More than half of tenants have had to tackle issues related to their rented homes in the past year, new research conducted on behalf of Ocean Finance in June has revealed.
Tenants in London were worst off with 60 per cent saying they experienced problems in the past 12 months. This was followed by those in the East Midlands and the rest of the South East region.
The problems ranged from poor maintenance to breaches of their contract. Over a third (35 per cent) of tenants said that complaining to their landlord or letting agent did nothing as the problems were not fixed.
Some 15 per cent of tenants said their landlords failed to fix structural problems such as damp, leaking roofs or rotten window frames.
More than one in ten (13 per cent) of tenants suffered delays in repairing broken furniture, showers and washing machines.
Over a tenth (14 per cent) were faced with money-related woes such as unexpected increases in rent, disputes over money deducted from their deposits and even early eviction when their landlord sold their property.
While 13 per cent of tenants said they did not know whom to turn to for advice, a small proportion of them (5 per cent) have refused to pay their rent until the landlord resolved the problem.
Gareth Shilton, a spokesman for Ocean Finance, says:
“Landlords have an obligation to ensure that the properties they let are well maintained and safe for their tenants to live in. The research indicates that many tenants are renting sub-standard properties. It’s also concerning that people are facing mid-tenancy rent increases or have money unexpectedly taken from their deposits.
“One of the problems may be a lack of clarity over whose responsibility it is to maintain different aspects of a property. Often the landlord believes the tenant is responsible for doing repairs that in fact they are obligated to make.”
