[kirklancaster]

Originally Posted by DemolitionRed

They screw landlords as well as tenants. I would always advise any tenant going through an agent to insist on meeting the landlord and equally I would advise all landlords using agents to meet their tenants. Beware of agents who don't want you to ever meet your landlord, they are probably charging you both for the same contracts.

As for them pushing landlords to go after as much as possible, don't believe the half of it. Agents are good at pocketing money they claim they are collecting on the landlords behalf.

I own a nice property in Great Barr, Birmingham, and sacked one agent who tried screwing me for new eaves gutters at over £500, but I drove over there and it was ONE failed RUBBER seal which needed replacing.

I nearly got arrested for clutching him a little 'enthusiastically' during the ensuing argument.

[Kizzy]

Originally Posted by Vicky.

I actually can't think of any reason to reject that. Unless said MPs are renting out rat infested piles of crap themselves of course

The number of MPs supplementing their incomes by acting as landlords has risen by a quarter since the last parliament, with David Cameron and George Osborne among those earning extra money by renting out properties.

According to Guardian research, almost a third of MPs are now letting out their houses or flats, with 196 declaring rental income on the official register of interests this year. The majority of those are earning more than £10,000 a year from the property, topping up their basic MP’s annual salary of £67,060.

The Conservative party has the highest number of landlord MPs at 128, meaning 39% of Tory MPs are landlords, compared with 26% of Scottish National party MPs and 22% from Labour.

http://www.theguardian.com/housing-n...t-housing-bill

Pigs and troughs?...

[DemolitionRed]

Originally Posted by kirklancaster

Good for you Vicky, but can you imagine a young, timid couple? They would probably not know what they could do, or not dare to do anything - especially if they were not particularly 'bright' as well.

Councils should clamp down HARD on these greedy bastards.

After working for that estate agents I became a bit of a vigil anti and I received a lot of correspondence from home buyers/seller, tenants and landlords. One particular letter was from an Indian couple who's wife had been pregnant whilst living in the sort of conditions you show in your photographs. She got a lung condition from the damp and consequently lost the baby. They didn't know what to do or where to turn because the agent just put up a wall, so we traced the landlady and it turned out she'd had that property with the agent for around 7 or 8 years and never been to inspect it because she was elderly and lived a good 30 miles away. The agents had been charging her for painting and decorating every time a tenant left, they'd even charged her for a new sofa and sent her a made up invoice (there was no new sofa). They had also assured her that the property was in good condition and the tenants happy.

She took the agents to court and took the couple along with her. They really did get the book thrown at them.

[DemolitionRed]

Originally Posted by kirklancaster

I own a nice property in Great Barr, Birmingham, and sacked one agent who tried screwing me for new eaves gutters at over £500, but I drove over there and it was ONE failed RUBBER seal which needed replacing.

I nearly got arrested for clutching him a little 'enthusiastically' during the ensuing argument.

Letting agents love overseas landlords because they get to find all sorts wrong with a property on inspection. Its not unusual for them to mark a quote for work up by 500 per cent.

[Vicky.]

Originally Posted by DemolitionRed

After working for that estate agents I became a bit of a vigil anti and I received a lot of correspondence from home buyers/seller, tenants and landlords. One particular letter was from an Indian couple who's wife had been pregnant whilst living in the sort of conditions you show in your photographs. She got a lung condition from the damp and consequently lost the baby. They didn't know what to do or where to turn because the agent just put up a wall, so we traced the landlady and it turned out she'd had that property with the agent for around 7 or 8 years and never been to inspect it because she was elderly and lived a good 30 miles away. The agents had been charging her for painting and decorating every time a tenant left, they'd even charged her for a new sofa and sent her a made up invoice (there was no new sofa). They had also assured her that the property was in good condition and the tenants happy.

She took the agents to court and took the couple along with her. They really did get the book thrown at them.

I do wonder if something similar to this happened with us

Like 10 years ago we rented a property...within weeks the boiler broke and the agent sent all kinds of cowboys, none of whom fixed it, then tried to tell us it was our job to get it fixed. We moved out and did not pay the last months rent much to his disgust (bear in mind they had taken a months rent upfront before we moved in so we were not living there for free for the last month)

A month or so later, the actual landlord turned up at our new place asking what the issues had been and why we moved out. We told him the place was perfect for us but we were not willing to cover the costs of a new boiler and had been living in an icebox for a month while the agent messed us about.

Landlord was FURIOUS..apparently he had been trying to let the place for 14 months and was happy that someone had taken it... and as he was leaving he was on the phone to the agent with a few choice words about the situation.

Its confused me a bit tbh until now. I wonder if the agent had charged him for a new boiler or something before he let the property...

[user104658]

Yeah... In multiple properties I've found that direct communication with the landlord has been fine but then as soon as the agency gets involved, all of a sudden there are all sorts of disputes and I'll feeling on both sides. Also, my two absolute best experiences renting, have been renting directly from and dealing directly with the owner of the property. One of them bent over backwards to make the tenancy a good one! She even knocked £50 off a months rent because she had unplugged the freezer to do some painting in the utility room and forgot to plug it back in (we were out). The wasted food wasn't worth anything like that. I think she just felt awful about it .

Can you imagine the average rental agency? "We will be charged going YOU £50 extra because the defrosting freezer leaked and marked the floor."

[Kizzy]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

Yeah... In multiple properties I've found that direct communication with the landlord has been fine but then as soon as the agency gets involved, all of a sudden there are all sorts of disputes and I'll feeling on both sides. Also, my two absolute best experiences renting, have been renting directly from and dealing directly with the owner of the property. One of them bent over backwards to make the tenancy a good one! She even knocked £50 off a months rent because she had unplugged the freezer to do some painting in the utility room and forgot to plug it back in (we were out). The wasted food wasn't worth anything like that. I think she just felt awful about it .

Can you imagine the average rental agency? "We will be charged going YOU £50 extra because the defrosting freezer leaked and marked the floor."

New vocation for you TS? trustworthy letting agent

[kirklancaster]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

Yeah... In multiple properties I've found that direct communication with the landlord has been fine but then as soon as the agency gets involved, all of a sudden there are all sorts of disputes and I'll feeling on both sides. Also, my two absolute best experiences renting, have been renting directly from and dealing directly with the owner of the property. One of them bent over backwards to make the tenancy a good one! She even knocked £50 off a months rent because she had unplugged the freezer to do some painting in the utility room and forgot to plug it back in (we were out). The wasted food wasn't worth anything like that. I think she just felt awful about it .

Can you imagine the average rental agency? "We will be charged going YOU £50 extra because the defrosting freezer leaked and marked the floor."

Off topic T.S. - in your job, do you ever feel really sorry for some of the more... Shall we say, unintelligent misfit punters -- those who have next to nothing but gamble away what bit they are given?

Or do you secretly feel a certain resentment that they are so wasteful with what they are given, while you could put that money to much better use?

[DemolitionRed]

@Vicky

That's more than likely. Landlords rarely know what's going on until they meet their tenants.

[joeysteele]

Originally Posted by kirklancaster

If they aren't you can bet your life their friends are.

More than likely.

[user104658]

Originally Posted by kirklancaster

Off topic T.S. - in your job, do you ever feel really sorry for some of the more... Shall we say, unintelligent misfit punters -- those who have next to nothing but gamble away what bit they are given?

Or do you secretly feel a certain resentment that they are so wasteful with what they are given, while you could put that money to much better use?

To be honest its the ones that DO have money that bug me more. I have guys that bet £300 a time, several bets a day, seem to spend literally their whole lives gambling and probably make a £2000 - £3000 a month loss and yet "can afford it" because they have enough to feed themselves and keep a home on on top of that, and don't need money for anything else because they spend their entire lives either working, or gambling. And I just think... What a waste. Of money AND time.

Its a bit of a myth that people on benefits have loads to gamble away. You're really talking little £1 horse bets or 50p football coupons for most of them. I do feel pretty sorry for them. What a life where your only real source of excitement is winning maybe £3 or £4...

Of course there are also the ones who I know fine well don't have jobs and yet have stacks of 20s bursting out of their wallets. The less said about that, the better, though. I saw nothing officer

[Kizzy]

More
Shelter EnglandGet adviceRepairs and home safetyRepairs in private rented homesIf a private landlord refuses to do repairs
If a private landlord refuses to do repairs
Options to consider and steps to take to get repairs done if your private landlord won't do repairs.

Make sure you've reported repairs
There are various options for action to take against a landlord who doesn't do repairs they are responsible for.

Before you consider further action, make sure you have reported the repair problems to your landlord and given them a reasonable time to start and finish the work.

Landlords are usually only responsible for doing repairs they've been told about.

Find out how to report repairs to a private landlord.

You can report repair problems to your landlord's letting agent if they manage repairs on behalf of your landlord.

If you don't have any contact details for your landlord, find out how to find your landlord


http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_ad..._to_do_repairs

[DemolitionRed]

Yes you can get a contractor in to do the work if the landlord or agent have refused or not bothered to do anything. Make sure you have a paper trail though.

If the agent is managing the property on behalf of the landlord, its the agent who becomes responsible for the overseeing of work, so you don't need to try and hunt down the landlord, you just correspond with the letting agent and its the letting agent you'd invoice if you did end up having to get your own contractors in.

[kirklancaster]

Originally Posted by DemolitionRed

Yes you can get a contractor in to do the work if the landlord or agent have refused or not bothered to do anything. Make sure you have a paper trail though.

If the agent is managing the property on behalf of the landlord, its the agent who becomes responsible for the overseeing of work, so you don't need to try and hunt down the landlord, you just correspond with the letting agent and its the letting agent you'd invoice if you did end up having to get your own contractors in.

Your advice is sound and factual, but the reality is Red, that MOST young couples who HAVE to move into the type of sub-standard properties which are most likely to suffer from these issues, do so NOT through choice, but through economic necessity -- they simply cannot afford better quality, properly maintained accommodation.

This being so, they simply CANNOT fnd the money to pay for any necessary repairs themselves with a view to reclaiming the cost via the Agent from the Landlord.

Even were they to beg or borrow the money to pay for such works, what happens if the Agents/Landlords ignore the claim for recompensation, or deliberately 'drag their heels' in paying it?

The unreliable and notoriously slow route of litigation is no succour to penniless tenants who now have the added stress of worrying about repaying those who lent them the money, as well as worrying about if they are even going to get it back through the courts anyway.

Add to this the fact that MOST Agents/Landlords who have been faced with this action by tenants will become vexatious and aggressive and intimidating towards those tenants because of their actions, and a tenants lot is 'not a happy one'.

Better to campaign (Law-Abidingly ) to MAKE Councils ENFORCE the Law against rogue Landlords and Agents with more draconian punishment for non-compliance and stict timescales for compliance.

[joeysteele]

Originally Posted by kirklancaster

Your advice is sound and factual, but the reality is Red, that MOST young couples who HAVE to move into the type of sub-standard properties which are most likely to suffer from these issues, do so NOT through choice, but through economic necessity -- they simply cannot afford better quality, properly maintained accommodation.

This being so, they simply CANNOT fnd the money to pay for any necessary repairs themselves with a view to reclaiming the cost via the Agent from the Landlord.

Even were they to beg or borrow the money to pay for such works, what happens if the Agents/Landlords ignore the claim for recompensation, or deliberately 'drag their heels' in paying it?

The unreliable and notoriously slow route of litigation is no succour to penniless tenants who now have the added stress of worrying about repaying those who lent them the money, as well as worrying about if they are even going to get it back through the courts anyway.

Add to this the fact that MOST Agents/Landlords who have been faced with this action by tenants will become vexatious and aggressive and intimidating towards those tenants because of their actions, and a tenants lot is 'not a happy one'.

Better to campaign (Law-Abidingly ) to MAKE Councils ENFORCE the Law against rogue Landlords and Agents with more draconian punishment for non-compliance and stict timescales for compliance.

Really strong post, it is really shocking.

[user104658]

Originally Posted by kirklancaster

Your advice is sound and factual, but the reality is Red, that MOST young couples who HAVE to move into the type of sub-standard properties which are most likely to suffer from these issues, do so NOT through choice, but through economic necessity -- they simply cannot afford better quality, properly maintained accommodation.

This being so, they simply CANNOT fnd the money to pay for any necessary repairs themselves with a view to reclaiming the cost via the Agent from the Landlord.

Even were they to beg or borrow the money to pay for such works, what happens if the Agents/Landlords ignore the claim for recompensation, or deliberately 'drag their heels' in paying it?

The unreliable and notoriously slow route of litigation is no succour to penniless tenants who now have the added stress of worrying about repaying those who lent them the money, as well as worrying about if they are even going to get it back through the courts anyway.

Add to this the fact that MOST Agents/Landlords who have been faced with this action by tenants will become vexatious and aggressive and intimidating towards those tenants because of their actions, and a tenants lot is 'not a happy one'.

Better to campaign (Law-Abidingly ) to MAKE Councils ENFORCE the Law against rogue Landlords and Agents with more draconian punishment for non-compliance and stict timescales for compliance.

Or you end up in the situation we're in now; Because of asking for various repairs etc. at the beginning of the tenancy, the landlord now considers renting to be "too much hassle" and so is refusing to extend the tenancy and will probably be trying to sell the house as soon as ours is up. There are no other rental properties available in the village (literally - I think there are two in the whole village, both 5-bedroom houses renting for about 5 times our budget) and so unless something suitable comes up within the next 6 months or so, we're sort of ****ed .

[waterhog]

I think it is shameful anyone has to live under this - if they want to make money from the place they are renting you ( which they are as property is rising) then they have provide whats decent.


kirky baby - I got a spare room lol