Reporting Repairs Made Easy: Communication Tips for Tenants and Landlords - Ep. 28

Reporting Repairs Made Easy: Communication Tips for Tenants and Landlords - Ep. 28.

Episode Introduction

Welcome to the All Things Property Podcast! In this episode, Simon Bacon and Ian Sadler dive into one of the most common, and sometimes contentious, aspects of property management: reporting repairs. 

From the moment a tenant spots a leak or faulty appliance to the landlord’s responsibility in addressing and resolving the problem, the duo break down what effective communication looks like on both sides. 

They discuss the importance of early and detailed reporting, defining what counts as an emergency, setting clear expectations around response times, and the crucial difference between preventative and reactive maintenance. 

As always, the emphasis is on practical, honest guidance for both landlords and tenants, cutting through the myths and confusion to help everyone build better, more responsive property relationships.

Chapters

00:00 Reporting Repairs for Tenants

03:50 Balancing urgency and availability

09:36 Handling boiler maintenance issues

11:33 Landlord responsibilities for repairs

13:17 Managing Contractor Visits as a Homeowner

19:13 Preventative maintenance and communication

20:48 Contact us for maintenance advice

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Get in touch with Simon for all your property needs. 
www.prefprop.com

E: simon@prefprop.com

T: 0121 2402244

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the All Things Property Podcast with me, Simon Bacon. And me, Ian Sadler. So following on from our latest podcast around inspections and the purpose of those inspections, today we're going to talk about reporting repairs, what tenants should do and how landlords should respond. Welcome to the All Things Property podcast with me, Simon Bacon of Preferential Properties. Every week, Ian Saddler and I will delve into all things property. We'll guide you through with friendly, no nonsense advice. I suppose the issue is most repair issues don't become big problems overnight, they become big problems because they weren't reported or dealt with properly. And I know we talked um probably at length last time around you know the purpose of inspections being to identify and check that maintenance issues have been dealt with. But um let's bring that back one then in. Um a detailed explanation of exactly what the problem is? Yeah, there's a massive difference, isn't there, between I've got a leak under my kitchen sink to um I've got a l I've got a leak, where's it coming from? How long has it been there? Is it a big one? Is it a small one? Is there much water damage? Um do you get your tenants to send in photos or or not?

SPEAKER_01 2:14

Yeah, they have to send you to attach photos, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:17

Okay, alright. So what would then count as an emergency repair as against uh just a routine repair? No heating or hot water.

SPEAKER_01 2:25

It's the biggest one, isn't it? Anything else? Yep, leak from the bath, leak through the kitchen ceiling. How many times have we had that? Um yeah, that that's it's so important that leaks, particularly that you're naturally going to report an issue of no eating, no hot water straight away. Leaks or patches on the ceiling, oh that's a damp patch, so it doesn't look like it doesn't look too much. That sort of thing can cause real problems. So anything involving water, a detailed description and report it as quickly as possible.

SPEAKER_00 2:57

It's really important. Do you often have you ever had a situation where a tenant has said to you, Yeah, you know, I've had that damn patch on my wall for you know a couple of months now, but I haven't really done anything about it, haven't bothered to, yeah. And what do you say?

SPEAKER_01 3:15

Next time, please. It's in your interest and mine and the landlord to get it online as soon as possible.

SPEAKER_00 3:22

Yeah, yeah. It is very much a case of um you know early reporting. A helps a tenant and b um helps us, and the more detail they give, the more we're able to uh understand what we need to do, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 3:36

Yeah, and the better response and the quicker response you give them, the easier it is to break down those misconceptions preconceptions of agents and landlords not wanting to do repairs and maintenance.

SPEAKER_00 3:46

So, what do you think are reasonable response times? What would you generally use?

SPEAKER_01 3:50

And you've got to address the issue immediately for me, although I you you run your own business, I run my own business. If I get an email on Saturday night at 8 o'clock, and depending on the severity of the problem, then I will instruct the contractor same day, same time. I'm not gonna wait till Monday, nine o'clock. What's the point where you could be creating a bigger problem for yourself? So yeah, um I think in our both our businesses, I think it's important to not to be available 24 hours a day, although that has been requested before, but to react quickly.

SPEAKER_00 4:22

When a tenant reports repaired, do you do you give them any kind of expectation around timescales or how to have it?

SPEAKER_01 4:30

I've got some really good guys, so it's a lot easier for me, I think, because most of the tenants know my maintenance guy by on first name terms with all of them. So they they they know who to expect to call, they know the process, so it disarms any potential confrontations pretty straight straight straight away.

SPEAKER_00 4:52

Um so what advice would you give landlords then? So their letting agent phones up and says, or their tenant phones up and says, um, you know, I've got I've got this problem. What what how how would you encourage a landlord to deal with that? What would you say to them?

SPEAKER_01 5:13

Okay, um, firstly, if it's a non-urgent problem, such as settlement cracking a new property where the stairs are falling away from the wall and the crack is going to widen for probably two or three years, note it, photograph it, as I'm now going to do, um, report it so the landlord's aware of it. If it's um if it's a leak, then it has to be done immediately. I think um it's rare that you can't get, well, in my case, a contractor out there within 24 hours to at least to assess and mitigate the problem.

SPEAKER_00 5:47

So let's talk about I don't I don't know, and I'm only just just want to just raise a few issues, I guess. So let's say a a tenant reports, and what I'm doing is I'm I'm trying to frame it in terms of setting expectations. So if a tenant reports a repair, the first thing we have to do is to to manage their expectations, isn't it? Yeah. Okay, so if a tenant, I don't know, a tenant says to you on Saturday afternoon, um my oven has stopped working. How do you manage their expectations? What what do you think the tenants' expectations might be?

SPEAKER_01 6:31

Well, their initial expectations and their ultimate expectations are two different things, aren't they? Okay. I think if you're not going to be able to do it, okay, I've had situations where the oven element has failed and they couldn't cook their Saturday lunch and Sunday dinner. What are you going to do about it? Yeah. So you have to explain politely that um I'll send it to the domestic appliance guy, he'll be in touch, but the earliest I can get him there is Monday. It's a weekend, they're not at work. Um that's just how it happened. Um most of them are okay with that. And most people adapt, don't they? They'll go to the parents for lunch or go out for dinner rather than eating. That's life, isn't it? Your open element goes, you don't get somebody around within four hours to fix it, so you can have your dinner at seven o'clock. Likeli it is. If it was your house and you wanted to get something, you wouldn't be able to do it, would you?

unknown 7:26

No.

SPEAKER_00 7:26

Why do I think we can, we're not magicians. No, and that for me that is about um that's a conversation I often have with people when I'm trying to manage their expectations. Is you a tenant is no different to anybody else. You almost need to take the the tenant aspect out of it. If your oven fails, if my oven fails, then yeah, I'm annoyed about it. You'd have a takeaway though, wouldn't you? No, Ian, I wouldn't have a takeaway. You would that'd be unhealthy. I would have my air fryer. Ah, ignore. And I think that's the advantage nowadays, is that there are some things that that in the past would have been a big issue. Whereas, you know, when we do inspections, I would say, you know, come on, give me give me a number. How many people in your properties have air fryers, do you reckon?

SPEAKER_01 8:21

30% maybe. Only 30%. Oh my wow. Demographic of my tenant is probably older than yours. Okay, do you just fill your properties with old people? Generally, I like to look after the aged. Being one myself, it's that's called sheltered housing.

SPEAKER_00 8:35

Yeah, it is. I've mentioned it. But anyway, so you only don't you don't have that many that have air fryers? No. No, okay. Whereas I would say probably 70% of mine probably have air fryers, which means Do you think air fryers should be allowed in properties under the Renters' Rights Act?

SPEAKER_01 8:51

Yes, why? I just wondering if they're considered to be health health hazards. No, why would they be they're just an electrical appliance? It's just another big lump on your kitchen work surface, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 9:02

But I should find that I I it to a certain extent talking about air fryers, uh, you know, I I feel like you know we're finding people are using air fryers more than ovens. So the ovens stay clean and the air fryers, isn't it? Yeah, absolutely. Okay, so going back, sorry, we digress. We did response times. Um we've talked about an oven. Um, what if I don't know, someone's boiler goes down? That's always a challenge, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 9:36

It is. It depends. If it's uh if it's a maintenance issue that's been solved like a block condensate pipe or a a divulter valve that needs changing, they're simple things to do, they can be done on one visit. If it's a boiler that's passed its sell-by date, then realistically you're not going to be able to. If you've got to go through the process of contacting the landlord, getting their permission, getting quotes, it can take days and days, can't it? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:01

So how do you how would you manage that tenant's expectations on the side?

SPEAKER_01 10:05

Well, you have to start managing it by communicating with them and just making sure you're on top of it and letting them know what situation is. I think if they half the battle is is when you address it immediately. And tenants are sometimes surprised to get a call at seven o'clock on Saturday night. If I feel it's worth making a call, then you've laid the foundation there for a good relationship and lessening somebody's expectations or insistence on time scales.

SPEAKER_00 10:31

Yeah, no, absolutely. Again, I think one of the things that will come out of this episode in bucket loads will be communication.

SPEAKER_01 10:37

Yeah. Again.

SPEAKER_00 10:39

You know, it is, isn't it? If you if you keep the tenant updated and you keep the landlord updated and you have that dialogue, then it does go a long way to reassuring. Um, you know, uh, but and that's where a tenant is no different to anybody else, you or me, you know, I'm sure that if you have a problem and somebody's communicating regularly with you, then you feel reassured that that that you're important to that person and that someone's doing something about you.

SPEAKER_01 11:12

Yeah, I think uh if it's your house or my house and we have a problem, we know what the expectations of repair is, don't we? It's gonna be two days, three days, a week for a boiler, maybe even longer. I think that part of the problem is that a tenant feels frustrated today that they are not in controlled situation. So they they can't dictate how quickly or how slowly it happens. They're in somebody else's hands.

SPEAKER_00 11:33

Yes, and uh but I also think there is almost there is also rather um you know something that landlords need to be aware of, which is you know, if you own your own house, then if you haven't got the your boiler goes down, you can make a decision when and if you are going to repair that and how you're going to repair that. You may not have the money to replace the boiler now, or you may take out, you know, finance on it or whatever. Landlords don't have the ability to say, Oh, I can't afford to get that boiler replaced. That's one of the responsibilities of being a landlord is to make sure that you know if something fails, you have to replace it, you have to get it back up and back up and running again. So it's it's managing everybody's expectations. You can be really annoyed about it, but you know, as a landlord, you don't have the ability, I guess, to think, oh, I can't really afford to do that. It's it's you know, the boiler's gone down, I can't afford to do that, or I'm away on holiday, it will just have to wait. These things have to be have to be dealt with. Access arrangements for contractors. I always find this a fascinating subject.

SPEAKER_01 12:55

I want it done now, or you can come in an hour's time. Well, I can't do that, I'm not there.

SPEAKER_00 12:59

Yes, yeah. Or yeah, they can come round on Monday afternoon between 12 and 5. Well, that's not convenient because I'm working, you want me to take a day off or half a day off. That's not reasonable. It is though, isn't it? Well, yes. How would you deal with it? I'm assuming you don't rent but if you if you have something go wrong in your property and you need a contractor, you have to make you have to make arrangements. You either arrange for a friend or a relative to be there, or you know, you can't just say, Oh yeah, I'll leave a key under the key key pot unless you know the contractor really, really well. Um tenants do have, you know, one of the things that I I suppose tenants have the advantage over um you know homeowners is that they can say, Oh no, I'm happy for the contractor to come in using your set of office keys. That's that's often a a way round it. But yeah, I do I do find sometimes that tenants get really upset with having to take time off work for a contractor to come and fix something, but you know, that's that's life, isn't it? It is. What else can you do to uh to manage tenants' expectations? Quick response times.

SPEAKER_01 14:24

Not necessarily solving the problem on the first phone call, but communicating, letting acknowledging you've had the request and you've you've actually instructed the contractor. I think most people would expect accept that as a reasonable behaviour, wouldn't you? Yeah, I would have said so. And if anybody shouts and complains about that, I would say they're being unreasonable.

SPEAKER_00 14:43

Yeah, yeah. I think again the important thing is to keep records. You know, the more records you have of you know action you've taken, communication with the tenants, I've let the contractor know the contractor will be in touch with you. And I do find sometimes it's much easier to give the contractor the tenant's phone number rather than being the conduit, being the person. Yeah, yeah. Um because I find that you know that that obviously smooths the way sometimes and rather than us having to try and negotiate a time and something coming. Yeah, absolutely. What are what are tenants' responsibilities in terms of um repairs? Do you often do you ever get the situation where I don't know a tenant thinks it's someone else's responsibility to to do something in a property? Light bulbs, for example.

SPEAKER_01 15:40

I no, I think it it's not done through overexpecting, if that's the wrong phrase, but I don't think they do that because they they think it should be done straight away. Or is it somebody else's every part of the house is the landlord's responsibility? It's um it's if it's reported as a maintenance issue, the oven bulb is gone. I had one last week and I just sent a gentle explanation back saying all light bulbs in the property, including fridge, freezer and oven, are responsibility to tenant, and they say, Oh, okay, I didn't wasn't sure, and they do it.

SPEAKER_00 16:16

So it's it's information really, which is important again comes back to I think was it the last podcast or the one before that about tenancy agreements where we were saying it's really important to read and understand what your roles and responsibilities are. No, I know they don't. It's like uh another one is um wasps' nests, bees' nests.

SPEAKER_01 16:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:40

What do you do with those?

SPEAKER_01 16:42

I think wasps or bees, I tend to actually get a pest control person there.

SPEAKER_00 16:46

Would you expect your landlord to do with that then?

SPEAKER_01 16:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:49

Would you? Yeah, I would. Okay. Whereas a tenancy agreement, there that's a tenance responsibility.

SPEAKER_01 16:56

Wasps and pests? Yeah. Ants, I I would draw the line of ants. Okay. I wouldn't have anybody there with it.

SPEAKER_00 17:03

That's the wasp's nest. It's actually a tenance responsibility under under certainly under our tenancy agreements. Because it's, you know, how can a landlord be responsible for that? You're almost saying if if it was su uh something getting in because of a a hole in in an external wall, which you sometimes get, then that becomes a landlord's responsibility because the landlord has, by not looking after the property or not dealing with potentially an issue that was identified, that becomes a landlord's responsibility. But something like a wasp nest, you know, if if they put a nest up, build a nest inside of the house, it's it is actually a tenant's responsibility. So any pests, squirrels in the loft? Potentially. Potentially. I think there are probably some boundaries, but yeah, some of the basic ones, you know, we often get it. I've got a wasp's nest. Well, so our wasp boundaries are so different then. Yeah, you need to call someone to uh to raise to get it sorted. Yeah, it's not landlord's responsibility.

SPEAKER_01 18:05

And yeah, I've never I've done it. Any pest control people I've been asked to do a job at a property, I've never had when it's been listed on a landlord's statement with a copy of the invoice, it's never been questioned. They might do now.

SPEAKER_00 18:20

Thanks for that. Okay, so let's talk about preventative maintenance and reactive maintenance.

SPEAKER_01 18:27

What uh for those that don't know, what what would you say the difference is addressing a problem when it's when you first notice it is obviously way better than uh waiting and doing nothing and creating a big problem.

SPEAKER_00 18:41

Which goes back to what we talked about the inspections, you know photographs. Photographs, if you if you identify, if a tenant identifies something early, it yeah, class this is a classic for me, is that you you know, I know it's not the the time of the year for this, but you you're fast approaching Christmas and the tenant phones you up to say, my boiler's not working. Yeah, okay, let's see if we can get it sorted. It's been like that for months where it keeps going off or it keeps failing or it keeps doing this, and you think, Oh, why didn't you report it when it first started happening? If you report it early, that's preventative maintenance. You get someone out, you have looked at it, you identify what the problem is, you have time to fix it. Reactive repairs often are much more expensive to do because you're having to send someone out at a time that's that's that's critical rather than being able to plan to to do that. And I suppose the same same sort of thing comes with things like you know, external redecoration, doesn't it? You know, if you start to look at property and I don't know, the wooden wooden windows or the fascias need to um be redecorated or they're starting to peel slightly, much easier to start to plan for that rather than have to do it when you know things have have got beyond you've got a hole in the window frame or something. So um, you know, not only does it enhance the property, but it can save time and money by you know doing preventative maintenance rather than rather than reactive maintenance. So I guess to some sum the maintenance section up or reporting repair section up, good communication fixes most repair issues, doesn't it? Delays and misunderstanding of what causes disputes and poor communication is is what really um causes frustration and annoyance. Talk to us. Absolutely. So if you do have any repairs and maintenance issues or want to talk to us about preventative maintenance, then do give us a call and have a chat. Thanks for tuning in to this week's episode of the All Things Property Podcast. If you found this episode useful, don't forget to subscribe, like and share. These things really help us reach the people who need to hear this advice. See you next week.