What makes a rental property inhabitable?

[JonnyT]

As an extension to the EPC this weekend I visited my daughters rental and took a look at a few things.

I observed the following:
1) The ceiling and walls at one end of the house are wet through, so much so you can make out each concrete block
2) Looking in the loft space there is standing water on the plasterboard around the shower extractor fan, the flexible pipework for which is covered in mould
3) Water is occasionally dripping from the ceiling onto the bed
4) There are at least five roof rafters with evidence of water channeling down to the area where the wall and ceiling is wet
5) The insulation where the ceiling and wall is wet is compressed to less than 25mm and totally sodden
6) The gutters on the offending wall have vegetation growing in them
7) The main water tank in the loft isn't insulated and has no insulation below it.
8) The loft area has at most 100mm of insulation in any place. All is at ceiling level

My Daughter has again been onto the letting agent who are still telling her it's all condensation and she needs to turn the heating up. This clearly isn't the case and is being difficult about anyone even coming to look at it despite being presented with the evidence in photographs.

Would this constitute the House as being uninhabitable and hence my Daughter can terminate the AST? Note this isn't what she wants, she wants the Landlord to fix the issues but him and the letting agent are just fobbing her off, so maybe she has to threaten termination due to the house being inhabitable?

[monabri]

https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_ ... 20kitchens

See the bit titled

"What you can do if your home is unfit - You can take court action if you think your home is unfit to live in."


(Your landlord MUST have supplied copies of EPC, Gas Safety Certificate (if gas used), Electrical Certification (5 year certification) and a copy of "How to Rent"...these are all MUST do and the deposit needs to be held via a proper scheme). If your landlord hasn't done these you basically have their curlies over a barrel and they better start listening !

and

https://www.naccs.co.uk/what-makes-rent ... abitation/

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... n-act-2018


(By the way, the EPC certificate should have the details of who did the review and when and you can check it is genuine by logging on to

https://www.gov.uk/find-energy-certificate

all you need is the postcode and the house number).

[DrFfybes]

I would document it all with photos and report it to the council housing team. They are probably inundated with similar reports after recent events, but are also a bit more inclined to take action. Copy the agent in on your communication. Also check the EPC report against the actual property and report any discrepancies directly to the Assessor's Accrediation boy (who are listed on the EPC).

Paul

[monabri]

I would document it all with photos and report it to the council housing team. They are probably inundated with similar reports after recent events, but are also a bit more inclined to take action. Copy the agent in on your communication. Also check the EPC report against the actual property and report any discrepancies directly to the Assessor's Accrediation boy (who are listed on the EPC).

Paul

The council are a good port of call, they take no sh1T from errant landords!!

[Lootman]

Your landlord MUST have supplied copies of EPC, Gas Safety Certificate (if gas used), Electrical Certification (5 year certification) and a copy of "How to Rent"...these are all MUST do and the deposit needs to be held via a proper scheme). If your landlord hasn't done these you basically have their curlies over a barrel and they better start listening !

The council are a good port of call, they take no sh1T from errant landords!!

If I was writing a post about why I quit being a BTL landlord then I might have written those exact words! The regulatory and documentary requirements have become burdensome, and I sold out even before the more recent adverse tax changes.

The golden age of landlording was 1982 to 2002, or so. Back then it was like being paid to sit in an armchair. Now landlords have to work, no fun at all.

[modellingman]

As an extension to the EPC this weekend I visited my daughters rental and took a look at a few things.

I observed the following:
1) The ceiling and walls at one end of the house are wet through, so much so you can make out each concrete block
2) Looking in the loft space there is standing water on the plasterboard around the shower extractor fan, the flexible pipework for which is covered in mould
3) Water is occasionally dripping from the ceiling onto the bed
4) There are at least five roof rafters with evidence of water channeling down to the area where the wall and ceiling is wet
5) The insulation where the ceiling and wall is wet is compressed to less than 25mm and totally sodden
6) The gutters on the offending wall have vegetation growing in them
7) The main water tank in the loft isn't insulated and has no insulation below it.
8) The loft area has at most 100mm of insulation in any place. All is at ceiling level

My Daughter has again been onto the letting agent who are still telling her it's all condensation and she needs to turn the heating up. This clearly isn't the case and is being difficult about anyone even coming to look at it despite being presented with the evidence in photographs.

Would this constitute the House as being uninhabitable and hence my Daughter can terminate the AST? Note this isn't what she wants, she wants the Landlord to fix the issues but him and the letting agent are just fobbing her off, so maybe she has to threaten termination due to the house being inhabitable?

The relevant legislation is the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation Act) 2018. You would have to have a close look at it to see whether it gives the right to terminate an AST. I suspect that it probably doesn't and that the remedies are enforcement against the landlord through the local authority.

A few practical things spring to mind.

From your list it seems very possible that external damp penetration through the roof is at least one part of the problem. I would have a look at the condition of the roof from outside using binoculars if necessary to determine if the are missing tiles, pointing missing from where tiles meet brickwork, etc. Blocked gutters are not a good sign and, ideally, try and observe what happens when it rains - there should be no dripping from any part of the guttering. If there is that will make the wall wet and dependent on construction that will make the inner leaf wet.

I'm assuming that there is ceiling mounted vent for the shower extractor with a wall mounted fan in the loft venting externally. Any leakage from the hoses (typically at joints to the ceiling vent or the fan itself) will cause problems in the loft. There should definitely not be standing water on the upper side of the plasterboard ceiling and loft insulation should be dry rather than sodden. I would be tempted to test for air tightness using a plumbers smoke pellet.

The agent is probably going to continue to stand his ground and insist it is a condensation problem because a) it quite often is and b) it's the path of least work as far as the agent is concerned. To get them to take serious notice, I think your daughter should give written notice to the agent stating that:

• she understands that there are two sources of damp problems within properties - external damp penetration through failure of structural elements (such as guttering, roofing, pointing in walls, etc) and condensation generated through occupation and caused by activities such as cooking, washing and breathing allied to inadequate ventilation and has taken reasonable steps to ensure adequate ventilation and to limit condensation causing activity (eg by putting lids on pans when cooking).
• inspection and advice clearly indicates that there are structural problems contributing to the issues she has experienced - these include standing water within the loft, sodden loft insulation and evidence of water flowing down roof timbers.
• unless the agent is prepared to send someone to inspect the loft area to diagnose the source of the problems observable within it within (say) 7 days then the matter will be referred to the relevant team within the local authority.

The tenancy agreement should, by law state the name and address of the landlord. Send the landlord a copy of any written notice sent to the agent. If, as appears likely, there are structural problems with the roof and guttering, the landlord has much more incentive than the letting agent to get these fixed.

Adopt an assertive rather than an aggressive tone in the communication with the agent.

modellingman

(Not a lawyer but a landlord with 20 years experience).

[didds]

Surely turning the heating up merely (if it makes any difference at all!) evaporates the standing water etc so it can then condense elsewhere and form puddles there/when the heating is turned off ?

didds

[Adamski]

Hi, just putting out there. You're not supposed to withhold rent because repairs haven't been done. But that's absolutely guaranteed to get their attention. You don't have that right. But in practice, works. Perhaps open a separate bank account and put rent in that account until resolved.

[Lootman]

Hi, just putting out there. You're not supposed to withhold rent because repairs haven't been done. But that's absolutely guaranteed to get their attention. You don't have that right. But in practice, works. Perhaps open a separate bank account and put rent in that account until resolved.

I would advise against not paying the rent. Evictions for non-payment of rent are relatively rapid by the standards of such things, and the onus is on the tenant to prove the rent was paid. The judge may not be interested in any alleged damp in that context.

So yes, it will certainly get the attention of a landlord. But it comes with risk, especially if the landlord is looking for a pretext to get a tenant out anyway. Personally I would tell the landlord beforehand about any rent deductions, and be sure to say the funds are held in escrow. In my landlording days I sometimes allowed a tenant to do minor repairs and I would reimburse them for materials, after prior agreemnt.

[monabri]

I'd second what Lootman says about not withholding rent!

[modellingman]

Hi, just putting out there. You're not supposed to withhold rent because repairs haven't been done. But that's absolutely guaranteed to get their attention. You don't have that right. But in practice, works. Perhaps open a separate bank account and put rent in that account until resolved.

I would advise against not paying the rent. Evictions for non-payment of rent are relatively rapid by the standards of such things, and the onus is on the tenant to prove the rent was paid. The judge may not be interested in any alleged damp in that context.

So yes, it will certainly get the attention of a landlord. But it comes with risk, especially if the landlord is looking for a pretext to get a tenant out anyway. Personally I would tell the landlord beforehand about any rent deductions, and be sure to say the funds are held in escrow. In my landlording days I sometimes allowed a tenant to do minor repairs and I would reimburse them for materials, after prior agreemnt.

I am going to disagree, or at least not fully agree, with both of you.

One of the relevant pieces of legislation is the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. Section 11 of that act imposes a "repairing obligation" on landlords to keep certain things in a good order. Specifically, this obligation acts as an implied covenant in the lease (ie an implied condition in the tenancy agreement) and part of that covenant requires the landlord "to keep in repair the structure and exterior of the dwelling-house (including drains, gutters and external pipes)".

1) The ceiling and walls at one end of the house are wet through, so much so you can make out each concrete block
2) Looking in the loft space there is standing water on the plasterboard around the shower extractor fan, the flexible pipework for which is covered in mould
3) Water is occasionally dripping from the ceiling onto the bed
4) There are at least five roof rafters with evidence of water channeling down to the area where the wall and ceiling is wet
5) The insulation where the ceiling and wall is wet is compressed to less than 25mm and totally sodden
6) The gutters on the offending wall have vegetation growing in them
7) The main water tank in the loft isn't insulated and has no insulation below it.
8) The loft area has at most 100mm of insulation in any place. All is at ceiling level

Items (1), (2), (3), (4), (5) and (6) here suggest that there is water ingress into the building caused by faults in the external structure (the roof) and the guttering. I would gather as much evidence as possible to determine whether this is in fact the case and, assuming it is, inform the landlord and agent that the landlord is in breach of their repairing obligation. In the position of JohnnyT's daughter I would inform the landlord that if action is not taken to remedy the defects within x days (where x depends on the seriousness and impact of the faults) I would intend to seek quotes for undertaking minimum necessary repairs and then go ahead with the works. In that event, if it became necessary for me to pay for those works, I would recover my costs from the rent payments.

Whilst, non-payment of rent may attract a Section 8 notice for eviction, provided the daughter has good evidence of the repairing obligation breach and has not acted unreasonably, she will have good grounds for defending the notice and counter-claiming against the landlord for his/her breach of the tenancy agreement. Of course, it is possible that at the end of the fixed term (12 months in this case) the landlord will issue a Section 21 (no fault) notice to quit.

If a tenant fails to relinquish possession on expiry of a Section 21 notice, the landlord's next step is to apply for an accelerated possession order. The court has no discretion not to issue such an order provided the notice is valid. Typically, it will take several months from the application for a possession order to the date on the court order requiring the tenant to relinquish possession (been there and got the T-shirt).

In his "curlies over a barrel" post, monabri sets out some of the requirements for a Section 21 notice to be valid and the court will require evidence from the applicant landlord that all the necessary requirements have been satisfied(*). If they are not the application will be thrown out and the clock reset - so a further Section 21 notice (2 months) plus, if possession is not relinquished at the end of it, several more months for the accelerated possession order.

A further reason why a Section 21 notice may not be valid is if the local authority has issued an enforcement notice against the landlord. Provided the notice is issue under the terms of the relevant legislation (and there is a lot of it), a Section 21 notice cannot be validly issued within 6 months of the local authority notice being issued.

So, provided JohnnyT's daughter informs the agent and landlord about the issues, notes that she has evidence that the landlord is in breach of their repairing obligation under S11 of the L&TA 1985, and sets out a reasonable plan for what she intends to do if the obligation is not met in a reasonable timescale, then she should be on fairly solid ground if she decides to withhold rent and undertake the repairs at her own expense. She does need to be aware in the longer run the landlord may decide to terminate the tenancy using Section 21, but they can do that anyway for unrelated reasons. She can at the same time, seek to involve the local authority, either for advice or intervention and there's always Shelter and CAB available to give advice.

modellingman

(*) There is a more complete list in this post https://lemonfool.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f ... 67#p550967

Edit:correct missing 21 in one of the Section 21 references

[Arborbridge]

Whoa - a tenant undertaking repairs in the hope of claiming back later? I would hesitate before getting into that quagmire.


Arb.

[UncleEbenezer]

I would document it all with photos and report it to the council housing team. They are probably inundated with similar reports after recent events, but are also a bit more inclined to take action. Copy the agent in on your communication. Also check the EPC report against the actual property and report any discrepancies directly to the Assessor's Accrediation boy (who are listed on the EPC).

Paul

The council are a good port of call, they take no sh1T from errant landords!!

Agreed. A few years back I had an agent who wasn't going to do anything about a problem[1]. I called the council, they wrote to the landlord, and the problem got fixed.

I expect it worked in my favour that I'm too old and cynical to let them scare me into submission. And perhaps that I knew my landlord had had problems with a previous tenant and was pretty sure he valued a good one too much to "try it on" when faced with this first level of escalation. In my youth I wouldn't have dared to be so assertive.

[1] Part of the garage ceiling had come down, and I was concerned about safety.

[modellingman]

Whoa - a tenant undertaking repairs in the hope of claiming back later? I would hesitate before getting into that quagmire.


Arb.

It is not clear to me which perspective you are taking. Landlord's or tenant's?

So, provided JohnnyT's daughter informs the agent and landlord about the issues, notes that she has evidence that the landlord is in breach of their repairing obligation under S11 of the L&TA 1985, and sets out a reasonable plan for what she intends to do if the obligation is not met in a reasonable timescale, then she should be on fairly solid ground if she decides to withhold rent and undertake the repairs at her own expense. She does need to be aware in the longer run the landlord may decide to terminate the tenancy using Section 21, but they can do that anyway for unrelated reasons. She can at the same time, seek to involve the local authority, either for advice or intervention and there's always Shelter and CAB available to give advice.

If from the landlord's I would agree. The last thing even a negligent but sane landlord should want is his tenant taking control of matters which it falls to the landlord to deal with. The plan set out above is intended to act as a wake up call to the landlord. But, if he doesn't wake up, then there are steps that can remedy what appears to be a very poor situation for the tenant.

If from the tenant's perspective, the suggestion is not to claim back later (should it get to the stage of the tenant having to take action because the landlord has failed to do so) but to deduct cost from the rent.

modellingman

[brightncheerful]

An EPC rating is only valid at the date of assessment/inspection. That the life of an EPC is normally 3 years (i thinK) for residential property and 10 years (I know) for commercial property is a separate issue.

A property could be trashed immediately after the date assessment/inspection but that wouldn't invalidate the EPC. Only another EPC might show the difference: even then state of repair is not necessarily relevant for purpose of an EPC.

As I understand there are different standards of EPCs. Domestic property normally has "Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards" and it's the Minimum that the Government focus is on.

[monabri]

An EPC rating is only valid at the date of assessment/inspection. That the life of an EPC is normally 3 years (i thinK) for residential property .

10 years for residential.

https://www.gov.uk/buy-sell-your-home/e ... rtificates

The EPC for commercial also is valid for 10 yrs - the assessment methodology differs/ has differences from residential properties ( we own 2 shops and 2 flats).