If you’re renting a place to live and it needs some repairs, you may not necessarily have to make those repairs yourself. In many cases, the responsibility may fall to the landlord. If you’re having trouble getting them to make the repairs that you need, then you might have some options beyond simply sitting in a home that’s suffering from disrepair. It’s worth noting, the tips below apply for privately rented property.
Check your rental agreement
The first thing you should do is to make sure that your landlord is, indeed, responsible for the repairs that you want. If they are not, then you might have to take care of them yourself. All private landlords have certain responsibilities for repairs, including anything to do with wiring, gas pipes and boilers, heating, hot water, ventilation, essential plumbing, and so on. For other things, you need to look at your tenancy agreement to see who is responsible.
Get in touch with them directly
If you have been waiting for an answer or for repairs that are not coming, then you should get in touch with your landlord again, first. Getting a record of the request, be it via text, email, or mail, can help you keep some proof that you have been making an attempt to get repairs via the right channels, if necessary. Many landlords work through property management companies that take care of the repair requests for them, but if they’re letting you down, you still have a legal right to get in touch with the landlord directly. This can often speed things along.
Making a legal claim against them
If all else fails, you could legally ensure that your landlord makes the repairs or provides the funding that you can hire the services that you need, yourself. You could make a housing disrepair claim with the help of a solicitor. In order to do so, you need to be able to prove that your rented property is not up to the reasonable living standards set out by law and that you have attempted to go through the appropriate channels to get your landlord to fix it.
Make sure you’re not in breach of contract
Make sure that you are doing nothing that might breach your rental agreement. If you are not paying rent, then the landlord might have a legal right to withhold some repairs. However, in a similar vein, there may be steps you can use to withhold rent in order to be able to afford the repairs yourself. Follow the steps carefully and consider getting advice from organisations like the CItizens Advice Bureau, and failing to follow the right steps could put you in breach of contract and at risk of being evicted.
Knowing the right tactic to take with your landlord requires context. You want to make sure that you’re not being taken advantage of and, if so, use the legal force that you have at your disposal. However, if you have a good relationship with your landlord, taking a softer approach at first might be the right idea.
This is a collaborative post
