View Full Version : here's one for you budding solicitors
i live in a council house in lincoln,the lock in my back door has broken,so i phoned the council who now inform me that locks are no longer replaced free of charge.there is a charge of 21pounds 50p to replace the broken lock.
further more if i replace the lock at my expense the lock then becomes the property of lincoln city council and i cannot take it with me if i leave there property.
does anybody know if they can legally do this.
and does anybody else who rents a property have a landlord who does this.
regards
andy 1
paulyoung666
28-06-2004, 18:05
surely you pay rent to the council to get things like this fixed , are they classing it as wear and tear or malicious damage , i wonder :confused:
DES_1001
28-06-2004, 18:17
If i were you i'd make a visit to the local citizens advice centre! as paul said that's the sort of thing you pay rent for. One question did the lock just stop working?
according to the council it doesn't matter if it is fair wear and tear if its broke we have to pay to get it fixed.
they changed the tenancy agreement months ago and they sent us letters telling us what they will repair free of charge and what they won't,and if we don't like it tough,it doesnt matter that there tenants didn't sign the new agreements,apparently the tenancy agreement we signed 18yrs ago is superceeded by this new agreement
the lock is worn out some times you can get it to open by waggling the key sometimes you can't
paulyoung666
28-06-2004, 18:25
go to citizens advice and see what they see , it sounds as though they are taking the p!ss i reckon , are you still paying to the council or has it changed hands to a housing association ??????????
is it deffo the lock and not the key ?????????? :)
looks as though you are stuffed , see the attachment :(
assuming it is a wooden door , you should be able to get a new lock for around £10 , just check your contents policy to see whether it states if it has to be a 5 lever british standard one or not :)
if you are going to change it then make certain of this fact otherwise if you have a break in the insurance wont pay out even if they didnt get in through the door :(
it is a council property not housing association.deffo the lock and not the key,ive tried my spare key with same result.
sorry lads i don't fancy waiting about four hours at citizens advice,thats why i came on the forum.
but thanks for the advice anyway
regards
andy 1
Pop down B&Q and get a new barrel for the lock, there only a couple of quid, by the time you move out you'll have had your moneys worth out of it. :)
paulyoung666
28-06-2004, 18:38
it is a council property not housing association.deffo the lock and not the key,ive tried my spare key with same result.
sorry lads i don't fancy waiting about four hours at citizens advice,thats why i came on the forum.
but thanks for the advice anyway
regards
andy 1
i have edited my post as you posted , have you re-read it ?????????? :)
if , it is a plastic door then a new barrel is as dellwear stated only a couple of £'s :)
just read your thumbnail paulyoung666,see what i mean theyv'e got us by the b*lls and there aint a thing we can do about it, we pay rent each week,there houses wear out and we have to pay again to get things repaired.not daft lincoln city council hey.
ps thats 75 quid a week rent for a 3 bedroom property that will never be ours and we now have to pay for our own wear and tear repairs
no lads its a 5 lever mortice lock up to a certain safety standard specified by the council
paulyoung666
28-06-2004, 18:49
no lads its a 5 lever mortice lock up to a certain safety standard specified by the council
it wont be upto a safety standard i reckon , it will be to a b.s. standard for security bs8621 according to mine in the back door , i replaced mine a couple of years ago and it was around £10 each , half the price of the council repair i reckon , easy enough to do as well :)
mind you i would be well p!ssed off at having to pay to repair something i pay rent for :mad: :mad: :mad:
exactly paulyoung666
i suppose i will end up at the local diy store but it just p!sses me off that iv'e paid rent to these robbing so and so's for 28 years now.and now we have to pay for our own repairs.
still i now know what LCC stands for lincoln city conmen not lincoln city council.
regards
andy 1
paulyoung666
28-06-2004, 19:00
exactly paulyoung666
i suppose i will end up at the local diy store but it just p!sses me off that iv'e paid rent to these robbing so and so's for 28 years now.and now we have to pay for our own repairs.
still i now know what LCC stands for lincoln city conmen not lincoln city council.
regards
andy 1
on the point of you being renting for so long , have you asked to see how much it would cost to buy the house ???????? , or is that not an option ????????
yes i can buy the house with a big discount, at one time 3 bedroom houses were going for around 20'000 pounds with a full discount where i live,i don't know what they are now.
i never bought mine because i was in a low paid job with a wife and three kids to support,and if anything went wrong with the property the council would fix it free of charge,but it looks like those days have gone.
also i think the council are trying to off load all there council houses onto housing associations.
also when i spoke to my local councillor about this paying for repairs,he told me that the government have told the council that all there housing stock as to meet minimum standards (double glazing plastic doors roof insulation) that sort of thing by 2010 and the only way the council can afford it is by charging its existing tenants to have there repairs done.thats probably why there trying to off load them
paulyoung666
28-06-2004, 19:19
i reckon it is going the same way in most areas , councils offloading to h.a.'s , dont help you though :(
it just don't seem right though that if i buy a new lock and fit it,that it becomes the property of the council.
here's an idea suppose i buy the lock, fit it then send the council a bill for my time and labour,but i suppose they would even have a way to get out of paying that.
Sipowicz
28-06-2004, 19:33
You could always change the lock; keep the broken one and when you move out, take out your lock and fit back the broken one.......
Only a thought!
mrmassive
28-06-2004, 19:35
Maybe a slight accident to the door is needed .Maybe if it looked like someone had tried to break in. Use a crowbar. Call the police get an incident number. Then call out the 24hr repair. This is just a thought only and i'm not called honest massive for nothing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hello sipowicz
i already thought of that one but when i mentioned it to my local councillor he told me that it was no good if i put the broken lock back,the council would charge me for fitting a new one,and if i didn't pay they would persue payment through the courts.
so as you see they have us council tenants by the watsits
thats no good mrmassive, the police would only be interested in my area if my door was doing 35mph in a 30 mph limit, sorry.
mrmassive
28-06-2004, 19:51
same here i hate doing 60 in a 30 .Maybe the problems the monday nite country jukebox on lincs fm yuk!!!!!!!!! lol
Then write to Watch Dog.I reckon this is just the sort of story they would love.It won't sort you out but it WILL embarrass the council.If there is enough publicity then maybe there will be a new council and a new edict from TB's government.
Incog. :)
i never thought of that thanks incognitas.
paulyoung666
28-06-2004, 20:06
i never thought of that thanks incognitas.
you aint got nowt to lose i reckon :tu:
just been thinking about this watchdog idea.no good lads the council have us tenants in a no win situation.
just suppose i contact watchdog and they got the council to reverse there policy on repairs(i doubt if they would) but just say they did,the council would only go and put the rent up to compensate for this,and we would still have to pay.
as i said a no win situation
just been thinking about this watchdog idea.no good lads the council have us tenants in a no win situation.
just suppose i contact watchdog and they got the council to reverse there policy on repairs(i doubt if they would) but just say they did,the council would only go and put the rent up to compensate for this,and we would still have to pay.
as i said a no win situation
Well it is up to you but I wouldn't want the barstewards to win myself.It's a licence to print money.I'd also be interested who has got the tender for doing these little repairs.
Where does it stop?What other little wrinkles have they got planned?
Incog.
lincoln city council employ there own workmen,running around in shiny new vans and lorries
zoombini
29-06-2004, 08:18
If you change the lock for one of your own, I cannot see how the council can say that it then becomes thier property?
I'm sure that there must be some law somewhere that says its still your lock.
If you were to fit an expensive new TV Aerial, would the council expect to become the owners of that? providing you put back the original when you leave I dont think they could.
If you were to leave the house without a lock then you would be liable, if however you left it with the current lock in you would not.
So how can they make you liable if you replace the councils lock upon leaving (not that you have any intent on leaving).
I think a bit of council bull is apparent here.
Plastic door barrels are more than £2 now, when was the last time you got one guys? I just tried to find one to replace a plastic door barrel & the only ones I could find still cost me a tenner, B&Q did not have any such lock (if they did I'm sure it would cost more than £2).
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