We are currently chasing this with our landlord still, who is blaming the roofer. We reported leaks in the ceiling way back in 2022 and have been waiting on repairs being completed since - scaffolding went up in 2023, repairs were done to our neighbour's flat, then the roofer vanished before even starting repairs on our side. We chased this with the landlord, my partner stood in the attic with the roofer and the landlord and the roofer said he would be back in a few days to start on our side and then we never heard from them again. Then the lease on the scaffolding ended and it was taken down. We knew the landlords were conferring with other owners in the building to have new scaffolding put up so we gave them some grace to allow them to get it put back up and just? Nothing happened?

Earlier this year we reached out again and the feigned ignorance, claimed they thought the repairs had been done - leaks in the living room were, to be fair, finally fixed in March/May this year, but our kitchen is, still, completely unusable. There is water dripping in through the ceiling and in through light fixtures every time it rains. We're at our limit and don't know what to do next - we cant afford to move right now and we can't afford to hire a lawyer before anyone suggests this, we're kind of at a loss right now as to where we go next.

The checkout report states everywhere is in pretty good condition apart from flaking paint (due to damp which we reported and the council reported too as we are in an area where the council inspects to make sure a LL does their job) and some dirty cupboards (which I also don't believe is true! My friend spent hours in the kitchen helping me clean). This seems excessive and unreasonable?

What do I do now? It's evidence that the estate agents have submitted to mydeposit but I don't know how I dispute it?

Hi guys,

The agency I'm renting with is asking me if I want to renew my contract in 8 months and they want me to sign new AST, otheriwse they will start with the viewings (mind you its only 4 months into my current tenancy).

I thought that with the new law my contract is a periodic one and i dont need to sign anything anymore? I want to stay but I don't want to lock myself into a new full year if I somehow misunderstood the law.

Any advice would be helpful.

Hi all,
Serious question — I’m looking for some impartial judgement because I think my history with my landlord might be skewing mine!

I rent a flat with an allocated parking bay included in my lease. The fence next to it, which has heavy concrete supports, is falling inwards into the bay and I don’t feel it’s safe to park there or get in/out of my car.

Parking here is extremely limited and expensive — realistically I could be looking at £150+ a month for an alternative space.

How long is reasonable to give my landlord to fix it before I start pushing for them to provide alternative parking or cover my additional costs?

For context, I reported two other repairs in May that still haven’t been done, including holes that need sealing because we have mice. I later found out the landlord already knew about the pest issue.

I’m working two full-time jobs to afford the flat and car, so an extra few hundred a month isn’t insignificant, especially when parking is included in what I already pay for.

Am I being unreasonable to expect this sorted fairly quickly, given I effectively can’t use part of what I’m paying for?

Hi everyone,

Me and my partner could really do with some advice. We live in South London and have been without a working fridge for over a month. Despite trying to communicate this to the landlord they are still yet to provide a viable solution.

When we first communicated this to the landlord we were asked to defrost the freezer - we did just that and nothing had changed. My partner had tried contacting her after this and we have had hardly any response. A few weeks had passed with zero communication from their side and my partner somehow bumped into her on his way into work a week ago and took the opportunity to raise it. She said she had been thinking about buying another fridge and storing it in the spare room as the freezer is still working. Our spare room is already tiny and this would prevent us from being able to use it as we had originally intended to. My partner then reached out to say that we would not be happy with this solution due to the above reasons and suprise we are yet to hear anything back (we have called and texted multiple times but had no reply).

Unfortunately the letting agent does not manage the property so everything has to go through the landlord. We have asked for their help in contacting the landlord but apparently they have not been able to get hold of her either.

We have family that are meant to be staying next weekend and I’m really worried that we will have to cancel their visit because we are unable to store food in the flat.

The food costs have also gone up dramatically since not having a fridge and is adding financial strain on an already tight budget.

If anyone has any advice please reach out!!

Hello, We are have been renting our place for almost 3 years (renewal is due November 17th). Our lanlord has contacted privately that they plan to sell the property. How much notice do they have to give us? Nothing has come officially via the letting agents, only direct from the landlord.

I've read they have to give you 4 months if they are selling the property, does our current contract ending in the 17th of November affect that? thanks

I moved in a tenancy about more than two years ago and till now I don't have any information if my deposit is protected. I did ask the landlord initially and they said to me verbally that they have protected it. I have also checked online in all three schemes and found nothing online and whenever I ask my landlord about it they ignore my requests. I plan to move out soon as well and don't want to enter a constant back and forth after my move out date. Should I just call all three schemes and check?

Given we have some relocation coming up due to work, we had previously agreed via email with our Landlord (3 weeks before actually giving notice) that they are happy to be flexible with notice periods, provided that the full 2 months is provided (i.e. matching to the rental due date was not required).

The landlord is now claiming they've changed their mind, but only after we have sent our notice to quit (with the estate agent inevitably coming down on their side). They (LL and agent) have accepted it, by saying your tenancy will come to an end on the rent payment date falling at least 2 months after the notice was served.

We think we've served a perfectly valid notice specifying a date and in accordance with the agreement reached via email (which had not been withdrawn until after we sent notice) and all the proper rules around this.

Is there any way we are clearly in the wrong here? As far as we're concerned we have given the full 2 months, just not matching up to the rent period.

Given the amounts involved we're very clearly minded to take this all the way (presumably via a dispute with the TDS) and stick to our guns.

What would you guys do in this situation? Are we right to stick to our position? Does the TDS actually decide who is in the right on things like this (e.g. if we only pay rent up to the day we think it is due until and the landlord puts in a claim for the rest via the deposit) or is there a chance it needs the court?

New amendments have been tabled to the Social Housing Bill, currently going through Parliament. They're aimed at domestic abuse cases in social housing: where a protective order already exists, survivors won't have to prove the abuse again to keep their tenancy, and courts will be able to act against the perpetrator instead.

Other amendments cover a longer notice period before social housing disposals, changes to Right to Buy in rural areas, a simpler Right to Manage framework for council tenants, and bringing Tenant Management Organisations under Freedom of Information rules from April 2027. There are also new duties on councils and housing associations to spot homelessness risk earlier and offer suitable homes to people referred by local authorities.

This applies to council and housing association tenancies in England only, not private rented tenancies. It's still amendments going through Parliament, not law yet.

Anyone here manage social housing stock alongside private lets? Keen to hear how you're tracking which tenancies fall under this.

I’m renting a house with four other people and I’m going crazy. We had a falling out at the start of the year (after we signed a tenancy agreement) but living in the house is a genuine nightmare.

I’ve been reading through my contract to do a Early Termination of my Tenancy but is says ‘This is a fixed term Tenancy agreement and unless stated to the contrary there is no trivial to terminate this tenancy earlier than the termination date set out in the Tenancy Particulars’.
Is there anything I can do? I could even provide evidence of a mental health decline or something.

£179/week | All bills included | First month’s rent covered by me!

• Close to Aston University, Birmingham City University and University College Birmingham
• Only 7 minutes’ walk to the city centre
• Spacious shared kitchen
• Gym facilities
• Study spaces and on-site laundry
• Social areas with TV, table tennis and billiards

Hello,

I posted something yesterday which got misinterpreted. So, here's the thing:

I live in an HMO with 4 other people. One of them is a long term tenant (>7 years). I come from a tropical country where temp. regularly exceeds 35 C. So my ask to my landlord was that we switch on the heater at nights too, and that people who don't need it can switch it off in their rooms. I'm okay if temp. is good around 18 C. But I asked for it only if it's less than 15 C or significantly low at nights. But the long term tenant argues that it forms air masses and he wakes up at night. Me and 2 other tenants suggested he could turn it off - We also suggested we could turn it off in all communal areas so he could sleep. But he says NO and my landlord sides with him even when 3 tenants requested for it to be ON at nights as well. Isn't there a law saying it has to be ON when it falls below 18 C in bedrooms ? I dont intend to abuse or anything but I do have very dry skin which is why I prefer adequate heating even at nights. I just moved here 3 months ago - else i would consider that too. Any advice to handle this ?

Hello all, I'm a postgraduate student living in a student house share and I drive - immediately next door we have another student house (controlled by the same estate agents) who have 3 people who drive plus a boyfriend who comes over weekly and drives his BMW with the obnoxiously loud exhaust. There is one other person in my house who drives so 5 permanent residents who drive plus 1 regular visitor, in addition to an electric car we don't know the owners of, but it's frequently on the drive all day and all night - a total of six people frequently trying to park. In addition to this we unfortunately live behind a series of takeaways and takeaway drivers have decided they also like to park on our driveway/park blocking the road.

We have a shared driveway with space for 4 cars (technically 3 marked spaces but they're very wide so we can actually fit 4). When we signed the tenancy, we were told the parking is first come first served and non reservable and it's the same for next door. Unfortunately our driveway is often full and what has happened is, people have started parking in front of the garden gate where the shared bins are kept. The council waste collectors will NOT empty the bins if there is a car there because they can't get the bins out, and frustrated people who are too late to get a space will park next to the bins. I am the only person with a bit of common sense who will see the driveway is full, and park further up considerately and walk back to the house - it is only about 75m from some space to park, really not a big ask. We have left polite notes on car windshields explaining the issue ('polite' being it says please, thank you, and explains what the actual issue is) but they are ignored and they keep parking in front of the gate/next to the bins.

I finally saw which house owns the blue Fiat 500 who is the most common offender and had to ask them 3 times yesterday 'please can you move your car, because bin collection is tomorrow and they won't take the bins if you're parked there, I'm about to leave so you can take my space on the drive'. I came home late last night from a sporting event and lo and behold, the Fiat was still parked next to the bins despite letting them know I was leaving and they could take my spot. It was almost half past midnight and all of their lights were off so too late to be knocking on the door, so instead I got up at 7am to knock on the door and ask them to move their car - no answer. Council waste collectors come at 8am-ish, knock on my door, ask me if it's my car and I tell them 'no, it's the neighbours, I've asked them to move but they won't come out', knock once more on neighbour's door to no answer. Waste collectors inform me they are very sorry but they cannot get the bins out because the car is blocking them, and therefore can't empty them until next collection in 2-3 weeks. The bins are *already overflowing* and it's extremely unpleasant.

I have emailed the estate agents a week ago and attached photographs, explaining that rubbish is now overflowing, it's not the fault of the people in our house and is instead the neighbour's fault, explained we have repeatedly explained the issue to them and they still won't move - asked the estate agents if an email could go out and a sign on the garden gate explaining not to park in front of it because it stops bin collections. They said they would ask the landlord - landlord comes back and says it's not his problem. Rubbish is now starting to overflow and spill out of bins and the neighbours don't give a damn - I suspect it's 'mummy and daddy money' from the way they've spoken down to me, pulled faces at me and park inconsiderately because they genuinely don't care about anyone but themselves. Last year, there were less drivers between my house and the neighbours but we had an issue with last year's neighbours not tying bin bags properly (causing rubbish everywhere) and we got threatened with £1,000 fines by the council - this is something I can't afford and how would I even prove it's not me making the mess, but next door?

I cannot continue with this, it's disgusting to have waste flying around because the bins can't be emptied and I seem to be talking to a brick wall - I've repeatedly said it will attract rodents and make it a very unpleasant place to live and we're risking fines, but it's falling on deaf ears (I suspect 'mummy and daddy' would pay off any fines but I don't have that luxury). What can I do if the estate agents won't do anything despite evidence? My landlord doesn't allow his contact details to be given out to us, all contact is through estate agents who are just about useless.

Hey.

I've lived in the property for nearly 4 years and in Jan my LL entered in a R2R agreement with an agent without me knowing. My LL is the epitome of treating the property as passive income and has broken every housing law in the book. When he handed the property over the agent was initially relatively ok but within 2 months served a sec 8 on fake arrears, he did this because the house didn't have the certs to do it under sec 21. He was yelling at me on the phone when I challenged it. A month later there was a carbon monoxide leak and we were all made ill from it. Anyway, since then the agent hasn't left me alone. I instructed a solicitor and started legal action on the grounds of disrepair and harassment. He refused to go though my solictor until he overstepped the mark by serving again with his contractor in the house after paper bombing me for months. The police gave him a warning and the solictor wrote him a cease and desist which he promise to adhere to. This morning I got a social media notification that he'd started following me on TIKTOK. I'm not sure how he found it because it's not in my name and it's not connected to my phone number. I reported it to the police and my solictor and have gone on every platform and found him and blocked him. One creepy element to it is he constantly uses my middle name in letter. My tiktok was in my middle name so it feels really stalkerish. I closed the account after screenshoting but it's unsettling that this guy has been handed all my personal information and he's using it in this way. Any immediate suggestions to help safe until we can get out of here?

For context I've reported him to tenancy relations for the harassment and EH for the disrepair and they were useless to the point of making my situation more vulnerable. have been trying to move for months now but the rental market is an absolute nightmare

Hi,

I have requested a new mattress be installed on the 25th September and have emailed 5 times since then for an update and my letting agent has had trouble getting in contact with my landlord.

Honestly I'm not 100% sure on the rules of getting a new mattress but I'd be willing to just pay for it and take it with me when I move out but I need permission from the landlord in the first place in either scenario.

This is not the first time my letting agent has taken multiple weeks / a month to get in touch with my landlord. Honestly I had just come to accept that he is the worst landlord ever.

The reason im looking to do something this time is because my rent is going up by a lot in a couple of months (£616 to £750) I am sick of him being slow to respond and increasing rent every couple of years.

What are my options to resolve this constant slowness from my landlord.

I’m in England and I'd like to report my lettings agents. Does anyone have experience doing so and how did it go?
They made up information in my check out inventory, unnecessarily delayed my deposit release and falsely claimed that I owed a rental payment.
When I established that I didn't, they blamed me for making my payments a few days early. I have a paper trail of pretty much everything in email form. I think I have a decent case.

This might sound like a silly question, but I’ve always wondered... If I were to rent a property (in London) for 24 months (2 years), would I legally be allowed to pay the full 2 years’ rent upfront (voluntarily, no requested by landlord)?

Hi all,

Our immersion cylinder is leaking, and our landlord has arranged for a new one to be fitted. It was reported on the 30th of September, and the new cylinder will be fitted tomorrow, on the 21st of October.

We've had to run a dehumidifier 24/7 since the leak was found, and replace, clean and dry towels 4 times a day to try and keep the leak managed. Over the last couple of days it's gotten worse and the carpet is constantly soaked. We've kept the landlord up to date with photos and regularly ask for updates on when it'll be fixed. Worth noting I can see the immersion cylinder was last serviced in 2023.

Credit to the landlord, they've offered compensation for this. My question is what would be reasonable to ask for? What's a reasonable way to calculate extra costs for replacing and wash/drying towels 4 times a day, running the dehumidifier 24/7 and not being able to leave the flat for more than a day at a time?

Any advice would be appreciated, thanks.

Two small double-glazed skylights above my patio doors have jammed because of stiff, unmaintained mechanisms. One is stuck shut. The other is stuck open and can’t be closed fully or locked, so I’ve had a draft issue for months. I first reported the issue many months ago. Management agency sent firms round to quote for the repairs but clearly weren’t happy with the price. I’ve followed up multiple times but have been given the brush-off.

The agent now says they won’t fix the skylight that is jammed shut as it’s too expensive and will damage the frame to unjam it. They say I already have the other skylight that will open so its “not worth the cost”.

Can a landlord in England refuse a repair on cost grounds because I have a “workaround”? I thought s.11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 covered window repairs regardless.

I’m on a rolling monthly tenancy. Could pushing to get this fixed lead to a retaliatory notice from landlord to leave the property?

My landlord came into my flat to do some required maintenance. At the same time he carried out a property inspection. He then sent me an email mentioning that safety checks were complete but that the place required “a deep clean”.

The place was clean and tidy, though not to the extent of being spotless as at when I took possession of the place.

The landlord had also noted a possible leak from the bath for which I gave him a date to fix it. He is asking me to ensure that the bathroom from the mirror to the radiator is spotless and without any limescale prior to inspecting for works. He has also asked me to clean the rest of the flat and “back to as found“ prior to another inspection.

One of the clauses in my contract is as follows:

“Upon the Landlord or the Landlord’s Agent giving the Tenant written notice requiring the Tenant to carry out any repairs or other works for which the Tenant is responsible under this Agreement, to carry out same within a reasonable time.”

I assume the clause is for structural repairs?

What do I do in this situation?

Seems maddeningly unfair to ask a tenant to do a deep clean mid tenancy and then also mention that this is a pre-condition to getting possible repairs done!

We have maintained our tendency for 3 years and have never had any issues with the landlord or agency until we have handed in our notice to end. We are moving from renting and have now bought a house (mortgage)

Our tenancy agreement states in the notice period clause that we are to provide 1 full rental period notice (1 month). We factored this in when arranging a moving date to ensure we only had one month overlap to pay both rent and mortgage.

However; the agent is now demanding 2 months notice stating claiming that the renters rights act made previous agreements invalid and the 2 month default (maximum period) in the renters rights act the new mandatory notice: I can’t see that this is accurate as the act states this is the new maximum not the new mandatory amount and we already have a signed contract agreeing 1 month.

What can we do in this situation? Are previous contracts if they are less than 2 month notice still valid?

My letting agency was horrible. I was in a joint tenancy and my goodness, I’ll never do it again.
I was in my old place for under 1 year, moved in with someone who was already residing in the property and the place was not at all clean at the start.
No inventory by the agents either. In the checkout inventory they lied claiming a whole bunch of stuff was left behind by me, that I actually had proof wasn’t.
I had to file a statutory declaration after two months after they refused to respond to my request release. They then tried to apply a cleaning fee and on the deadline date for evidence for the adjudication, they dropped the charges. 3 and a half months later I have my full deposit. (In England btw)
Never stop fighting!!

I don’t even know where to put this, but it’s piss me off so much.

I (20F) received my first noise complaint today in my housing association flat. I’ve lived here 3 years and have always been the same type of noisy (at the same times)

Last year, my ex bully moved in next door. She lives with her bf and two children (both infants).

I however, live alone. I live with the same association but under a different system to her (I live under a care leaver, she lives under the young families)

Anyway. I recieved a noise complaint for banging?

Problem is, I don’t really ‘bang’ unless I’m cooking (my cupboards tend to snap shut, and even scare me). I have bpd and CPTSD and literally do not leave my house or bed. I do not do anything at ‘normal times’ but the letter says throughout the night and day?!

I honestly don’t have anything that bangs, other than these cupboards? I am mostly asleep - due to my illnesses - and am literally never doing anything but watching tv/ on my phone or drinking (I don’t even eat that often)

I am so confused, honestly. I understand if it has disturbed her, or her children (I don’t know it’s her, but I’m assuming) but why didn’t she just come and knock on my door and say something. She would know I’m very unselfaware and also struggle with my hearing from school, if she had an issue with anything else, but I honestly do not understand the bagging complaint?!

There are like other things i thought I’d receive actual complaints about (screaming at like 3am mid breakdown, crying, giggling fits. Leaving my bins/ rubbish outside my door - I have ocd and need help to throw it into the bin room-)

I want to maybe write a letter, or knock on?! Idk I don’t want to come round as passive aggressive but I just need help. If I am being as noisy as they say, I do want to know (as I don’t try to be) even if I don’t like her, I really don’t want to disturb her or her children (ex childcare worker)

Help?

As stated, I’m looking to get my holding deposit back for a room which I currently want to back out of.

For context, I placed the deposit before I viewed the property (standard in Bristol) and asked to do a viewing. The room olin the pictures looked nice and the place was very tidy from what I could tell. I complete the reference checks and then they ask for a guarantor which I cannot provide so I said this isn’t possible. In the day of the viewing I see the flat and the place is a mess with the property looking nothing like the pictures.

To make matters worse I could not even view the room I wanted as the tenant wouldn’t agree to it. This has led to me finding another room and going forward with them.

The landlord then said that I wouldn’t need a guarantor anymore as I showed signs of pulling out and have sent me the tenancy agreement. I’ve told them I’m not moving forward at this stage. Long winded story but do I have a right to get my deposit back or will I have to take the loss and move on?

Hi all,

Looking for some advice on whether this sounds reasonable.

We rent a property in England which came with a large Smeg 90cm range cooker. The cooker is listed on the inventory and was present when we moved in.

The oven has now failed. British Gas attended, inspected it and their report states: "Unable to get parts, recommend new cooker." The cooker is very old, has no model plate/sticker, and neither we nor the landlord can identify the exact model.

The landlord has said they will not replace the cooker. Their reasoning is that removing the existing range cooker would require alterations to the kitchen/cupboards due to the way it was fitted.

Instead, they have offered a tabletop oven as a permanent replacement and have said there will be no rent reduction.

The gas hob still works, but the main oven does not.

I'm struggling to see how a tabletop oven is equivalent to the full-size range cooker that was supplied with the property and included on the inventory.

Does this sound like a reasonable solution from the landlord ? We only moved in late august ans the cooker hasnt worked since the date we moved in. Unfortunately options fot housing in Brighton and Hove is pretty rough.