pardalis
16-05-2007, 12:48 PM
Hi everyone,
I moved into a flat a year ago with a lease for 12 months. I went through a letting agent and was told that the property would be managed via the agency. When I moved in I asked for a number of jobs to be completed. Half of these jobs were done at the time and I continued to ask for the rest to be finished to no avail. Then approximately 2 months after I moved in I had water leaking into the kitched from outside which made the floor smelly and mouldy. I asked the agency to fix the problem and after a plumber came and checked the pipes (which were fine) it was then discovered that the water was coming in from outside. After a few weeks of no shows from a builder, someone arrived and dug away the gravel from outside the kitchen wall to stop the water from coming in. I asked for the work to be completed for months including replacement for the mouldy floor but nothing was done.
Time crept on into October without the work being completed. Then at the end of October I had a personal tragedy which led to me not being bothered about it for about 6 weeks. Then, I was in contact with the agency again, told them about my problems and someone promised to come out and have a look at everything. They never turned up and never contacted me to explain why not and to rearrange. I then had some work problems which meant that chasing the agency was the last thing on my mind.
I went away for a break at the beginning of April to find a For Sale sign outside. I then got a call the next day from the instructing agents who were under the impression that the letting agency had told me the owner wanted to sell. I had not been told anything. I told him about the problems and he arranged to come round. When he did and saw the state of the kitchen he told me he would speak to the landlord and arrange for me to be given notice. He also said not the pay any more rent to the agency and he would let the landlord know. I waited to hear back from him but heard nothing. I then chased him and he said he was sorting it out. I asked whether it would be possible to stay in the flat until mid July and he said that it shouldn't be a problem as they needed to complete the work before letting people view the place. This was at the end of April and I haven't heard from him since.
Now I am out of contract. The work has been completed on the outside of the property in the last few days but not done on the inside.
I am away with work for a month starting 22nd May and ideally I want to stay in the property until August.
Before I start talking to all the agents about what I want, I need to know where I stand.
Can they get me out before August?
Can they access the flat whilst I'm away for a month?
Who should I be talking to? I am out of contract with the letting agency and the only agent who gives me any kind of answer is the instructing agents.
I am really annoyed that they didn't do the work whilst I was a tenant but are now doing it when they want to sell. Have they broken their contract with me?
I haven't paid any rent for a couple of months on the advice of the instructing agent. I said I was happy to pay it to the landlord. No one has asked me for any money either.
How do I go about sorting this out amicably?
Thanks for taking the time to read this and I really do appreciate any advice
I moved into a flat a year ago with a lease for 12 months. I went through a letting agent and was told that the property would be managed via the agency. When I moved in I asked for a number of jobs to be completed. Half of these jobs were done at the time and I continued to ask for the rest to be finished to no avail. Then approximately 2 months after I moved in I had water leaking into the kitched from outside which made the floor smelly and mouldy. I asked the agency to fix the problem and after a plumber came and checked the pipes (which were fine) it was then discovered that the water was coming in from outside. After a few weeks of no shows from a builder, someone arrived and dug away the gravel from outside the kitchen wall to stop the water from coming in. I asked for the work to be completed for months including replacement for the mouldy floor but nothing was done.
Time crept on into October without the work being completed. Then at the end of October I had a personal tragedy which led to me not being bothered about it for about 6 weeks. Then, I was in contact with the agency again, told them about my problems and someone promised to come out and have a look at everything. They never turned up and never contacted me to explain why not and to rearrange. I then had some work problems which meant that chasing the agency was the last thing on my mind.
I went away for a break at the beginning of April to find a For Sale sign outside. I then got a call the next day from the instructing agents who were under the impression that the letting agency had told me the owner wanted to sell. I had not been told anything. I told him about the problems and he arranged to come round. When he did and saw the state of the kitchen he told me he would speak to the landlord and arrange for me to be given notice. He also said not the pay any more rent to the agency and he would let the landlord know. I waited to hear back from him but heard nothing. I then chased him and he said he was sorting it out. I asked whether it would be possible to stay in the flat until mid July and he said that it shouldn't be a problem as they needed to complete the work before letting people view the place. This was at the end of April and I haven't heard from him since.
Now I am out of contract. The work has been completed on the outside of the property in the last few days but not done on the inside.
I am away with work for a month starting 22nd May and ideally I want to stay in the property until August.
Before I start talking to all the agents about what I want, I need to know where I stand.
Can they get me out before August?
Can they access the flat whilst I'm away for a month?
Who should I be talking to? I am out of contract with the letting agency and the only agent who gives me any kind of answer is the instructing agents.
I am really annoyed that they didn't do the work whilst I was a tenant but are now doing it when they want to sell. Have they broken their contract with me?
I haven't paid any rent for a couple of months on the advice of the instructing agent. I said I was happy to pay it to the landlord. No one has asked me for any money either.
How do I go about sorting this out amicably?
Thanks for taking the time to read this and I really do appreciate any advice