101A/17 ST STEPHEN STREET - WATER INGRESS - RETTIE

Sadly, it's time to report another disappointing customer experience.

For the past two years, we've been living at 101A/17 ST STEPHEN STREET in Edinburgh. It's a lovely double upper flat where the Newtown meets Stockbridge. Perfect location for us, near Stockbridge primary and the library, easy access to the bus routes and Princes Street.

Unfortunately, we've had a poor experience with the letting agency, Rettie & Co., representing the owner/landlord, Ms. Ann Hall.

Our lease began 28-Jan 2011. For reasons unknown to us, the flat had been empty for a while. The rent had been reduced to £1200/month, lower than the average of about £1450 for a 4 bedroom flat in this area (it's now being reoffered at £1400/month). We were, of course, very happy to get the flat for a good price, and very excited to move in. The flat is modern (the building dates to less than 15 years ago), and while it is nothing like the grand Georgian townhouses of the Newtown, it has lovely double-glazed windows and lots of closet space. Should we have been more suspicious? Who knows-- at the time we were just happy to get it.

Within 3 days of moving into the flat, however, we discovered a damp area above the casement of one of the bedroom windows. We immediately notified Annabel Davies, our Rettie property manager, who suggested that it was probably nothing to worry about. At the end of the week (lots of rain in Edinburgh), it was clear that there was an active leak, as the damp was spreading.

There are many reasons that fixing water ingress can be difficult. This flat is 5 floors above street level, so access can be a problem. There is a factor (building manager) responsible for public areas (ie, the roof), so assigning responsibility for fixing a leak can be non-obvious. Edinburgh weather can be uncooperative.

All of these might have slowed the repair process. In this case, however, it's not clear these were the only drivers, considering how long it actually took to resolve. How long? Almost 500 days.

Yes, that's 18 months.

The original lease was 12 months. The water ingress was identified in the first week of the lease, and not resolved during the term of the original lease.

Over the next couple weeks, I'll blog the rest of the story.