As you might expect from the title, I'm currently a tenant in a property in Sydney where the AC was working when we signed our lease last year, however a few months ago it broke. The landlord came out personally to inspect this and has since advised she has had a quote of $10,000 for the repair (cooling tower in an apartment complex) and that strata won't allow installation of a split/system.
Now, that was all well and good, but I have not heard any updates since then. A rough timeline of events, note probably worth pointing out in this case that my landlord is also my real estate agent and I always left roughly two weeks between each follow up -
- early July, AC breaks, leaks water into apartment. technician comes out on the day to stop the leak and prevent further damage, advises me that the unit is broken and will relay back to landlord
- few days later, landlord attends scene to check for any water damage, offers to provide a heater if needed for winter and advises of the $10,000 quote figure. I politely declined the heater as the apartment holds warmth well, but asked if the AC is not repaired by Summer can we be provided an alternate cooling solution.
- early August my lease expires, I email the landlord and the real estate asking if there is any update regarding the AC and offer to renew the lease. No response
- late August I send a follow up email, again with no response.
- few days later, call the landlord direct, goes straight to voicemail, ask for callback. no response
- early September I send another follow up email, as well as call the real estate office asking if my agent is in and if we can set up an appointment in person or over phone. real estate declines citing COVID
- late September, I repeat the process. Note at this stage I've been replying to my old sent email, so all my requests for updates are in the one email chain.
- last week, I call the landlord again, straight to voicemail. Leave my details and, as of 18th October, still no response
Now, I know my lease has expired, but from what I can gather in reading tenancy rights, since the AC was working at time of moving in, I should be entitled to this to be repaired in a timely manner for the duration of my tenancy? I understand the quoted costs are high, and I'm not being confrontational in my communications, I'm just asking for some sort of update so I can have my expectations right.
Appreciate if anyone has any options or avenues I can explore? And, I know I could just look at moving, but we've been here for quite a while now and never had an issue before (have had other repairs done relatively seamlessly during our time here), which is why this communication breakdown is even stranger.
They have to repair it as an urgent repair and worked at the time of signing the lease. Here is the process
https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/housing-and-property/rent…
They probs don’t have $10k to repair it.
You could also ask for a rent reduction due to lost amenity. However they may issue a termination to you as retaliation.