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Problems with landlord

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
I've been in my flat for a year now and I love it but am having a few difficulties with the landlord.

A few months ago, the lightbulb in the bathroom went, so I stood on the bath to change it. When I twisted the bulb round, the fitting part crumbled and broke. Since then I have had no light in the bathroom as you can't fit a bulb now. There is no window in the bathroom, so I either stumble in the dark, light candles when I have a bath or use an extension lead to get a little lamp in there (which I doubt it safe). I asked the landlord to fix it and he said I must have broken it and it was my fault. I know how to change a lightbulb and the only reason it broke was presumably because it was old. I don't know how to fix it and am not going to pay for an electrician out of my own money.

The second problem is that the hot water keeps breaking. I'll run a bath and the water will be freezing. I keep ringing the landlord and he will come and look at it, it'll be okay for a few days and then it will be freezing again. I've asked him to send a proper plumber but he hasn't.

The final thing, is that hot water and heating costs are included in my rent. The landlord decides when the heating comes on and off. It's not that cold yet but in the winter when it's cold all day long, it doesn't come on till the evening, so you shiver all day long. I don't see why I should buy an electric heater when I'm already paying for heating in my rent.

Another thing is that despite living there for a year, I haven't had an electricity or water bill yet. I'm scared to ring the companies up because there is no way I can afford to pay the bills.

Any advice on dealing with my annoying landlord?

Comments

  • PearlyPearly Posts: 345 The Mix Regular
    I'm not sure if you are renting privately or through an agent, but either way it may be worth writing him a letter (keep a copy and the date you wrote it as you may need it at a later time) explaining the things that are going wrong in the house. It sounds like the light part broke through wear and tear, which is the landlord's responsibility.

    Have a read of these articles:

    Common landlord battles
    Repairs and maintenance

    If you still need more advice, contact our askTheSite service as Shelter will answer your question - this organisation deals primarily with housing problems and issues such as yours.

    As for the bills, this will be your responsibility to get them sent out but don't worry because most companies will let you pay them off as much as you can afford a month to make it affordable. If you get in touch with them they will not force you to pay it all in one go, after all they probably would have turned off your electricity by now if they were going to do it at all so I'd give them a call and arrange a monthly direct debit to try and start paying it off...

    Have a read of this as well for ideas on how to pay your bills

    All the best
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I wouldn't panic too much about your water bill, but you should sort it out. AFAIK- they can't cut you off because, obviously, you can't live without water. How much it will be will depend on whether you are on meter or not. For an idea- mine works out at £11 a month. They should be fine with you paying off your arrears over the next year as a direct debit lumped in with your monthly/quartely bills. Electric might be a bit trickier- or it might be just as easy tbh. Some peeps on here have *shockingly* low electric bills, at least in comparrison to mine, and I assume as a single person in a one bed flat? yours will be quite low too. I'd expect you'd be able to come to a similar arrangement with the electric as you can with the water... best ring them up before the bill just gets bigger and bigger. There might be a way around it though, which I'm not suggesting you do as it's likely illegal. But, you could ring them up now and say you've just moved in...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I work for housing association and just the other day I logged a repair for thesame problem and we have to pay to fix it.
    If damage isn't your fault then they have to pay
  • PearlyPearly Posts: 345 The Mix Regular
    katralla wrote:
    There might be a way around it though, which I'm not suggesting you do as it's likely illegal. But, you could ring them up now and say you've just moved in...

    The landlord will have your contract saying when you moved in, so it may not be a good idea to do this as the company will go to him to pay the bill and he will prove he wasn't there....
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