Defects .v. Rent

[hawkeye]

The soakaway in our rental does not work properly, so when you get heavy rainfall it backs up and floods the patio with a not too sweet smelling gunge (not sewage, but effluent from washing machine and dishwasher). My landlord purports to be making progress on a fix but I want to ratchet up a fix. If I give him say 1 months notice for the start of the fix, and we get 1 month down the line, and we are no further forward, can I withhold a portion of the rent say 10%, until the work starts. Any ideas would be appreciated.

[laurejon]

Report the issue to Building Control at your local authority.

You cannot discharge washing machine water into a soakaway, it is solely for the purpose of stormwater from the roofs of the property.

Washing Machine water is classified as sewerage and is indeed a risk to personal health, especially if you have children playing in the garden.

With regard to withholding rent, forget it, you will get blacklisted, the landlord never loses.

[paying_some_b*stards_mortgage]

Having had problems with a landlord and repairs in the past, I would suggest calling the council Environmental Health Department (or whatever they're called near you. A call from them to your landlord/agency should speed things up enormously. By the way, laurejon is correct; if you withold rent (at all) you forfeit a lot of your legal rights, so don't do it.

[hawkeye]

Thanks for your help guys. I think I will give my landlord a months warning before contacting enviromental health.

Need to be a little careful as we are 3 months in to a 6 month term. If I am too agressive he may not renew which would be a real pain, as the family are now nicely settled to see out the crash!. On the other hand it is summer, I am paying #1100 a month, and I would like to enjoy the garden without a whiff in the air!

What do you reckon?

[lettings expert]

The soakaway in our rental does not work properly, so when you get heavy rainfall it backs up and floods the patio with a not too sweet smelling gunge (not sewage, but effluent from washing machine and dishwasher). My landlord purports to be making progress on a fix but I want to ratchet up a fix. If I give him say 1 months notice for the start of the fix, and we get 1 month down the line, and we are no further forward, can I withhold a portion of the rent say 10%, until the work starts. Any ideas would be appreciated.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

your landlord is in breach of section 11 of the Landlord and Tennant Act 1985 which states the Landlords obligation to repair