#416

landlord emailed us saying he’s increasing the rent because it’s utilities included and we’re using the heating too much.
Included this line in his email

I hope this message is an encouragement for each of you to try to have a more sustainable behavior. Lets try to preserve the planet for our (grand) children !!

pretty irked, the reason we use the heating so much is the flat is old, neglected and terribly insulated. temperature drops to 16 really quickly when it’s turned off. my window got damaged recently and when we asked him to fix it he got his mate to do it instead of paying a professional, now it doesn’t shut properly and leaks in cold air. never even answered the phone when I tried to call him about it. thermostat and boiler are also really old and don’t work properly. if he actually cared about the environment and wasn’t just a stingy bastard he’d bother to upgrade these things.

we’re now crafting a reply to send to him along these lines

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#417

Wow that is incredibly irking. Almost have to respect his gall.

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#418

Might be worth a call to environmental health if you can’t heat the property properly due to draughts, single glazed windows, solid brick walls (with no insulation etc).

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#419

I would be fully embracing the opportunity to turn that back on him “Perhaps you could do your bit in preserving the planet by insulating your property effectively”

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#420

our letting agency is trying the 50 viewings a day bit again. they tried sorting viewings for next week. explained the gf is working nights mon-fri so she can’t be disturbed thru the day cos that’s her bedtime. so then they were trying to finagle viewings for between 6pm - 7.45pm and we said no, because she wakes up at 5.30pm and makes “breakfast” and gets ready and etc, and i’m just in from work at 6pm next week and i don’t want to piss about tidying around every night cos i’m on 10 hour shifts.

anyway we’re sick of explaining how night shifts work to them so when they tried booking a viewing for 9am today at 6pm last night we said no to that too, because it isn’t technically 24 hours notice. they got really huffy :grin:

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#421

Shortly before my now wife moved out of her last place and in with me she turned down a viewing because she was putting her foot down over landlord issues (5 weeks without hot water) and they immediately asked to book an “inspection” for the same time.

“Sure, you can do that, but no third parties are allowed in.”

They didn’t inspect.

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#422

Dont tidy up ffs
“Hi person who will try and withold a portion of my deposit how can i help you make more money”

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#423

“You can really get a feel for how the property will look when your possessions are strewn across the floor.”

#424

Also, turn the heating off and wear a coat indoors.

#425

And put enormous rat traps down everywhere, say something like “shoes off please… but pick them up and carry around with you unless you want something to nest in them”.

#426

Oh? We’re double glazed but the windows are fitted appallingly so they’re very draughty. Also no insulation in the brick walls.

#427

Did you receive an EPC when you signed up?

#428

Not to my knowledge…

#429

You can do an online search to see if one was done here https://www.epcregister.com/reportSearchAddressTerms.html?redirect=reportSearchAddressByPostcode

If so, just fling the low, low rating in his face.

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#430

Ah, thanks.

Rating D, although the Estimated Energy Costs on the report are waaaaaay out, and it doesn’t factor in the fact that the windows whilst double glazed let in a ton of cold air through the seals.

#431

Tut, tut. They wouldn’t be able to evict you without issuing one (as well a copy of the gas safety certificate and a copy of the ‘how to rent’ booklet)

The actual enforcement of landlord and tenant law varies wildly from place to place, but broken boilers and excessively cold bedrooms may be classed as ‘category one hazards’ and should be addressed by the local environmental health team. Fun fact: a landlord can’t evict you whilst an EH complaint is in progress.

Sadly, none of this negates the crapness of the privately-rented sector.

#432

About to go to the dispute resolution service over our deposit on our previous flat. Some of the charges the landlady is trying to put on is are unbelievable

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#433

I’ve still not got mine back through that.

Good luck!

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#434

Thanks! She’s chucked in a loss of earnings claim too now because we didn’t agree to her fees straight away

#435

Bin. Window.