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When something goes wrong in your rental property, we know how important it is to you that the problem is solved quickly. With winter just around the corner, Katie and Lynsey from our Lettings team, are here to help explain what you should do if something does go wrong. We will also be explaining the difference between each type of maintenance issue and answering some of your questions.
Types of Maintenance
Maintenance issues within your rental property can be organised into three main categories:
On-going maintenance
Schedules of maintenance which either need to be done from a legal point of view e.g. gas and electricity safety checks. Or maintenance which your landlord undertakes according to their own schedule e.g. replacing carpets, redecoration, general upgrades and improvements
General Repairs
A general repair is something that has broken or needs repairing within your property, but it is not urgent. For example, a leaking window sill, dripping tap, small leak that can be contained are all examples of general maintenance.
Urgent Repairs
An urgent repair is, as the name suggests, something that needs to be repaired or fixed urgently. For example, your boiler has broken leaving you with no hot water or central heating, a major water leak or an electrical failure. These are things that require urgent resolution - it is essential that any urgent matters are reported in the required manner to your agent or Landlord, incorrectly reported issues can lead to delays, so this is particularly important with urgent repairs.
How Do I Report A Maintenance Issue?
Here at Foden Property, we use FixFlo which is an online maintenance reporting system. We would advise all of our tenants to report all maintenance issues directly through this system. The FixFlo system ensures that your problems are logged correctly and that actions can be taken as quickly as possible to fix the issue and ensures all parties can be kept updated.
How Long Will It Take To Solve My Maintenance Issue?
There is no simple answer to that question and priority will always be given to the most urgent maintenance tasks first, and your agent will act in accordance with any instruction provided by the Landlord.
Once the report has been received your agent will report to the Landlord and ask for authority to act, without this authority we can not instruct trades to attend unless there is a risk to life or property.
Once the Landlord's instructions are received we can take action and instruct the relevant trades person and they will liaise with the tenant for access to assess or repair the issue. A repair may not be immediate - quotes may be needed, parts or a replacement may need to be sourced and ordered. And for bigger jobs funding, or even an insurance claim, may need to be placed - although most issues are resolved fairly quickly. This can take a bit of time and your Landlord and Agent should be afforded a reasonable time to fix the issue.
Whilst you wait for a resolution to the problem, you will be expected to do what you can in the meantime to make sure the problem doesn’t get any worse. For example, you should regularly clear the water up so that it doesn’t cause a wall to get damp or stain a carpet if it drips onto the floor.
If your maintenance issue falls into the category of an urgent repair, then we will do everything we can to ensure that the problem is fixed as quickly as possible. The aim is within 24 hours although the issue may need to be made safe and an interim solution provided if it is not an easy fix.
What Legal Rights Do I Have To Ensure All Maintenance Issues Are Fixed?
Your Landlord is legally obligated to provide you with a safe and habitable home to live in. It should be well maintained and anything that is not caused by the tenant, and could affect the health or wellbeing of a tenant, should be resolved by the Landlord. It is worth mentioning that if the maintenance issue is caused by the tenant, then the tenant will be responsible for fixing it. For example, blocked kitchen drains are often caused by food waste or fat going down the drain and so a tenant would be expected to clear an issue like this.
If your Landlord is failing to respond or refusing to deal with important maintenance, you may have the right to get the repair carried out yourself and charge it back to the Landlord. But only to make safe or avoid further damage as a last resort. You must not just instruct works, although the house is your home, it belongs to the Landlord.
A landlord may not be obligated to resolve all maintenance issues if they feel they are unnecessary, or are likely to be resolved as part of a bigger project i.e. all window frames need painting, but if the Landlord intends to replace the windows in the near future, that maintenance job may not be undertaken.
Similarly, a Landlord is not obligated to change things that are still in working order, but that may benefit from being updated. Bathrooms and kitchens often fall into this category - if they are perfectly serviceable but dated the tenant can ask for them to be updated, but they do not have the right to insist upon it.
It is not advisable to withhold rent in lieu of repairs, in doing so you will actually be breaking the terms of your tenancy agreement. This could put your tenancy in jeopardy, so we would never advise you to do this.
If you do decide to take this step, it is important that receipts for works are provided and the balance of any rent is paid. If you are withholding rent, it should be put aside in a bank account to show your intention to pay once the matter is resolved.
Final Thoughts
The important thing to remember when you have any maintenance issues in your rental property is to make sure you report them as quickly as possible. You should also report them according to the processes outlined by your letting agent.
You should allow a reasonable amount of time to fix your problems, but always follow up with your agent/Landlord if you feel the matter isn't being dealt with. Finally, be aware that all issues being presented to your landlord will be assessed and resolved based on their order of priority.