Accomodation advise

[girly_geek]

Not sure if this is the right place to post this but I'm writing on behalf of my boyfriend, as he doesn't have the internet at the minute, who needs some advise with a flat he has moved into this week.

Basically, they (my boyfriend and his friend) signed contracts, paid deposits and all was well until they moved into the flat yesterday.

The place is a complete mess. There is a phone socket in the house which has a sticker on with a phone number, however the phone number doesn't work and the landlord says he does not know who the provider of this phone socket is.
When they moved in the landlord has not given them an inventory of things in the flat or the state of the place and unfortunately the place is a real state. All this after they were shown around a show flat and told that they were very similar, and with the block of flats only having been lived in a year they assumed that it would be in a decent enough state. The mattresses on the beds are unusable, several light bulbs are blown, the microwave hasn't been cleaned and is sticky on the outside, the cooker is filthy both on the hob and in the oven, the fridge is filthy and has discarded food in it as have the cupboards, the windows, carpets and walls are all dirty and marked, the fridge door is dented, the chairs in the lounge are broken, there is dust and dirt everywhere and even rubbish stuffed down the back of chests of drawers, the locks on the bathrooms don't work and neither do the extractor fans in the bathrooms, and they were not given a parking permit as they were told they would be. Also in the cupboard where their boiler is there is a calor gas type cylinder which has fallen off the wall and is just sat on the floor so they feel unsafe to use the boiler in case this is a real problem.
Most of this is obviously in violation of their contract, but short of taking the landlord to court and going through all of that stress with the time and money it will take when both the lads are just going into their final year at uni is really going to be a bit too much. So they're after a solution that is hopefully going to just get the flat in a state that is decent enough for them to live in and with the internet, etc, all up and running.

They have emailed the landlord from a friends house and outlined all the problems with the flat in a 2 page email. He has sent back the shortest reply ever which is really not acceptable for the amount of problems they listed to him. He has told them where the parking space for the flat is but not mentioned the permit (which they spoke to the people who own the facility and have been told whether or not it is their space if they do not have a permit they will be clamped). He said that the gas cylinder is just a secondary tank so it's fine to use it all, and that he left instructions in their kitchen about how to work the thermostat (which they told him that he hadn't told them how it worked even though in their contract it said that he would meet them at the property to give them an induction to the flat and also to do their inventory with them). He said he will look into getting a BT landline sorted in the flat at the lads expense (which they are not happy about as he will gain the benefit of it, they are only there 11 months and it will cost them £120 to get fitted according to BT). And has said that until then they can just use the 24hour access room for the internet nearby.

Sorry for the long message but didn't want to miss anything out (though I probably have anyway!) Any help on any of this would be greatly appreciated. We've emailed the people that the contract says can assist in the matter (one of which has replied saying they have never heard of the contract or landlord, the rest we are still waiting on replies from). The lads have also contacted the estate agent that they found the property through but said something about the landlord only paid the basic fee so all they do is find the tenants and take the rent nothing else. The lads are also going to contact Citizens Bureau to get some advise but anything from the experience of any of you would be a great help! Thanks very much!

[Marcos]

Well, i suggest they get in touch with buddies who will let them crash on sofas if needed, so they have options for leaving the flat and tackling the problem without worrying about having nowhere to sleep.

So yeah, go to Citizen's Advice, do whatever they advise, seek local legal advice, i think solicitors etc will at least give a summary of options available.

i think this falls into the realm of small claims courts too, in which case it sounds like they have a solid case

[peterb]

See citizens advice - fast - and the Student Union may be able to help too.

Weren't these problems there when they inspected the flat before signing any agreement?

As far as gas etc is concerned, there must be a valid safety certificate in place - if not the landlord is breaking the law, and I think that the letting agents have a responsibility for ensuring that it is in place before offering a property - so it might be worth asking to see that.

The description sounds like some of the worse landlords I encountered when I was a student (at Leeds) although that was a few years ago - then the good Landlords (and there were some) were known by word of mouth - as were the bad ones, so it might be worth asking around to see if anyone else has had experience with this particular landlord.

Welcome to Hexus, BTW...

[kalniel]

CAB is also my top recommendation. Sounds like there's a lot of grounds for violation of contract (and rental law if there's no gas certificate) so they should just be able to walk, get their deposit back from the third party without cost, then possibly claim back any additional moneys paid via small claims court, but I'm not a lawyer.

Another forum that's great for this sort of thing is moneysavingexpert.

[Lucio]

In all honesty, your b.f. was a bit silly by viewing a show flat and not the one they'd be renting. Always, always insist on seeing the flat you'll be living in, if they won't let you see it, then something's up.

Right, that said, I agree with the others here, get down to CAB asap, and also, find another place to live as well, because by the sounds of it, that place should be condemed if for no other reason, than the unsafe heating system.

[oolon]

Sadly this is all to common, the first thing to do is take pictures of everything before you get moved in. What you don't want is to be blaimed for things and the landlord keep the deposit. Supply the pictures to the agent/landlord. Do an inventory yourselves. If you buy new matrises don't throw away the old ones unless you indeed to leave the new ones behind etc. Or tell the landlord in writting they have been replaced and suggest he comes pick up his ones or put them in the loft. As to the landline, welcome to student life! Consider getting mobile broadband you can take that to a new house. Your not going to be able to get BT to do a free install, as your not going to be a long term customer, cable installs can be alot cheaper if available.

[0iD]

+1 again on contacting the CAB. I've used them on a number of occasions for various matters. The good thing about the CAB is if they don't know they'll say so, and they will find out for you. Plus most of them offer free sessions with a Solicitor that you can book, if it comes to it.

[girly_geek]

Thanks very much for all the help, will pass it all on to him for anything else that he needs especially with CAB! I know he was pretty silly looking at a show flat and if I'd realised that's all he'd seen at the time would have said so but assumed it was the actual flat he saw, that'll teach me not to assume anything!!

Thankfully he's managed to talk BT into getting a phone line for free and nagged at the estate agents enough to get them to send a cleaner and maintenance man in over the next week with them charging it to the landlord so fingers crossed we're getting somewhere! Thanks again

[peterb]

Good luck - hope the BF realises how lucky he is having someone look out for him!