#title The Stuff Your Landlord Doesn’t Want You to Know
#author Solidarity Federation
#LISTtitle Stuff Your Landlord Doesn’t Want You to Know
#SORTauthors Solidarity Federation
#SORTtopics tenant organizing, United Kingdom
#date April 2012
#source Retrieved on 2020-05-02 from [[https://iwa-ait.org/content/stuff-your-landlord][iwa-ait.org]]
#lang en
#pubdate 2020-04-02T05:55:51
*** Some key housing rights
**** Housing status
There are many types of housing status, your rights as a tenant
often depend on what your housing status is. “Regulated tenants”
have very strong rights whereas “excluded occupiers” (such as
lodgers) have few rights. Most renters now are “assured shorthold
tenants”, and have some rights and protection. Before taking action
against your landlord on something like repairs you should check
your security of tenure and read your contract.
**** Implied terms
No matter what your tenancy is or what your contract says, your
landlord has obligations which are given by law and are implied into
all tenancy agreements.
Some of the most important implied terms are:
- your landlord must carry out basic **repairs** (damage is called
disrepair).
- your landlord must keep the **installations** for the supply of
water, gas, electricity, sanitation, space heating and heating
water in good working order
- you have the right to live peacefully in the accommodation
without nuisance from your landlord (Your landlord is required
to give you **24 hrs’ notice** in advance of any visit, with the
possible exception of emergencies.)
- in most cases, your landlord must not discriminate against you.
There may be some exceptions, for example, if you live in the
same accommodation as your landlord.
**** Tenancy Deposit Scheme
Your landlord needs to pay your deposit into a Government
approved deposit protection scheme, and return it to you at the end
of your tenancy – unless there’s a dispute about your tenancy.
Your landlord must give you details of the scheme they are using
to protect it. It is also important that you and your landlord agree,
in writing, what condition the place is in when you start renting it,
including a list of the furniture and fittings (known as an inventory).
You should get your deposit back within ten days if you and your
landlord agree about how much you should get back. If, for whatever
reason, your landlord withholds all or part of your deposit, then s/
he needs to provide an itemised invoice of all of the costs deducted
from it, including receipts for any repair or cleaning work.
**** Landlord Harassment
Harassment by a landlord is an offence and can take a number of
different forms, for example:
- removing or restricting access to services such as gas,
electricity or water, or failing to pay the bills so that these
services are cut off
- visiting your home regularly without warning, especially late at
night
- interfering with your post
- threatening you
- sending builders round without notice
- entering your home when you are not there, without your
permission
- allowing your home to get into such a bad state of repair that
it’s dangerous for you to stay
- beginning disruptive repair works and not finishing them
- harassing you because of your gender, race or sexuality
**** The Eviction Process
If you’re a private tenant, your landlord needs “grounds” (a reason)
if they want to evict you before the end of a fixed-term contract.
Councils and housing associations also need grounds to evict most
types of tenants. This could be due to something like 8 weeks rent
arrears or breaking a term of your tenancy agreement.
To be evicted your landlord first has to give you a written notice
that complies with particular legal requirements depending on your
tenancy. You don’t have to leave at this point.
The next step for your landlord is to get a court order (saying when
you should leave the property or pay rent), you can put your case
across in writing and by going to the court hearing.
If your landlord or anyone else tries to evict a residential occupier
without following the correct procedure (written notice >
possession order > court bailiffs) this is an Illegal eviction and is a
criminal offence.
*** Going into dispute
Any dispute with your landlord needs to be
carefully considered. Here’s some things you
can do to help you through:
- **Read** your tenancy agreement to find out your contract rights and responsibilities.
- **Research** your housing rights from Tenants’ Handbooks, specialized housing
websites and legal advice centres. (see
back of leaflet)
- **Record** and copy any and all correspondence (and photographic
evidence) sent to your landlord to create
a “paper trail”...
There are a number of groups that exist to
resolve or arbitrate issues between tenants
and landlords. Shelter and CAB will give you
good advice about your rights but if you need
to teach your landlord a short, sharp lesson in
their responsibilities you might want to contact
Solidarity Federation to discuss taking Direct
Action.
**** Direct Action
This could mean:
- Delivering a demand letter to the
landlord’s home or work address.
- Publicly ‘outing’ the landlord to their
neighbours.
- Bombarding their telephone or email inbox.
- Occupying your local housing office.
These are just examples, anything that
gives you leverage over your landlord works;
challenging their reputation or hitting them in
the pocket is advisable.
All of these actions are best taken in
conjunction with your family and friends, or –
even better – other tenants!
*** Standing up for ourselves
It can be useful to know the law because many landlords don’t follow basic legal
requirements. But we also need to remember that the law is not going to be on our side most
of the time. We shouldn’t rely on it to make sure we’re treated fairly.
**** Direct Action and Solidarity
If you’ve rented, you’ve probably discussed with other tenants how best to deal with a
landlord or how to survive in a renting market that seems stacked against us. Perhaps you’ve
even gone with one of your fellow tenants to speak to your landlord about a problem in your
building. These conversations and actions form the basis of solidarity.
**** What next?
Fighting a legal battle can be costly, take a lot of time and require specialized skills. Direct
action doesn’t. Anyone can take direct action and win. Instead of relying on courts and
lawyers, direct action means that we win through organising ourselves and confronting
landlords collectively. It could be something straightforward, like going down as a group to
demand your landlord complete unfinished repairs. Or it could mean creating a tenants’ union
and organising a rent strike. Defending our rights is just the beginning. Once we achieve this,
we can start to take the initiative.
**** Who Are We and Why Do We Care?
The Solidarity Federation is an organisation
that encourages workers’ self-organisation
and collective action. Besides organising in
our own workplaces and communities, we are
happy to support anyone facing problems
with their boss or their landlord. So if you’re
looking to get organised, get in touch!
We can be reached at
solfed@solfed.org.uk or by our website
www.solfed.org.uk
**** Direct Action Advice
Solidarity Federation • www.solfed.org.uk
London Coalition Against Poverty • www.lcap.org.uk
Advisory Service for Squatters • www.squatter.org.uk
**** Advice on your legal rights
Shelter UK • www.shelter.org.uk
CAB • www.citizensadvice.org.uk