I moved into a beautiful house 6 weeks ago. Straightaway I had to report that the dishwasher wasn’t working and that my shower wasn’t draining and toilet not flushing properly. Property was rented through an agent but not a managed let so I had to contact the landllord directly. He didn’t respond to my call, email or Whatsapp so the letting agent very kindly got in touch on my behalf. He sent someone to look at the dishwasher and advised he would look into the plumbing issues with the builder (it’s a fairly new build) as he was aware of the issues. A part was needed for the dishwasher which was ordered by the engineer while he was still at the property. That was a month ago. Still waiting. Since then the plumbing issues have got worse and there is now leakage from manhole cover in garden which I am having to disinfect each day and a dreadful smell in toilet. Landlord still doesn’t respond. I must send at least three texts/emails a day and get nothing back. I have now gone back to the letting agent and she has also tried to make contact with him. Any suggestions as to what I can do? Apart from these issues we love living here and only have an initial 6 month tenancy so don’t want him to think we’re being a nuisance and ask us to leave when our 6 months is up but we are paying a lot of rent!. We were hoping to live here long term.
If its a new build then these types of problems are not untypical and can take an age to sort out as its usually down to the developer and often a low priority for them. Coupled to that you have an unresponsive landlord and an agent whose goodwill will eventually wear out. I think you can only keep up the pressure to get it fixed and take a view on how things are going toward the end of the 6 months. If things have not improved, I would suggest you start looking elsewhere.
Send your landlord a letter by recorded delivery or a text message saying as he hasnt respond to your repair requests your thinking of contacting enviromental health if they arnt fixed soon.
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