Ridiculous Landlord

[paragon]

I have a friend who has a broken bed, she rents the room through a property agency. The bed is crap and the slats constantly fall through the bed. The property agent says as the bed was not part of the original inventory the landlord does not have to replace it.

Is this fair? Anyone know anything about tenancy law or what she should say to them?

Thanks.

[david_carnell]

For a token gesture, she could get a nice new wrought iron one:

Bed

[paragon]

Does a handshake count as a token gesture? Thanks David I will suggest this to her. Really annoyed though - she can't get a good nights sleep - having back issues and the landlords have four people in the house paying quite a lot of cash to live there and she won't even stump up a couple of hundreds squid to sort it out.

[lozzyloz]

Doesn't sound fair to me. If the bed wasn't there at the end of the tenancy would that also mean it couldn't be deducted from the tenants deposit? You can't have it both ways.

[SeanMacGabhann]

If the bed wasn't part of the original inventory how did it get there? (not meant as a rhetorical question sorry - meant as a "does it belong to anyone?" question

If it's not part of the inventory you can dump it and get a new one (throroghly recommended) - there would be no obligation on teh landlord

If the flat is let as "furnished" howver, I believe a bed is part of the term even if it;s not listed on the inventory (could be wrong, sorry)

[Brendan]

She can withhold rent until the problem is sorted.

[paragon]

The bed was there when she got there and the house is let as "furnished". I don't see how it makes a blind bit of difference to whether it was on the inventory or not.

Will google tenancy laws now.

[Keef]

Did she sign an inventory when she moved in? If she did, and the bed wasn't on it, she's buggered. If she didn't, she can kick off about it.

[Crona]

At the end of the day she will have to play according to the rules. She is dealing with a stingy landlord who argues that because the bed was not part of the inventory will not buy a new one. What she needs to do is to write an email (for proof) and get a reply back saying that the bed is unsuitable and will get rid of it. The bed officially doesn't exist (as it doesn't belong to anyone) so she can do whatever she likes with it. I know it will be a hassle for a tenant to buy a bed and then have to think about what will do with it when she moves out (which I think with a landlord like this will be soon) but it is the only solution I can think of. There are several free beds in this Forum

[paragon]

She signed an inventory directly with the landlord originally. But then the lease migrated to being via a property management company. There was no new contract issued at that point. Not sure if that makes a difference at all.

Thanks for your help guys.

[ChavWivaLawDegree]

land law was my worst subject, but I was going to say what Sean MG said above, but I'd get it in writing if I were you and sell the new bed when I was ready to move!

[Keef]

If she signed a lease with the landlord, and the bed was on it, then it's the landlord's responsibility, I'm sure of it. That said, Landlords being landlords, s/he will probably say it's your mate who has broken it.

[Domitianus]

If the problem is simply slats falling through (I have had similar experiences of ending up crumpled through the middle of a bed in Ibiza) then either gluing them or screwing them into place might be the simple answer. For heavens sake get written permission from the landlord first though.

[SteveT]

two dozen 1 inch panel pins, and hammer one, each end of the slats, takes 5 minutes, costs ten bob, no, better allow 50p

It will all be history before you finish reading the lease.

best of luck