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Hi All,
My friend recommended this forum to me to ask about an issue I am having.
Nearly half a year ago I moved into a studio flat. It's in the sectioned-off rear garden of another house, and used to be a brick shed that was enlarged and turned into a studio flat. I am the first tenant living there.
Quite early on I realised that my landlord didn't have planning permission for the flat. Issues like not having my own bins, or my address not being registered with Royal Mail. I checked the Council's website for planning permission for the place, but couldn't find anything. I also realised quite early on that my landlord was incompetent, and super dodgy. For example I had an issue with my front door not being able to lock for a whole month before it got fixed (and it only got fixed because I threatened to contact the Council'c Environmental Health dept).
It gets worse. Recently my neighbour in the main house (the one whose garden my flat is built in) realised that her water and electricity bills were really high. My rent is all inclusive, I assumed the landlord was paying my bills, but it turns out that he's just run a pipe and cable from the neighbour's house, so they've been paying for my usage. My neighbours rent from the council, so they contacted both the council and the landlord about it, both of whom were dragging their feet about fixing the issue (the landlord actually shouted at her on the phone and told her to move out if she didn't like it).
Eventually my neighbours got British Gas involved, and they came to check my house to confirm I had no meter. They also found that the main electricity cable was sticking out of the ground, which they said is really dangerous. The lady from British Gas accurately guessed that the place had no planning permission, and she told me I should contact the council asap.
Also, I have a letterbox attached to the outside of my garden gate, and today I found a slip from someone from the council, asking me to contact them. It was addressed to the neighbour in the front house. I showed it to my friend and she said it was for council tax (she's had these letters before). So the council tax department have obviously already found out there is an additional property.
I have two main issues:
1. I love this place, I don't want to have to move out. I didn't have a proper home for nearly two years before moving in, and I've put a lot of money and effort into this new place. I LOVE this place, despite the horrible landlord. What is likely to happen if the council find out there is no planning permission? Should I contact them and tell them, or wait it out? If the council decide the structure has to be demolished and I have to move out, can I sue my landlord for breach of contract? Can I just decide not to pay rent for the months before the eviction, to at least get some benefit out of the situation, since I'm getting evicted anyway?
2. If miraculously the planning permission gets solved, a meter gets put in and everything gets fixed, British Gas and the Council will still want their bills paid. Now I am absolutely kicking myself for this, but my lease doesn't state anything about bills being included. In fact it states that the tenant is responsible for bills and council tax. It's just a generic lease, and the estate agents didn't amend it to take into account that the property was advertised with all bills being included. I read through the lease twice when I got it, and my boyfriend read through it too, but I just didn't even think about that.
I'm paying £725 for a place that's 17 sq m (London obviously). I really can't afford to pay bills on top of that, especially as everything is electric, I have no gas. But I have zero proof that bills are supposed to be included in the rent. The advert is long gone. The only thing I can think of is contacting the estate agent and asking them for some sort of proof, but anything they can produce will be pretty weak compared to a lease that I've signed.
So, if anyone can give me some pointers on how to approach this situation, I'd be really grateful. I'm also going to speak to a lawyer as well as soon as possible.
Thank you for reading!
My friend recommended this forum to me to ask about an issue I am having.
Nearly half a year ago I moved into a studio flat. It's in the sectioned-off rear garden of another house, and used to be a brick shed that was enlarged and turned into a studio flat. I am the first tenant living there.
Quite early on I realised that my landlord didn't have planning permission for the flat. Issues like not having my own bins, or my address not being registered with Royal Mail. I checked the Council's website for planning permission for the place, but couldn't find anything. I also realised quite early on that my landlord was incompetent, and super dodgy. For example I had an issue with my front door not being able to lock for a whole month before it got fixed (and it only got fixed because I threatened to contact the Council'c Environmental Health dept).
It gets worse. Recently my neighbour in the main house (the one whose garden my flat is built in) realised that her water and electricity bills were really high. My rent is all inclusive, I assumed the landlord was paying my bills, but it turns out that he's just run a pipe and cable from the neighbour's house, so they've been paying for my usage. My neighbours rent from the council, so they contacted both the council and the landlord about it, both of whom were dragging their feet about fixing the issue (the landlord actually shouted at her on the phone and told her to move out if she didn't like it).
Eventually my neighbours got British Gas involved, and they came to check my house to confirm I had no meter. They also found that the main electricity cable was sticking out of the ground, which they said is really dangerous. The lady from British Gas accurately guessed that the place had no planning permission, and she told me I should contact the council asap.
Also, I have a letterbox attached to the outside of my garden gate, and today I found a slip from someone from the council, asking me to contact them. It was addressed to the neighbour in the front house. I showed it to my friend and she said it was for council tax (she's had these letters before). So the council tax department have obviously already found out there is an additional property.
I have two main issues:
1. I love this place, I don't want to have to move out. I didn't have a proper home for nearly two years before moving in, and I've put a lot of money and effort into this new place. I LOVE this place, despite the horrible landlord. What is likely to happen if the council find out there is no planning permission? Should I contact them and tell them, or wait it out? If the council decide the structure has to be demolished and I have to move out, can I sue my landlord for breach of contract? Can I just decide not to pay rent for the months before the eviction, to at least get some benefit out of the situation, since I'm getting evicted anyway?
2. If miraculously the planning permission gets solved, a meter gets put in and everything gets fixed, British Gas and the Council will still want their bills paid. Now I am absolutely kicking myself for this, but my lease doesn't state anything about bills being included. In fact it states that the tenant is responsible for bills and council tax. It's just a generic lease, and the estate agents didn't amend it to take into account that the property was advertised with all bills being included. I read through the lease twice when I got it, and my boyfriend read through it too, but I just didn't even think about that.
I'm paying £725 for a place that's 17 sq m (London obviously). I really can't afford to pay bills on top of that, especially as everything is electric, I have no gas. But I have zero proof that bills are supposed to be included in the rent. The advert is long gone. The only thing I can think of is contacting the estate agent and asking them for some sort of proof, but anything they can produce will be pretty weak compared to a lease that I've signed.
So, if anyone can give me some pointers on how to approach this situation, I'd be really grateful. I'm also going to speak to a lawyer as well as soon as possible.
Thank you for reading!
