I moved into a property last month after viewing it once, the estate agent rushed me around it with the usual pressure to rent citing a queue of people waiting behind me.
Upon moving in it has transpired that the fixtures and fittings are nowhere near fit for purpose. The fitted kitchen is falling apart, the house is infested with insects and the microwave oven that was in situ when I viewed is missing.
More importantly, the house has 5 huge glass glazed bifold windows in the downstairs which makes the house extremely cold and means we have zero privacy especially when it’s dark (the public can see directly into our house.) the cost of covering the windows is approx £400. We didn’t realise the impact of this when we viewed. We are hesitant to invest in something that won’t be of any use to us when we leave the tenancy so we’ve asked the landlord if he could contribute to these and fix the problem with the microwave oven with either a replacement or just give us a cover for the hole and he has refused point blank.
We are unable to use the whole of the downstairs as it’s freezing (the underfloor heating doesn’t work) and due to the privacy issue. He’s referred this to the estate agent who is in agreement with him. Where do we stand?
Document everything take photos and follow up any conversations with LL or Estate agent with an email of what you and they said
Check your contract
If advert didn’t specify a microwave and it wasn’t in an inventory you/LL signed then unless promised somewhere else I’m not sure you have much of a case. It’s your responsibility as a buyer to check you will get what you expect. Don’t try blaming others if you rushed. If it was part of the fitted kitchen tho and was in advert photos and when you viewed then you may have a case - ask citizens advice and trading standards
Same if they didn’t promise curtains/window coverings then it’s as you saw when viewing so if you didn’t agree these would be added before signing a contract not sure why you think LL has any obligation to provide. 400 quid sounds a lot. Have you looked into blinds that clip into place try 247blinds. Or use semi transparent stick on window privacy film say up to halfway up (sold by screwfix and others). There’s also ‘secondary glazing’ film. All your responsibility tho sorry.
LL has obligations to provide a property that is habitable so they do need to fix the heating or provide an alternative. You need to show pest infestation was present from day 1 not caused by eg lack of cleaning since you arrived. Have you cleaned whole place from top to bottom and used the electronic insect repeller devices and blocked up every hole possible - but in older properties it’s hard to avoid some spiders and insects - do they still come back? its reasonable to expect you to see if you can fix this problem yourself before LL has to get pest control in to find the source etc. And will help persuade LL you want to stay and take c are of the place.
On both heating and pest control you can tell LL/estate agent you will call environmental health at your LA if they don’t sort. And propose a rent reduction till fixed. You don’t say if LL has refused to fix heating or just said window coverings is your own responsibility
Excess cold is a category 1 health and safety issue under HHSRS and you can ask the Environmental Health team to inspect. They have the power to force the landlord’s hand.
If you were not given sufficient time to properly consider renting the property, then it could be a breach of consumer legislation. I would suggest you start by making an official complaint to the estate agency using their complaints procedure. You can then escalate the complaint to their redress scheme if they don’t respond satisfactorily.
If you think you can’t live in this property, you could try to unwind the tenancy and get all your money back, which is a feature of the Consumer Rights Act. I would suggest you get legal help with this though and you act soon as there is a short window of opportunity where this is possible. Maybe start with a call to Shelter or the CAB.