[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.