Reaching out to landlords in Luton LU3

Dear Gee

Most properties are let with white goods included so that aspect of your request is more likely to put private landlords off renting to you than to encourage them. This is because they will not want to remove and store their own white goods.

If your deposit hasn't been protected then you are able to make a money online claim for the return of your deposit plus compensation equal to a minimum of 1X your deposit and up to 3X your deposit. Furthermore, a section 21 notice to vacate the property is not enforceable if the deposit wasn't protected within 30 days, unless it was refunded to you before a section 21 notice was served. If you need more advice on this pop into your local Citizens Advice centre.

There is no private messaging service in Property118 and we do not allow members to post contact details so there is no way for members here to contact you I'm afraid. If you really do need to move I suggest you visit Rightmove and Zoopla and contact the agents in your area. The compensation that you receive in respect of the deposit protection issue should go a long way towards your referencing and moving costs.

Good luck!
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Hi, if it helps, when I'm looking for a new tenant I always check on Gumtree, Rental wanted first, it's free to put the advert on. I always think that if someone advertises for a rental they are serious and have all the refs/deposit in place - good luck

Reply to the comment left by "Elaine Hassall" at "18/03/2015 - 17:56":

Thanks Mark and Elaine, I have trawled gumtree, zoopla, rightmove and so many different rental aggregators that I have become quite dizzy.

With regard to what you mentioned Mark about the TDS. I now see a light bulb light up because firstly

the agent served us notice.

then he began to ring incessantly and demand to meet and I felt a bit choked up against the wall.

Then eventually the agent began to hound me for bank details claiming he wanted to refund the deposit to 'help' us with the move which he did almost a week ago.

Rather oddly, today because I have been getting emails from people I never dealt with at their company i rang him.

He claimed he had served a new notice on us and videotaped himself and his witnesses doing so on the afternoon of the day he returned the deposit.

This was despite him asking to meet me and my giving him a clear indication I would busy.

So I asked him, why would you if you are sane, and I have been a good tenant looking after your home and paying your rent then need to send two hoodlums to our home armed with video cameras to film themselves and me or members of my family at home recieving a new notice.

After all we did not protest the first notice.

The strange thing is I was out that day and when i returned, I did not see any correspondence from the agent

I told him so and explained that it would be extraordinary that given the difficulties we have had finding a new place , it would defy understanding that I would not celebrate the advent of an extension of notice.

he claims he can serve us as many notices as he wants with each cancelling the last.

However from what I see, he has firstly when I asked about TDS tried to feign ignorance , he sent me an email back saying that the name of the TDS he used is The Property Ombudsman.

I contacted them and they said they were not a TDS.

he has since ignored all requests to provide in writing a letter confirming he failed to use TDS.

Then today he claimed he gave us a new notice and offered a copy.

He has arranged to come here on Thursday of next week and he spent much time today harranguing me on the phone insisting he served a new notice in absentia.

He then offered to bring me a copy which I declined because as I am not a hostile or antagonistic tenant.

When he comes, I will tell him, I have got his number and if he thinks he can cunningly wriggle out of the rules regarding flouting the TDS rules he has another thing coming.

Some six months ago, the roof in one of the rooms caved in from water ingress from the water vat in the loft and i call it vat because i went up there, it is an open smelly black plastic tub much like one you would find in slums in south america for catching rain water

To cut a long story short, my precious keepsakes from childhood, collection of 8 and 12 inch vinyls, stamp collection, wedding dress, books and boxed up items in theat room were all damaged and i have asked him to come to inspect the damage and then i will send him an itemised list with market rates for reimbusement but he flosses over it and keeps trying to wriggle us around.

To add insult to injury because he insisted we would likely have residence in this house for 6 years at a minimum, we took on the property in what was a rather poor state and sunk much of our spare funds in the first six months into making it habitable.

Not once did he offer to remedy anything.

The one time he did, he brought a drunk man to the house to make some repairs on the garage roof which was signed in on inventory as in good condition, dry and with a tiny leak in a small corner which turned out to be a sewage flood zone with multiple random holes in the roof making us run around with buckets when it rained to protect my belongings stored in there.

The man he brought reeked so bad i was near gagging just supervising him and he was so drunk he fell through the roof.

I had to put foam expandear in crevices around windows to prevent it from being willow the wisp in the winter

and also none of the radiators would heat up past the edges and after telling him multiple times, I eventually had to bleed all the radiators myself, actually burnt myself at one point because the boiler has a mind of its own and it kicked in while i bled one of the radiators.

So..... thank you so much Mark, especially for the heads up on lettors not being able to use the boad and thanks Elaine, i will actually do that and post a wanted notice on gumtree too.

From what i understand, Amazon and a few other factory/warehouse type companies have influxed the bedfs, herts and bucks area recently and they use bus to work agencies which attracts a lot of economic migrants from the EU to work for them and of the 3 counties, Bedfordshire had the cheapest homes and now everyone who is coming in wants to live here and there is now a letting shortage in Luton and as such even the grubbiest 2 bedroom houses are not grabbing almost as much rent as a park avenue apartment.

The agents have cashed in on it asking upwards of 900-1500 for a 2 bed property and about 700-100 for studio flats and that is not adding fees where agents are not charging about 500-750 for a couple on entry for some kind of strange CIA credit check which i know equifax only charges zero for.

So.... thanks to you both.

Now I know what game the agent is playing, I shall tune my guitar. It is really true. Being nice means people always take the mickey out of you.

pah

NB apologies to the general public for my outpouring of angst. Never have i seen such a poker faced creep in my life as someone pretending to care when all he can see is the bottom dollar.

update it seems policies have change and
You cannot use MCOL to make a claim against:
 a child under 18
 someone who lacks 'mental capacity' (someone unable to make their own decisions)
 the Crown or Government departments
 your landlord under the tenancy deposit scheme (more information is provided at
https://www.gov.uk/tenancy-deposit-protection)

but thanks everyone for the input.

I'd be speaking to the tenant relationship officer at your local council and the environmental health officer.

With regards to loss of personal items, the landlord is required to insure his/her own contents, the building and liability but not tenants belongings. Tenants should always insure their own belongings.

It is against the law for a landlord to insure a tenants possessions.

Reply to the comment left by "Sandra Savage-Fisher" at "19/03/2015 - 11:09":

but the landlord is still liable for damage caused to tenants belongings by defective property or action by his agent.

Reply to the comment left by "Sandra Savage-Fisher" at "19/03/2015 - 11:09":

Dear Sandra

thanks for the update.

I do have insurance for my belongings

But i should not be making claims against my very clean insurance record of 15 years to cover loss due to a landlords failure to keep his property watertight and free from sewage ingress.

That would be the landlord or lettors issue to remedy.

If I had left a tap running and ruined my belongings, then I could call my insurer.

Reply to the comment left by "brian clement" at "19/03/2015 - 23:53":

Dear Brian

I have no remote expectation that the landlord or letting agent should insure my belongings for me.

I have my own content insurance.

However you must understand that clampdowns by Lloyds of London and many other underwriters means claiming on any insurance is now a very microscopically complex process.

Firstly, I don't feel inclined to somehow take responsibility for something the lettor had all knowledge of and should have kept an eye on, because I am a tenant not a caretaker.

So the lettor or his agent should inspect for defects by request as many times as they want. I have never objected to that

Secondly the water and sewage ingress i speak of was known to the agent

Thirdly, I have a strong feeling that this property does not have buildings insurance, otherwise the lettor or his agent should claim on that for the damage.

And if they have, they should have itemised damage to material goods

But I should not damage my no claims for the lettor

A property should be watertight and free from sewage ingress.

If a roof has minor damage or leaks you may be able to repair it with roof sealant and a landlord should do that not me up on the roof on my bionic legs putting my back out which i have done.

If sewage is imploding into the outhouse, the landlord should get industrial HCl for just under £20 and flush the sewer not me which i have done esp if it happens less than a few weeks after we move in, it means the problem is not new.

It takes a while for buildup in sewers till they back up to the surface.

If a water pipe is leaking the landlord should get th pipe fixed by either replacing or sealing off the leak with a heat applique not me, and i have done that to stop the water pouring before calling them to tell them there is water coming down from the loft on a sunday.

Fiinally if my belongings have been damaged though any or all of the above, the landlord or lettor should come to inspect the items and make arrangements to pay expediently. Not me chasing and asking and begging.

Building insurance and water pipes etc insurance and something to cover boilers and so on,..... any normal sane lettor would bite the bullet and pay that out to prevent any heart attacks when something goes wrong.

Reply to the comment left by "Michael Barnes" at "20/03/2015 - 08:20":

Thank you Michael

this is correct

I am not a beaver.... no way i chewed through the pipes to let water in.... although i think beavers cant chew plastic though (hhihiihhhiihhihihi)

and beyond that... the damage was so bad that if i claimed on my insurance, it will go up next year or they may refuse the claim once it is established it is not because a tap overflowed or something but that it is due to a building infrastructure problem.

Imagine storing your chest freezer in a garage with your food supplies and walking in one day to find sewage lapping around it like a man induced river in a slum

no no no... I am not paying for that. ewww.