New Rental Problems

[tomandlu]

We've moved into a new rental. It's mostly okay, a few things need fixing or replacing, but nothing terrible. The exception is a few of the carpets are in an unacceptable state.

Our main problem is that it's 'part-furnished', which seems to mean 3 hideous wardrobes, 5 hideous fake leather sofas and 2 hideous fake leather armchairs (apart from anything else, there's nowhere to fit so many sofas and chairs).

Do we have any rights with regard to the furniture and carpets? Has anyone dealt with a similar situation?

We're a family, renting privately (not HB), and plan on being here for a couple of years, but we need to get things sorted...

[Planner]

We've moved into a new rental. It's mostly okay, a few things need fixing or replacing, but nothing terrible. The exception is a few of the carpets are in an unacceptable state.

Our main problem is that it's 'part-furnished', which seems to mean 3 hideous wardrobes, 5 hideous fake leather sofas and 2 hideous fake leather armchairs (apart from anything else, there's nowhere to fit so many sofas and chairs).

Do we have any rights with regard to the furniture and carpets? Has anyone dealt with a similar situation?

We're a family, renting privately (not HB), and plan on being here for a couple of years, but we need to get things sorted...

The idea is to find a place you like, including fixtures and furnishings and then move in. Finding a place with unacceptable carpets and hideous furniture, moving in and then expecting it to be changed doesnt really work.

[wherebee]

The idea is to find a place you like, including fixtures and furnishings and then move in. Finding a place with unacceptable carpets and hideous furniture, moving in and then expecting it to be changed doesnt really work.

makes sure that you take plenty of photos of the carpets with a newspaper to prove date, otherwise when you move on the LL may well try to say that you have ruined them and take some of your deposit. happened to me until I emailed photos to the managing agent and told them i'd see them in court.

[tim123]

The idea is to find a place you like, including fixtures and furnishings and then move in. Finding a place with unacceptable carpets and hideous furniture, moving in and then expecting it to be changed doesnt really work.

I agree.

I moved into a furnished property once which the LL had over furnished with beds.

I had decided that I could live with it by stacking the spare ones up, until I discovered that one of the bases was completely smashed up.

So I repoted this and asked then to remove it. It took 4 months of nagging for them to do so!

tim

[tomandlu]

The idea is to find a place you like, including fixtures and furnishings and then move in. Finding a place with unacceptable carpets and hideous furniture, moving in and then expecting it to be changed doesnt really work.

Ideally, yes. However, getting a proper viewing was very hard. The place had four lads in it, one of whom was always asleep in at least one room. Consequently, it was very hard to work out what was in the place. What belonged to the house, and what belonged to the lads? Dunno? I suspect there was a rug over the burn as well.

Anyway, we're going to speak to the landlord tonight and see what can be worked out.

We plan on being here for a few years, so if he's got any sense he will be accommodating - all we want is to get rid of one burnt and frayed carpet, one wardrobe and one sofa. The rest of the stuff we don't like will fit in the attic afaict.

Later poster - thanks for the tip regarding pics - will do.

[Flopsy]

On our last rental we asked the LL to remove all the furniture and he turned up and did this himself.

However, in previous rentals we have asked for this to be done, had a verbal agreement and found the junk still there when we arrived.

If you do come to an agreement make sure it is in your AST or you have letters and emails to prove it. Also consider what you intend to do, if you get there and find the furniture still in place. It may not be easy to get the LL to take it away. We had to put it in storage but the LL kicked us out as soon as he could. We had to go to the small claims court to get the storage money back.

With the carpet, ask for it to be cleaned and make sure, once again that is in your AST. Take photos as the previous poster said as you may need evidence to get your deposit back. Think once again on what you intend to do if not cleaned. Be prepared of course, for you to have to get them cleaned yourself.

If a LL doesn't regard the well being of his/her tenants and doesn't want to pay out for storage/cleaning things can get nasty sometimes. They are usually the ones who will not pay for repairs and try to keep the bond at the end. Even if agreements are made I've had them broken more times than honoured. Check what they intend to do with your bond as well.

Good luck.

Edited November 9, 2010 by Flopsy

[matchmade]

We've moved into a new rental. It's mostly okay, a few things need fixing or replacing, but nothing terrible. The exception is a few of the carpets are in an unacceptable state.

You've effectively accepted the condition of the carpets and furniture by agreeing to rent the place and not pointing out the state of the carpets during your check-in. You need to photo the carpets asap and send the landlord copies, otherwise if he's an idiot he might try and charge you for the damage, claiming you did it.

If the carpets are just dirty, you could volunteer to clean them, and aks the landlord to reimburse you for the material costs, or better produce receipts and deduct the cost from your next rent. OK, it's a pain to do the work, but at least it's then done, and the landlord probably can't object as you are saving him or her money. You can hire cleaners at Tesco, or advertise on cooperative sites like Freegle or Freecycle for someone to loan you their Numatic George or equivalent for free. Cleaner fluid is £10 for a large bottle; George costs about £100 to buy.

[tomandlu]

Well, we haven't even had the check-in yet. We were just handed the keys at the EAs and that was it.

I've spoken to the owner - he seems okay. Current plan is to offer to lift up the carpet, sand and varnish the boards (at our expense). Also, to ask him to take away the surplus sofas and wardrobes (we will offer to pay for transport).

The trouble is that finding 4-bed places at not-too-ridiculous prices is like finding hen's teeth. We may have been a bit hasty, but we'd been looking for nearly three months...