advice please - private tennant problems

i have read through some of the advice given here and i think its excellent so here goes!

i have a friend that lives in a privately rented flat they moved in a few months ago after the breakdown of a (lets just say strained volatile relationship) she has 3 young children and only agreed to take the tennancy on as a stop gap until she could find something better, things were really that bad, she didnt want to go into a refuge with the children being so young so felt she would be doing the right thing by her children by agreeing to take on the property. anyway shes already had a lot of problems regarding the landlord and his other tennant downstairs, whom she recently found out has a set of keys to the property in which she and the children live, also so does the landlord - which she was okay about. regarding the landlord my friend and him have crossed swords a few times and it isnt the best relationship in the world as the flat needs quite a few repairs that have been deemed unsafe by the local authority (who she got involved after numerous attempts of trying to put her landlords bum into gear, so lets just say after she reported him to the local authority who are now involved regarding the repair work, things have become strained between them, basically the guy is a childish idiot!) he's supposed to have turned up now a few times to start the repairs, made appointments with her - not turned up, shes waited in all day - had to make alternative arrangements regarding the children being picked up from school and nursery and missed work herself because of him -which he seems to relish in.
what really freaked her out last week was the tennant downstairs let workmen in with a set of keys he has to the property while she wasnt there - now i know no-one is not supposed to do this but they have, which makes her feel uneasy as its something she didnt know about (regarding the spare keys he has) and no arrangements had been made with her regarding anyone calling out to do repairs!
anyway she is now of the mind she wants to end the tennancy and move in with her dad for a while until she can find somewhere else to live with the children, but shes worried about the legalaties of ending her tennancy. i have told her not to worry, give him his notice and go as she needs to do what is best for herself and the children. she works with me and i know the kind of stress she is under at the moment and its starting to show at work, i have had to send her home a couple of times as she cant think straight which cant be done in a hospital environment.
shes threatened her landlord with ending the tennancy because of the problems between them, but hes said she will be still responsible for the rent until the term ends and all of the bills unless he can find another tennant, which worries her, as previous to her moving in the place had been empty for a few years! i cant see how he can do this, as all i can see is that he is in breach of his own contract himself regarding the repairs and letting the tennant downstairs let people into the property to carry out work she dont know about and when she isnt there! i really think she has nothing to worry about as i certainly wouldnt worry and would just go regardless of what he says, thing is though i have no experience of private lets as i have never been a private tennant as i have always lived in my own house with a mortgage on it.
over to you guys any advice i can give her will be much appreciated!

I would have thought that the downstairs tenant is trespassing if he is entering her property without permission. It would be usual for the landlord to make arrangements to gain entry to the property for any necessary work.

I would find that sort of behaviour totally unacceptable.

What about trying CAB for some advice or the Local Authority as she has them involved in getting the work done, they have their own legal departments they may be able to help if she asks and points out how bad it all is and how stressed and worried she is over it all.

No wonder your'e Friend is freaked out by all this going on, having just left a volatile relationship and now got two more idiots worrying her silly cannot be good for her or the Children.

I hope you can find the solution and she can move on with her life and feel safe and happy once again.

Has she got a tenancy agreement?
How long did she agree to take the flat on for when she moved in? Surely not long if it was a stop gap, normally it would be about 6 months and she's already been there for several months. Certainly long enough to get the local authority involved. Most tenancies require around 2 months notice anyway. So by then she will be able to just leave.
I am a landlord and I think the Landlord is behaving in an unacceptable manner by letting others have a set of keys except for dire emergencies.
I would write to him, informing him of her right to privacy etc. pointing out if it happens again she will terminate the agreement. Take photo's of the condition of the flat and keep them at her dads with a copy of the letter. In case she needs to leave and needs evidence to support her case should he get arsey.

shes tried the local CAB office near to where she lives problem is you have to be down there at 9am and sit there until 2pm in the hope of getting an appointment where there are no guarantees that you will get one, shes tried to get to see someone a few times but to no avail, they dont give out telephone advice at that particular office, shes tried ringing others but are constantly engaged

she took on a shorthold assured tennancy for 12 months, which shes 7 months into, another matter that is worrying her having read through her tennancy aggreement it states her landlord should have registered the bond she gave him within 14 days of recieving it, which she has no information on as of yet, shes written to him asking for any information on this but two months later shes heard nothing - which makes her think hes done no such thing. shes said there are lots of things regarding the tennancy aggreement that dont add up and i have said she needs to get these matters looked into to see where she stands legally as obviously i dont know - all i have said to her regarding the situation if it was me i would just leave regardless of his threats or what he happens to say, she does feel intimidated by him and does get frightened by his attitude towards her. i know the police have been called on a couple of occasions regarding the landlord and the tennant downstairs gaining acsess when she isnt there, she is registered with the council but because shes in a private rent they have said they cant help regarding housing plus because of the level of people loosing their own homes the waiting lists so they say is long! after a bit of a arguement last week with her landlord regarding a few things shes of the mind she wants to leave because of the effect it is having on her and the children, in all honesty she is a nervous wreak and i know she dont sleep most nights worrying over things, im probably making her sound like the tennant from hell - but she is a really nice woman and i would like to help if i can concerning the legalities on things if i can get any information.

The whole point of the tenancy agreement is to spell out what is or is not required from both parties. She should have read it and made sure she understood all the implications before she signed it. You can't just decide you don't like the terms and conditions when things go wrong. By bond I assume you mean deposit, she's probably going to lose that tbh in this situation. If she just leaves he will rightfully hold onto her deposit. He may also decide to persue her for the rent for the outstanding term of the agreement. Withiout seeing her agreement it's really hard to say what she's signed up for tbh.
She can of course change the tumbler in the lock to the flat, get a locksmith in and it's done for less than £100. Tell the landlord why and tell him to go swivel until she leaves and she will then give him the key.
The council may not rehouse her but she can find a private tenancy and claim housing benefit towards the rent.
My current tenant is a young girl 21 and her 3 year old daughter, she works part time and housing benefit contributes towards the rent and council tax etc. They pay her so that she can then pay me. I don't know how it works as I've never claimed it but she says it's simple enough. She then gets to live in a highly desirable flat, in a desirable area which she would never be able to afford otherwise.

at the time she really wasnt thinking straight and was happy to escape with the injuries that she sustained at the time her ex partner attacked her, which i fully understand, i understand that she felt being in a womens refuge wasnt right for her and the children, shes a private sort of person and felt that she wouldnt fit into that kind of environment, which i can appreciate as although they are life savers for some women i understand that they are not for everyone. i have read her tennancy agreement and basically its something that protects him and dont really cover her, although it does state that she has a right to enjoy the property in peace, which she clearly hasnt been able to - shes said it dont feel like her home and on numerous occasions hes pointed out its his property and not hers (which is okay saying that - but why let the property in the first place if you feel that way?) he's also been present when shes had visitors and asked them to leave as he dont want them there so i am sure if things were looked into somewhere surely there is something that she can do regarding terminating her agreement with her finances intact, shes not bothered about her deposit as she sort of felt that she wasnt going to get a penny of it back anyway as the tennant downstairs told her something to that effect a few weeks back, not that the property has been defaced in anyway and is in better condition now than when she took the tennancy on.

Would it be out of the question for her to see a solicitor for advice? I think sometimes they offer an initial consultation at a reasonable rate , and this might be enough to set her mind at rest its an alternative to the CAB who as your friend has found out can be very hard to get help from.

Its a shame about the CAB its the same round here. Years ago they use to give advice over the phone, but have had to make so many cut backs I suppose its just not reasonable any more.

How about MTM idea may she be eligible for help financially with regards to a Solicitor ?

ok i am a private tenant and i am sure you would of seen my thread where i was renting a bungalow that turned out to be un safe it had mould all the way throu the building and then turned out carbon monoxide was leaking i was told i had to pay my rent stay there and they woould get it sorted. well i did not i gave 1 mth notice which is what the legal time frame is paid my rent to the date phoned and told everyone the readings from meter etc and handed my keys back. ii tild them that if they came after me for more money etc i would be taking them to court as they had made my sons health really bad and mine. I can tell you also that they are not aloud to let them selfs into your home unless you have it in writing and a min of 24hrs notice and even then you can tell them no if not a good time. tell your friend to take pics of every thing that is wrong the letter saying not safe, the fact that he has said he will come and do the work and not turned up will go against him big time. your friend can get in contact with the people she got to come out to make him do the work and let them now how many times he has said he would be there and not shown up or called and that will get him trouble as well. I now he has only got so long to get the work done by and if they want to they will get someone to do the work and bill him. i would also change the locks till she moves out we did that as well.

wishing her all the best of luck xxx