Burst pipe who's responsible - Landlord / Tenant?

[S.L.F]

I disagree with your comment about it being in the interest of the tenant to get the tenant to pay for an independent assessor.
I think it should be the other way around - if the money is held by a 3rd party then the assessor should be paid for by the landlord, surely its more in their interest it is that persons business after all. For example if i hire a car I dont pay for someone else to check that it is in the correct condition the hirer does.
The other issue I have and this is a tricky one is the condition of the property on leaving, as having rented plenty of properties usually for a period of upto a maximum of 3years then I believe that if it is normal wear and tear (including decoration) then it is the landlords responsibility to make good every few years or so.
I think that many landlords forget (especially those who just have a single buy to let property) that it is a business they are running and not a service. They are charging someone for a product and its upto them to price it accordingly.
There is a flip side to your theory, the only time an assessor would be needed would be if there was a disagreement between landlord and tenant, neither would be happy with choices made by the other.

If it has to be someone independant then the costs would have to be 50/50 or the person who calls the assessor pays.

You dont pay extra in a hotel room for decoration or because you have used their chairs etc it is included in the price and is an overhead of the hotel as it should be for landlords

A hotel is a poor choice of comparison as you stay in a hotel for a short period of time (most people for a few short days) most rental properties are rented for months at a time the difference in prices for the 2 is large.

A hotel will cost you from about €80 upwards where as you can get a reasonable place in Dublin to rent for about €16 a day.

 

[webbs]

That's the way it is done in Germany too, I was told by someone that in you don't get a kitchen there you have to provide one yourself and the walls can be whatever colour you want as long as they are white the next people move in and they paint it whatever colour they want and then when they leave they paint them back white again.

Sounds like the way to go.

We dont have the same culture as them in that renting has been seen as a long term thing in the likes of Germany, Netherlands etc whereas buying is the culture here and the UK and despite the current climate I cant see this changing that dramatically.
Until we have the same protection for tenants from landlords as in the likes of Germany then its unlikely to happen. There is obviously two camps here with distrust on both sides. Ask pretty much anyone who has been a renter over a few properties and they will always go into a new place with a sense of distrust and of resignation that the landlord will do the best to screw us out of our deposit at the end, and am sure the feeling is similar for landlords in distrusting tenants

 

[S.L.F]

Until we have the same protection for tenants from landlords as in the likes of Germany then its unlikely to happen.

In fairness it must be pointed out to you that the law is biased in favour of tenants in this country, even if a landlord gets a judgement in their favour the chances of an ex-tenant having anything of value is slim.

Not a day goes by without me worrying about what a tenant can do to my flat and having no real legal recourse to deal with them afterwards.

The PRTB only works if both parties are prepared to play ball if someone has been given proper notice to quit and decides they don't want to move a landlord can't evict them, no matter what the tenant does to his property or how long they haven't been paying rent.

Landlords in this country have a bad deal.

 

[S.L.F]

Ask pretty much anyone who has been a renter over a few properties and they will always go into a new place with a sense of distrust and of resignation that the landlord will do the best to screw us out of our deposit at the end, and am sure the feeling is similar for landlords in distrusting tenants

That is totally unfair for the majority of landlords, I have never held money over even when the place has been filthy.

Regarding trust I meet all my new tenants and ask for a reference but rarely check it because lets face facts anybody can write a piece on a paper, I perfer to go by my gut instinct on what people are like if I just don't like someone they won't get the place.

I've been a LL for 7 years now and am sorry I allowed 1 couple to let the place against my instincts (cost me hundreds to fix everything afterwards)

 

[webbs]

That is totally unfair for the majority of landlords, I have never held money over even when the place has been filthy.

I couldnt agree more that it is unfair on vast majority of Landlords and likewise with tenants the vast majority look after the properties very well. But it only takes one bad landlord to make a renter wary the next time and vice versa

I did most of my renting in London and would say that you would be in the minority if you did not withhold some deposit if the place was filthy.
Several times I have had some of the deposit withheld from me and I always leave the place immaculate, the last renting place we cleaned what we thought was everywhere, scrubbing skirting boards the lot and when landlord checked he said there was dirt on the picture rail and therefore we had obviously not kept the place well and would deduct money for a cleaner to come in.
Yet when we had moved in we had had to clean the oven and kitchen units as they were filthy and had told the landlord that, yet no joy, and as is often the case a tenant needs the deposit for his next place so cannot get into a protracted dispute over a £100 or so.

I completely see where you and other good landlords are coming from but what I said above is an example of why I would say that Ireland will remain country of home owners rather than renters

 

[sam h]

Webbs, I'd have been back so fast with my marigolds & mop. There's no way I'd let a landlord with-hold the deposit if the place was left clean. You probably should have followed that up with PRTB.

While I ask for a place to be left as they got it, it very rarely is but once the place isn't trashed, I always give back the deposit. I would expect that the presses, oven, fridge etc will have to be cleaned.

 

[S.L.F]

Webbs, I'd have been back so fast with my marigolds & mop. There's no way I'd let a landlord with-hold the deposit if the place was left clean. You probably should have followed that up with PRTB.

While I ask for a place to be left as they got it, it very rarely is but once the place isn't trashed, I always give back the deposit. I would expect that the presses, oven, fridge etc will have to be cleaned.

I think that fact that webbs said £100 would mean (s)he is (was) in a diferent country while renting that property.

When I was renting one of my LLs would have you leave the property then he'd inspect it (within 24 hours) and give you back the deposit when he'd meet you afterwards, it is what I do now.

It gives me a chance to have a really good look at the place and if I have any problems I'll call them and get them to fix the problem with me there.

If someone wants their deposit back faster I'll write them a cheque and then inspect it any problems I'll cancel the cheque if need be.

 

[DGOBS]

Back to the OP, why not just have a frost stat installed to your property, in event of very cold weather it will over-ride the heat controls and heat the property......to answer a simple question on how to avoid the problem.

 

[S.L.F]

Back to the OP, why not just have a frost stat installed to your property, in event of very cold weather it will over-ride the heat controls and heat the property......to answer a simple question on how to avoid the problem.

That's fine for inside the house but if the pipes freeze out side it won't help

 

[DGOBS]

SLF the OP had asked how to overcome the issue of the tenant going away and
maybe not leaving a low heat setting on, hence frozen pipe inside.

No one is suggesting that a house heating system would stop external pipes from freezing.........I wish as just spent 2 weeks with no water!

 

[shootingstar]

Just to update you all...

After sitting down and weighting up the pros & cons I decided to hand deliver a letter to the tenant. Explaining everything...

I gave them a chance to clean up the place & an inspection would be inevitable with good notice of same.

Can you believe I cant afford to kick them out just yet. I rented out my home this time round because I couldnt afford the mortgage (came out of my job Jan 09 and seriously struggling to find work since, can you believe!!).. Yes they've been late with rent but I managed to get it off them so my mortgage has never been late thank god...

Bad situation to be in guys

 

[S.L.F]

SLF the OP had asked how to overcome the issue of the tenant going away and maybe not leaving a low heat setting on, hence frozen pipe inside.!

It's just an extra expense for something that might work but by the same token it might not work.

My pipes in the attic froze recently and I didn't know such a thing existed so thank you, as soon as I have some spare cash I'll get one installed.

I wish as just spent 2 weeks with no water!

The waters been frozen once and has been cut off twice now for ourselves