Having a nightmare with London Landlord

alansweeney100

Moved to London recently and have rented a studio in Woodford green (Redbridge council)
Had to pay my 6months rent up front too cause the Landlord wouldn't accept my Irish guarantor, the cheek:mad:
Few weeks back my toilet backed up and the Landlord had someone over to check it out and found some compound which had gone rock solid in the pipe, he tried to blame me putting it down the toilet but I denied it (cause I didn't) + he had tradesmen in the flat doing work when I wasn't there.
The handyman got it unblocked but a week afterwards the Saniflow macerator (thing that chops up and pumps away your no.2's) stopped working and the toilet was backing up again.
Landlord sent the guy back again and he found face wipes that clogged the blades, you are only supposed to put tp in there but a friend of mine didn't see the sign on the toilet and put wet wipes in there anyway. (ok, kinda my fault)
This was two weeks ago and the Landlord has refused to fix the toilet, hes invoiced me for £950.00 for a new macerator and all the labour.
As the shower is connected to the same drain that has been disabled also.
I have had no shower or toilet for two weeks and its a nightmare have had to stay in a friends for most of the time because I can't live there.
Two questions:
Do I have to pay for this, surely if two face wipes can cause £950 damage then its not fit for purpose? (I think I'm being ripped off on the price)
Can the Landlord refuse to fix it and leave me with no shower/toilet indefinitely which he is currently doing. And am I entitled to rent back for the last two weeks seeing as I can't even live there and am still having to pay for it.
Most of the time the landlord doesn't even answer the phone when I call or reply to my emails/txts so its a real stressful situation and I feel totally powerless to do anything. Can't just up and leave because he has six months rent belonging to me.:mad:
Any advice would be appreciated.

Al

Fysh

The first thing you need to do is read about the Deposit Protection Service, because there's a good chance your landlord hasn't complied with his legal obligation to place your deposit (ie 6 months rent) in an approved protection/escrow scheme. This is important, because potentially it gives you an even bigger stick with which to beat your landlord than the one he thinks he's got in the form of your 6 months rent.

The second thing you need to do is go and talk to the Citizens Advice Bureau. They can provide help and guidance on how to proceed and get the problem solved. Take any documentation you've got with you relating to your tenancy, whether it's your receipt for the 6 months deposit, a tenancy agreement or anything else.

You've acknowledged that your friend caused part of the problem you're experiencing so it may be that an agreement to split the costs is the best way forward, but the folks at the CAB will be able to provide some very useful advice and support on how to go about things. There are probably ways you can pursue him for the failure to discharge his obligations as well, though you mainly want to use the threat of those to make him sort things out and cop on a bit.

TBH your landlord sounds like a pain in the hole; if I were you I'd get this mess sorted with advice from the CAB and then move as soon as is practical. No flat can be worth that much hassle.

alansweeney100

Cheers for the reply Fysh, I have got the details for my local CAB and will try get into them next Thursday. (soon as I can do it with work)
Will also quiz my landlord about the DPS in the mean time, I doubt he has done this.
Yeh, my head is melted with the whole thing, can't wait to get out of the place but first just want to get the toilet & shower working again so I can actually live there, do you know if he's allowed just not fix it until I pay up? I don't even have £950 just sitting around that I can pay him with anyway, he's not interested in splitting the costs btw, he wants me to pay everything.
UPDATE: No record of my deposit on the deposit protection service website

Fysh

I must've misread your earlier post - I thought he'd invoiced you for £95, hence my comment about splitting costs. Dumping a bill of a grand on you seems pretty unreasonable, especially if he's not letting you at least check for other suppliers to ensure you're not getting ripped off. See what the CAB say though, I'm not sure what your exact position would be in legal terms.

Make sure to check all three approved deposit protection schemes (The Deposit Protection Service, MyDeposits and The Dispute Service) and have a good read through the relevant information here before you bring it up with your landlord, so that you know where you stand if he tries to pull a fast one.

sadnav

you might point out to your landlord that the Saniflow should not be used to discharge the only toilet in a property. It breaks building regs unless there is a further toilet within the same property. A call to your local councils building and planning department should verify this, but pointing this out in a reasonable manner might get you the result you want a bit quicker.