Legal Responsibilty of Landlord/Letting Agent

[Amz260104]

My sister is in private rented accomodation - through a letting agent. Well over a month ago her staircase partially collapsed, she has been frequently contacting the agents who still have not done anything about repair. Anyone got any suggestions about how she should go about getting it sorted & are there any legal grounds for getting it done?

[gasman]

They are legally bound to keep a property in a safe condition and a collapsed staircases sounds very dangerous to me. I would refuse to pay any rent untill it has been rectified. They would soon get a workman in to sort it then.

[eyeshade]

She has to be careful about withholding her rent for whatever reason but does the landlord manage the property or the letting agents? If the letting agents manage the property then they are responsible for contacting the landlord and putting the matter right. If the landlord is mangaing it then they will be responsible directly. From your post, Is sounds as though the letting agents are managing it which is totally down to them, go to their office and cause an absolute storm, say you are contacting the owners (bluff) if they don't do anything quickly and also the council as it is unsafe etc. BE careful about repairing it yourself as the owners could come back to you later saying it has not been done properly and retain some of your deposit. You need to keep on and on at the agents. Are they members of ARLA? If so, you can contact them and put in a complaint.

[angeldraws]

You CAN withold rent until repairs are made. They will soon get their a$$e$s into gear if you refuse to pay until its sorted and you are well within your rights, especially if it is a danger - take photos if you can to prove it is a problem and in URGENT need of repair......

[what..the?]

I rent and tend to find that by law there is no lawful reason to withhold rent. You sign an agreement to pay rent from one period to the next and the only rules laid down in the tenancy agreement are ones the tenant has to obay not the otherway round. They write out any requirements on their part which is very clever.

I think the only grounds for not paying rent would be to state the property is unliveable i.e. it is basically not suitable for occupation and is structually unsafe and for this reason you are moving out to stay in a hotel. And that you are talking with your local solicitor who specialises in Landlord and tenancy law who will be contacting them soon.

Most letting agencys are members of some legal groups and have to follow the rules layed now by them if they are not providing a good service or even worse endangering life you may want to report them to these third parties, or at least threaten them with it. If this letting agency is on the web look at their website to see who these third parties are.

Take photos of the damage and say to the agents that you or a visitor has already hurt themselves but dont over do it and say broken bones because thats harder to fake!

[Amz260104]

Problem resolved the good old fashioned way - kept hassling them!!

Thanks for all the responses.