Useless blinds

[Newmarket]

Quick question:

I have recently moved into a flat which has roller blinds at the window. It was marketed as partly furnished ie: Carpets, blinds, white goods.

Unfortunately the blinds are absolutely useless as they are paper thin and see through.

At night it is possible to see directly through them from inside the flat - I can see all passing cars clearly, streetlights and right over the valley with all the twinkling lights. There are very powefull orange security lights around the building and it is impossible to sleep as the bedrooms are more lit than Blackpool illuminations.

If one goes outside and looks in when even a small lamp is lit it is possible to see everything that is going on in the flat, my husband sat up in bed etc.

As this is a ground floor flat, as well as the lack of sleep issue there is a distinct lack of privacy as we have to undress in the bathroom and keep the bedroom lights off at all times.

What rights do we have in getting the landlord to rectify the problem as I would have thought that blind or curtains were there to do two things: Keep the room dark when closed and to preserve privacy and these are doing neither.

Any advice would be welcome thanks.

[jeffrey]

Were the blinds there when you viewed the flat? If so, L's not obliged to do anything and you're stuck with them unless:
a. L agrees to replace them; or
b. L allows you to replace them whilst you reside, on the basis that you'll reinstate them when you finally leave.

[Newmarket]

Yes Jeffrey they were but they are roller blinds and were rolled up at that time as it was during the day so it was not possible to notice that they would be useless at night time.

I would presume(obviously quite wrongly from your reply) that like all other manufactured goods they should be fit for the purpose and these clearly are not and like the washing machine and dishwasher, when viewing the flat it is not possible to know if they are working or not.

[westminster]

Yes Jeffrey they were but they are roller blinds and were rolled up at that time as it was during the day so it was not possible to notice that they would be useless at night time.
You could have unrolled them and inspected the fabric's thickness. It's your responsibility to inspect a prospective rental property, and to do it properly takes more than a few minutes glance round. Perfectly reasonable to ask for kitchen appliances to be put through a cycle, test that the central heating works even if it's summer when you view, etc. My letting agent told me that the other day he had to sit in a bedroom with a prospective tenant for an hour while they listened to the occasional noise of the lift doors as T was worried it might be intrusive.

Having said that, I've had a couple of tenants request black out blinds, and have installed them on both occasions, even though I didn't have to. Preferable to either an unhappy tenant or T installing a DIY solution. Plus they're there for the next tenant.

So, ask the landlord first. If he refuses, get some cheap blackout blinds from an online supplier, and remove them/make good before the tenancy ends.

There are loads of these online blinds suppliers. In my experience, the cheapest ones tend to economize on the roller mechanisms, which can seize up after a while. Not a problem if you're only there for a relatively short time.

[Poppy]

I recognise from previous posts that you are unhappy with this landlord’s actions.

On this matter, I cannot see what the landlord has done wrong – he has provided a working blind, although in your opinion it does not block the light enough. May I suggest that you buy a cheap remnant of fabric and paper clip it (don’t use pins they will cause damage) to the extended blind each night. I have proposed this solution because I assume that you do not want to invest in a whole new blind nor bother the landlord on a relatively trivial matter. Feel free to correct me.