FAQs

You’ll be in ‘rent arrears’ if you fall behind with your rent payments to your private landlord or letting agent.

Although dealing with rent arrears can be tough, you should take action as quickly as possible. If you ignore your arrears, the problem will only get worse.

See if you can agree to a repayment plan to pay off your rent arrears.

A repayment plan means you'll make smaller payments to your landlord over a longer period of time. You’ll still have to pay everything back - but it could be easier than paying the full amount in one go. You can also use Resolve by flatfair to negotiate and agree on a solution to rent payment issues quickly and transparently - for free.

Your landlord is generally responsible for keeping in repair:
- the structure and exterior of your home, for example, the walls, roof, foundations, drains, guttering and external pipes, windows and external doors
- basins, sinks, baths, toilets and their pipework
- water and gas pipes, electrical wiring, water tanks, boilers, radiators, gas fires, fitted electric fires or fitted heaters.

Your landlord can only make repairs when they know there’s a problem - so make sure you tell them about any repairs that are needed.

Tenants, have a duty of care to promptly alert landlords to any areas of concern that may need repairing or replacing, such as when mould starts to appear, but who is responsible for the mould during the tenancy?

Typically, the response we usually see is that landlords are responsible when there is a fault with the building that has caused the mould, for example, a leaky pipe. Tenants would have responsibility for housekeeping and if the mould develops during their tenancy i.e. was not present at the beginning of the tenancy and was not as the result of a fault with the property, it may be down to lifestyle.

However, this is not always the case, and every case should be considered based on the evidence provided. flatfairs blogs are written as a guide, not as an absolute. You should seek legal advice if you wish to know the likelihood of a result in your individual case.

We're all animal lovers here at flatfair, and our membership is pet-friendly too. This means if you've got a furry little friend, you don't have to pay a penny more than our standard membership fee. As always, you're expected to treat your rented accommodation with care and to cover the cost of any damages at the end of your tenancy.

Please also remember that pets should only ever be kept in accommodation where they're expressly allowed.

If you have any issues during your tenancy, you should contact your landlord or managing agent as soon as possible to report them.

flatfair are unable to assist with any issues during your tenancy that are related to any repairs or damage to the property that are needed.