Scroll to the bottom if all you want are tips for living out. What follows is a report of all the s**t I have gone through with my letting agent in an aggressive, yet warranted, attempt to deter people from renting from Harrington’s Durham.
After my first year, being relatively uninvolved with college, I was so excited to live out and experience life in an environment separate from that of college. My housemates and I had found the perfect house – or what seemed to be the perfect house – the November before and were stoked to move in that summer. It was a huge house, the rooms were almost all double and the living room was massive. The house’s paint was cracking a bit and it was obvious that it was a bit old, but what house in Durham isn’t? Simply put, we felt like we lucked out.
All my housemates, including myself, are internationals so we quickly decided that in order to avoid lugging our stuff about during the summer that we’d sign for another year – keep our rooms and our stuff safe over the summer. Our relationship with our letting agent, Harrington’s, was great. Up until November 2015 when we signed on for another year.
The house had a few problems before we signed on again but Harrington’s were so quick to respond that we didn’t think this would pose an issue long-term. We were wrong.
The problems with the house kept compounding. The AGA in our kitchen would turn off once every two weeks, we would have no heating in the kitchen until Harrington’s finally decided to send someone. Even when someone was sent they only provided a quick fix and lo and behold two weeks later, the AGA was off again. This was in addition to issues regarding our boiler which would also periodically turn itself off. We were left without heating several times.
From then on the problems continued with the vast majority occurring in our third and final year. The upstairs bathroom had an incredibly old bathtub that was essentially made of plastic which ended up cracking, unsurprisingly. At first instance, the plumber accused us of ruining it and thereby informed the landlord that we were supposed to pay. I was relentless. I demanded a second inspection, claiming that the crack was fair wear and tear (something the landlord is responsible for under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985) and said we wanted a different plumber. This plumber was super nice and agreed with us and we got out of paying for a brand new bathtub.
Further, there was a crack in our ceiling that kept on leaking. We reported this and got a response a week later and they patched it up. A month later, it was leaking again. This time it took even longer for someone to come and fix it. This is in addition to severe boiler issues that left us without heating for two weeks, if not more. When I called about this, I was interrupted and yelled at. At this point, the AGA in the kitchen – our only source of heating in that room – had been off for two months and we were told it was impossible to fix as it was too old and they could not locate the parts. Our house was essentially falling apart.
Throughout first term Harrington’s would come unannounced to the house with potential new tenants which legally they are not allowed to do – we are entitled to 24 hours’ notice.
Further, they came to inspect the house, claimed there was mould in every room (which there most certainly is not) and accused us of damaging the kitchen by not opening the window when we used the dryer. We have since found out, from third parties who are installing a new kitchen (about goddamn time), that this is not our fault but rather due to our landlord cutting corners and not putting in a pipe intended to remove hot air.
Essentially, my experience with Harrington’s has been nothing short of awful. Do not recommend.
Tips:
Here are some handy tips for when you live out.
1. Know your and your landlord’s responsibilities.
These are normally drafted into your tenancy agreement, which I highly suggest you read, and can be found in legislation. Statutes are easy to find and not at all hard to read, The Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 is the legislation you want to be familiar with (particularly ss.11-14).
2. Be firm.
Whenever I get on the phone with Harrington’s I make sure that I am in a fierce mood. They will take advantage of you being a student and young if you do not speak up. If you followed tip 1 you will have the tools to argue in a civilized and effective manner.
3. If you’re good at being firm and not standing down, be lead tenant.
I have been lead tenant in my house since we moved in which means I have been able to discuss all these things with Harrington’s throughout my time as a tenant with them. If you are good at standing your ground and dealing with menial things like issues with the house, take on being lead tenant so that you can get the best for your house.
4. Do not let them talk around you.
Often letting agents who let to students do not think you know what your agreement or the statutes say. This is why it gives you an advantage when you know what your rights are. It sounds dramatic, but essentially knowing what you are entitled to and what you are responsible for makes it easier to get what you deserve. Sometimes they’ll try and discuss the problems in an attempt to circumvent what you know but do not let them, you deserve the best for your house.
5. Document, document, document.
I did not do this upon moving in to my house and I regret immensely. Take pictures of absolutely everything in every room so that you can get the full sum of your deposit back when you move out. This is so crucial. What I have found is that they also have not documented that well and so they will think some damage or marks are caused by you when they are not. Documenting is your friend.
6. Clean.
Clean once a week or once every two weeks. I also did not do this. If you clean relatively routinely you will not have to worry about inspections or a massive clean-up before you move out. Also just in case your parents come.