h8 m0dems wrote:ok, so our real estate agent and land lord are fuckheads.
our toilet doesn't flush (we have to flush it with a bucket) and now our shower doesn't work (although the bath does).

we can't get in touch with the landlord and the real estate agent wont do anything without the landlords permission as they "don't manage the property" even though they do shit like accompany the gas leak checker guy who came to our flat to do his thing recently.

I need to get official on these assholes but don't know the name of the agency to go to. can any people from the UK let me know?

someone else has suggested to get in touch with the sanitisation department regarding the toilet that doesn't work, but I don't know what this is called either.

I wanted to with hold rent until it's fixed but my partner doesn't want to risk it...

suggestions please!

blinduncledallas wrote:Basically be a saint as they will find something to hold on you.

h8 m0dems wrote:yeah it's basically what I expected here.
dirty smelly expensive place full of assholes.
my partner thought it would be different so it's harder for her to adjust. I think she thought she would move here and hang out with all these fashionable beautiful and trendy people or something. instead we hang out with other australians and some cool people I have met through doing band stuff, which is fine by me. It's very hard for me to socialise with non-music people anyway.

oh, meanwhile the real estate agent has left a message on my phone to arrange for someone to come around and fix it. I guess he finally got "permission" from the landlord for us to have a toilet.

thanks for all the advice though, in future when something like this happens I'll know how to have it resolved quicker.

just wondering, in the UK can you pay for emergency repairs yourself and then bill the landlord for it? although the landlord likes to use "his" plumber/repair guy which really means his unemployed relative who doesn't know what they are doing and probably does it for next to nothing.

* I have also fixed the possessive apostrophe in the thread's title for those of you are inclined to point shit like that out.

h8 m0dems wrote:don't have the dong.

Properties which may be exempt include:

* property which is empty. This means it has to be unoccupied. In England, the property also has to be substantially unfurnished and in Scotland, unfurnished. The exemption applies for a maximum of six months and the property has to be vacant for the whole of this period (although up to six weeks of occupation during the period is allowed)
* property which is vacant because it needs major repairs or alterations to make it habitable. The exemption applies for a maximum of 12 months whether the work is actually finished or not by then
* condemned property
* property which has been legally re-possessed by a mortgage lender
* property unoccupied because the person who lived there now lives elsewhere because they need to be cared for, for example, in hospital, in a care home or with relatives
* property which is unoccupied because the person who lived there has gone to care for someone else
* any property that only students live in. This may be a hall of residence, or a house
* a caravan or boat which is used as a main residence but which is unoccupied. This exemption lasts for up to six months. A holiday caravan or boat is exempt if it's on a property where council tax is paid
* a property where all the people who live in it are aged under 18
* a property where all the people who live in it are either severely mentally impaired or are students or where there is a mixture of both
* in England, a self-contained ‘granny flat’ where the person who lives in it is a dependent relative of the owner of the main property.

Rimbaud III wrote:[b]* a property where all the people who live in it are either severely mentally impaired...

h8 m0dems wrote:I have also fixed the possessive apostrophe in the thread's title for those of you are inclined to point shit like that out.

B_M_L wrote:

Rimbaud III wrote:[b]* a property where all the people who live in it are either severely mentally impaired...

Do you think being a New Zealander will qualify me for this exemption?! I want my council tax back!