Help Re apartment issues

Pharrell

Hi..myself and my partner moved into a apartment 3 months ago. The place wasn’t cleaned properly when we first moved it and brought it up with the letting agent, we were told that it was fully cleaned prior to us moving in, we told then it wasn’t and they apologies to us and said they were sure it was cleaned, then the oven wouldnt work and we got that replaced within 2 days of reporting it. The biggest thing to happen was the washing machine, it flooded the whole apartment and destroyed everything, even the builder who called to the house on the day it was flooded said, I cant believe I they didn’t replace the washing machine, we got the carpet replaced in the 2 bedrooms staright away but the timber floor was left in the hall and kitchen/sitting room.. We were constantly onto them about when the wooden floor would be replaced and they said it would be done soon, this happened 2 months ago by the way.

Then yesterday we were told the builder would have a look, we got home and found the floor was ripped up and note saying the tiler was coming in the morning at 8.30. this afternoon my partner got an email saying the apartment was tiled and would we mind not using it till 8/9pm this evening. I am not sure what we can do as we werent contacted to say it would be tiled and rang the letting agent about it, The letting agent said he only found today about and apologies. I really don’t know what to do about this, I have looked at the lease and it says that if there is any accidental damage, objects would be replaced with the same standard as before. I know we got the floor replaced but there is big difference between timber floors and tiles. Is there anything we can do about this?

Xiney

They are probably working under the assumption that if the kitchen ever floods again, the tiles will last and timber wouldn't.

Are the tiles ugly or something?

Pharrell

Thanks for the reply, no the tiles are fine but will be an issue with heat come the winter months. My partner is currently very ill and will be having an op in the coming weeks and it just annoying they way they tell us not to enter before 8/9pm tonight as the tiles need time to settle,

It’s just very frustrating that they can assume that tiles will be better for the apartment than timber, should the person who is renting the place be consulted first about this?

Xiney

In a perfect world, you would have had notice and that sort of thing.

Any chance you and your partner could go from work straight to a nice relaxing dinner, and go catch a film or something? Get some quality time in, and turn this minor annoyance into a positive.

Pharrell

Yeah we went for dinner and had a lovely night till we arrived home. When opened the door we found the place up in heap, and the tiles weren’t finished, only half done. All the furniture was staked against the wall, washing machine and fridge pulled out and tables left on top of our beds.


To make matters worse the builder left a note saying he would clean it up tomorrow and had left the storage heating on so the house was like a furnace, he also was routing through our presses cause he help himself to some tea and never washed up after himself. I rang the letting agency last night and left a message and send an email this morning and still haven’t heard back from them.

Xiney

Did you take pictures of the place as it was when you arrived home?

Tables on the beds and that he'd clean up tomorrow indeed - where does he think you're going to sleep!?

That is wholly unacceptable!

Pharrell

I did indeed take pictures and emailed them to the letting agent this morning and still haven’t heard back, just wondering is there anything that can be done about this or am I just wasting my time?

Xiney

In your situation I would ring the letting agent, say that the apartment is in a state and that it is unacceptable, and say that if the place isn't returned to its original state of cleanliness and order before your return this evening that you will be taking steps to leave since they are in breach of their obligations to provide an apartment in good repair.

Keep in mind that if you say this you may actually have to move.


From threshold:

A tenant cannot avail of the notice periods where they are bound by a fixed term lease which they signed. They can, however, end the tenancy where the landlord is in breach of an obligation and where they have written to the landlord regarding the breach and giving the landlord an opportunity to rectify the position.

[...]
The tenant is entitled to the return of their deposit if they take these steps.

D3PO

personally i think your being a little unreasonable.

first your complaing they waited so long to start the work now your complaining that they have started but arent finished.

yes really they should have notified you they were going to start the work, but give them a little slack here there doing the work you wanted them to do and it doesnt happen with a click of the fingers.

i mean the cooker problem was sorted in 2 days thats good by any standards, the landlord did get a plumber out to fix the shower issue, now if it isnt fixed fair enough but thats really down to the plumber rather than your landlord whos been accomadating to sort your problems out.

you complained about the warped floor and its getting sorted. In fairness this landlord seems pretty decent to me.

the grass is always greener on the other side....

devotchka83

Pharrell wrote: »

Yeah we went for dinner and had a lovely night till we arrived home. When opened the door we found the place up in heap, and the tiles weren’t finished, only half done. All the furniture was staked against the wall, washing machine and fridge pulled out and tables left on top of our beds.


To make matters worse the builder left a note saying he would clean it up tomorrow and had left the storage heating on so the house was like a furnace, he also was routing through our presses cause he help himself to some tea and never washed up after himself. I rang the letting agency last night and left a message and send an email this morning and still haven’t heard back from them.

I had a similar problem in a previous apartment. My entire bedroom had to be dry-lined meaning I couldn't stay there for a whole week and when I came back at the end of the week things were missing from the apartment and they'd left an awful mess in the kitchen (where they'd been eating their lunches). When I brought it up with the builders their foreman became aggressive and defensive and I received a call from my landlady an hour later asking me why I'd accused his men of stealing things! The whole situation escalated to the point where the management company (so-called) had to mediate between us all. I'd advise you to photograph and keep a record of everything, down to the last detail and use the management company as a go-between to avoid any unpleasant interactions the likes of which I had. I hope everything gets better soon!