Landlord has gone AWOL

[burntlego]

Hi everyone

I'm new to this forum and would be grateful for some advice.

We have been renting from our landlord from June last year to January this year and then asked to have our contract extended to June 2007.

Landlord said ok, he will send a new contract. Have heard nothing since.

Then, end of February we had a break in, got a crime number for the police and informed the landlord thinking he'd get our broken window fixed - the window is still broken and only has a bit of cardboard covering it from the inside.

The main problem is we have been trying to contact our landlord over the past few weeks but his phone goes straight to a voicemail, I'e left him a number of messages but haven't heard back from him. Our boiler is also now broken and we have had no hot water for 3 weeks, I just don't know what to do. Do we with hold rent? (we pay by standing order), where do I stand with this???

Any help would be appreciated!!

[Poppy35]

do u have an address on your tenancy agreement? If so, write to him and send it by recorded delivery and at least that way u know he is still around.

we had trouble getting hold a client once and it was not until a probate solicitor called that we knew she had passed away!

[Paragon]

Did you find this property thru a letting agent?

Window replacement is not expensive.. just do it yourself. Tell him you will get the boiler fixed and substract from the rent or ask him to reimburse you.

[Beeber]

Have you been given a copy of the Corgi gas safety certificate for the boiler?

You could consider contacting the local council (private tenancy relations officer or environmental health) about the boiler.

In terms of your contract, if the existing AST has expired, the tenancy will automatically become a periodic tenancy. Search this site (or the Shelter website) for info on what this means. At a very basic level, it means that you are entitled to give the landlord one months notice to end the tenancy or the landlord give the tenants two months notice (timed with when rent is due).

View the Shelter website about what to do with landlords that don't carry out repairs and how best to record this.