Advice on ending tenancy with arrears

[cosmiccat]

Hi all! Just wondering if someone can give me some general advice.

I am currently in a rented property where I have been for the past 8.5 years. Last year, my LL advised I had nearly £2k of arrears accrued over the whole period of my tenancy, due to maladministration of HB. However, he wanted it back, and I made an agreement with him to repay this at a small amount a month. This I have kept up.

 

In the time I have been here, the property has descended into disrepair (all window frames are rotten, the back door is actually growing mushrooms internally due to damp!, the heating does not work correctly.. I could continue, but I'm sure you get the drift), and I have made the LL aware of these issues.

 

However, I have now been offered another property, but I need to make a quick decision on whether I take it or not.

 

I would love to move, but wonder if my LL can refuse to end my tenancy until the arrears are cleared, and whether we can use my deposit against the amount.

 

Also, if he got tricky, could I counter sue with the fact I have been living in a property with problems, he was aware, and didn't rectify?

 

Any advice much appreciated!

[jackieandwayne]

I'm going to make some assumptions in order to try and help you quickly. I'm assuming you have an Assured Shorthold tenancy and it has lapsed into a statutory periodic tenancy (your original agreement was never renewed on expiry but you continued living here as before without anew agreement).

 

If you like the new property then you only need to give your landlord 4 weeks notice to quit if you are going to take it. (Provided that the first paragraph applies to your tenancy) It doesn't matter that you are in arrears, you can arrange to continue the repayment plan if he is reasonable, but make sure you have an agreement to this in writing and keep a proper record of all monies paid to him for this purpose in case. Because he might decide to take you to Court for the money, and then you can show you have an agreement and you have stuck to it.

 

But, are you sure you owe the money in the first place - have you satisfied yourself that this was due to a HB mix up? If it really was maladminstration then that is not your fault, and others on here would advise you on that point in particular.

 

I see you say one of the maintenance items is the heating - is it gas? Does your landlord service your boiler every year without fail? If not Health and Safety Executive would be interested. As well as reporting to your local environmental health office that the property is in disrepair and your landlord won't carry out repairs. Some repairs he must do by law such as making sure the gas installation and electrical system is safe and sound.

 

Anyway, give him 4 weeks notice to quit in writing (but remember if you change your mind you cannot retract legally - although he may let you if he chooses).

 

You'll have the last laugh over the repairs issues though - even if you decide not to involve EH, when he tries to let it next time he has to provide an Energy Performance Certificate to prospective tenants so that they can make an informed decision about how much it will cost to run the property, etc. He won't get a very good rating. If you do involve EH then he probably won't be able to let the property until he has finished jumping through their hoops:lol: Of course, if the boiler hasn't been serviced and you report that, he'll think the EHO officers are friendly, cuddly creatures by comparison with what will happen!

 

Hope this helps and good luck in your new home.

 

PS: If I am wrong about your tenancy, and it is a fixed term one, then you need to see if there is a break clause within it. If there is, you give notice. If not then you are stuck until the Fixed Term expires unless your landlord agrees that you can go. As soon as the fixed period expires, you can give your 4 weeks notice.

 

Take photo's of every room in the house, make notes etc., in case he tries to blame you for anything.

 

Can't think of anything else, (other than ways to cause him grief!) but I'm sure you'll get plenty of other replies on here this evening.

[cosmiccat]

Thanks for that information - most useful!

 

I am on an AST, so that clears that up as I was never given another tenancy agreement.

 

My heating is NSH, two downstairs, one which doesn't work at all, the other eats electric and only gets tepid. The convector function on both is not working. My LL has been aware of this for the past three years, and has messed around something cruel as I was eligible for a Warm Front grant - first he was OK with new NSH's, then he wanted Gas, then he didn't want to pay anything towards it, then he changed his mind to oil, then.... and so on and so on. Suffice to say, I still have no working heating, other than the heaters I have bought!

 

There have been many small jobs I have had done around the house since I've been here - resealing the bath, small electrical repairs etc. The LL has always been advised of the problems, but to actually get anything done I have had to get it done myself.

 

To involve EH, doesn't the property have to be practically derelict?

 

Any other ways to make his life uncomfortable, then please pass them on!!! Mine has been pretty uncomfortable for the past three years and my son and I have had health problems due to the cold! Payback time....

 

Thanks again!

[cosmiccat]

PS regarding the electrical system - this has never been checked whilst I have been here - someone did say this should have been done.... should it?

[jackieandwayne]

You no longer have to live in a derelict property to involve EHO, its now properties in disrepair. Its well worth giving them a ring. If the property has been provided with heating, then heating you must have.

 

Generally, your landlord must make sure that your electrical installation is safe, and if the heating is failing to work and is electric, then something is wrong and he must sort it out. The property should have no health and safety issues, should have sturdy fixed hand rails for example, on stairs, no trip hazards, enough ventilation to prevent condensation/mould, wind and weather type, so on and so forth - but I would let them come and assess. If you are going to leave then so what? As a fine upstanding tenant you of course, feel duty bound to ensure the next tenant in has a nice safe house to rent don;t you? (Just in case you were going to feel guilty about how the poor landlord might suffer when he struggles to let it again!)

 

If warm front approved you for a grant they are stating that your heating is useless, so you are streets ahead anyway when you call eho in.

 

By the way, previously i said I knew many ways to cause a landlord grief (mainly because tenants have caught me out in the past - no more!). These NSH heaters sound very old which means they've likely got the old asbestos heating blocks inside. Are any of your units dented/visibly damaged? Because if that panel inside anyone of them has broken and you have stilll had to use them - EHO will go mad. (Because of the real possibility of the asbestos getting into your airspace when the heaters are in use).

 

If you look at every item of disrepair, and then think what could have happened in the worst case scenario, then this is how to present it to EHO when they come round. So make a nice list, a note of when you reported it, and what if anythng was done about it. After all, you are only helping your landlord to see the error of his ways, he clearly has clouded judgement!

 

Good luck and I hope you enjoy your new home. And in the meantime do be care ful these items of disrepair don't cause you an injury or something won't you - poor landlord doesn't want to be sued on top of all the other trouble coming his way.

 

I feel quite evil this morning!