owner is. Why won't any of the families who have lived upstairs tell me who there landlord is?

Besides moving out, what should we do? I feel bad for the families who move in upstairs and then get their possessions destroyed by rain because the roof hasn't been repaired.

Notify your landlord again by recorded mail, stating that the flat is not habitable and that he needs to take steps to resolve it in an appropriate timescale, and emphasise that it's not the first time that it's happened, it is disruptive and unpleasant and you've been very patient and tolerant of this.

If he doesn't respond with any action you should document the leak and withhold rent until it is fixed.

They said they didn't. Could that even be possible?

Couple of possibilities -

The freeholder is some faceless company that your landlord would rather not deal with.
Landlord has share of freehold, and can't afford the repair bill for the roof
Landlord is only a leaseholder, but has for whatever reason stalled the freeholder from making repairs

It's kinda hard to not know who your freeholder is. Although if the freehold gets sold in some weird circumstances you might not find out.

How many flats, what kind of building?

And get ready to move out.

You could perform a title search on the Land Registry website to establish the freeholder. It's something like £3.

Try the Land Registry and see who the registered owner is. Think it costs three quid or something.

Ok great tips. I bought the freehold info. It is a shared freehold which includes our landlords name...

What a cunt.

I'd take it to Citizen's Advice and see if you have grounds to get compensation. What a fucking arsehole.

It is a shared freehold which includes our landlords name...

There's a possibility that the freehold is a mess and your landlord cannot get the roof repaired because the other share-ofs won't contribute. Not that that helps you. Just trying to work out what the LL might be playing at.

They might just be a cunt and don't want to fork out for repairs tho.

withhold rent until it is fixed

I believe Shelter advise against this. Even if paying rent into a separate account for safekeeping it would mean that you have broken your terms and can be easily evicted.

^ yeah, this. Unless your contract has grounds for not paying, then by not paying, you are breaking the contract and the LL can seek possession and the cycle continues...

Jesus, really? I did that last year re:fleas then sued the landlord for back rent paid because he washed his hands of it and worked.

In Scotland if you complain to the council private rented housing office they can send people round to inspect structural issues and issue an order to repair to the LL-possibly similar in England?

Landlords love it when you withhold rent cos it helps them get you out more quickly, they can use the "non payment of rent" as their weapon, unfortunately if you don't have the time and money to fight them they almost always win in the end,

Probably helped that it turned out the guy was unregistered and had previous complaints registered against him. Cunt.

Probably helped that it turned out the guy was unregistered and had previous complaints registered against him

Yeah - he wasn't really in a position to fight you, but I suspect he could have sought possession once you stopped paying rent.

That said, I don't think you were really keen to stay IIRC!

Using Ombudsman Services: Property really kick started my buildings management company very recently ...
https://www.ombudsman-services.org/sectors/property

Never withhold/refuse to pay rent or service charge as others have noted.

My tenants just tried to defrost the fridge freezer

After two days, apparently it hadn't defrosted

I asked the ridiculous question...'you have turned the whole thing off, right?'

No. It was still turned on, just with the freezer door open.

Fuck these guys

That's how I used to cool my flat in the summer when I rented.