Unusable garage in rented property

[Du1point8]

rambo19 said:

Long term renter here.

The one thing I have worked out with landlords is that you need to withold rent in order to get anything done.

Are you not instantly in breach of contract for doing that? The first rule was always keep your nose clean and carry on paying no matter the situation and deal with it later.

[Hol]

TooMany2cvs said:

johnfm said:

This is why "Armchair landlords' need taxing out of existence.

So how should tax law take into account whether somebody is a responsible and proactive landlord or not?

Oh that's easy.

You just apply a landlord tax to all of them, to appease the newspapers and then say its not your fault when rents start going up.

Oh, and the extra tax collected has been already spent on the extra civil service bill required to calculate and collect it.

[the_lone_wolf]

Du1point8 said:

Are you not instantly in breach of contract for doing that? The first rule was always keep your nose clean and carry on paying no matter the situation and deal with it later.

Technically yes, however if you're doing it as I did, as a complete last resort because you'd been trying for months to get a response from an agent or landlord, and you made clear that you had no intention to permanently withhold it, I very much doubt any court would truly want to make your life harder for it and would be more interested in the reason you were withholding it in the first place...

[thelawnet1]

Du1point8 said:

Are you not instantly in breach of contract for doing that? The first rule was always keep your nose clean and carry on paying no matter the situation and deal with it later.

Yes and no. Yes, it's breach of contract, but they can't just evict you for that, not without going through a process anyway. Generally the best way for a landlord to evict you is at the end of the lease; eviction for non-payment of rent is a hassle and typically not worth the bother.

[the_lone_wolf]

thelawnet1 said:

Yes and no. Yes, it's breach of contract, but they can't just evict you for that, not without going through a process anyway. Generally the best way for a landlord to evict you is at the end of the lease; eviction for non-payment of rent is a hassle and typically not worth the bother.

Just to add to this, there's new legislation that was brought in for tenancies that began after around March this year that if a tenant reports a maintenance issue with the property and the landlord or agent doesn't respond substantially within two weeks then for a period of six months the landlord cannot issue a s.21 notice!! Not sure of the ins and outs as our tenancy is unaffected, but someone is knowledgeable I'm sure

More reminders from Parliment that landlords aren't on a free ride and must actively look after their investment...