Here is a blog clinic question from Carlotta who is a tenant:
My partner and I moved into the property in March 2011.
As we entered the property we discovered that the windows in the bedroom were broken (windows cannot be closed properly leaving a gap through which cold air is entering in the room).
We ask the landlord (through the letting agency) to fix it but until now he hasn’t done it.
Since this winter has been quite cold, to have a liveable place to sleep, we needed to keep the heater on in the bedroom for several hours a day with a consequent increase of our electricity bill.
Is the landlord in breach of tenancy agreement? Could we ask for a refund for the electricity bill? Thank you very much,
Windows are classed as part of the ‘structure and exterior’ of the property, and therefore fall within your landlords statutory repairing obligations. So provided you have notified him, via his agent, of this, then he is at fault for not carrying out the repairs.
Your are entitled to bring a claim against him for the work to be done and for compensation, although if you were thinking of this, there is a special court protocol you have to comply with first.
I am pretty sure that the excess heating costs you have had to pay would fall within your claim for compensation. So I don’t see why you should not ask for a refund on your rent in respect of this.
There is a blog post on tenants repair rights here which may help you.
*****
If YOU have a problem, why not put it to the blog clinic? However there are a lot of questions submitted, so if you need an answer quickly remember that members of my Landlord Law service can ask me questions in the members forum area, and will normally get an answer with 24 hours.
And the lengthy and tedious disrepair pre-action protocol of which Tessa speaks can be found here
http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/protocol/prot_hou
Why not try a different approach (I come from the angle of trying to avoid any sort of legal action if possible): If your windows are remotely accessible to an intruder (eg. near the ground), explain to your Landlord that your contents insurer will not insure your contents as there is a means of access (broken window) which has not been fixed, therefore you request that he agrees to compensate you for any loss to your belongings. This should prompt him to take action.
Alternatively, if your property is leasehold (if it is a flat in a purpose built block it probably is leasehold) then the window repair is the responsibility of the freeholder (structural repair) so ask the Landlord one more time and state if you hear nothing within 2 weeks you will contact the freeholder yourself about the matter. If your Landlord is complying with all his regulations this will not faze him, leaving you free to contact the freeholder (probably via a management company if a flat) after 2 weeks who should repair this window for you (and the landlord will eventually be charged for this via a charge on his usual annual service charges). If your Landlord is not complying with requirements of his lease etc though he will NOT want you to contact the freeholder and will therefore swing into action.
Years ago a property I manage had a broken sash window which would not close properly and an intruder used this TWICE as a means of entry, the 2nd time stealing the new boiler off the wall. The landlord then had to replace this at his own expense and I advised him to get a new window installed to replace the broken one, to prevent this ever happening again. A a window that does not close properly does get spotted by unsavoury characters!