UK Landlord Forum / Life

I had a tenant on my property who didn't want to pay his rent and co

• ntacted the local council quibbling.
  had a visit from them and they sent me a report of things need doing
  remembering these are all existing in the house since the 1940
  fire alarm /ok that is getting sorted
  height of bathroom door posses a risk of collision however this has been there since it was build
  living room door  is hollow core replace and with sound timber conventional door opening out to the hall
  i thought that was a bit dangerous with people walking in the hall way.
  bannister on landing appears to be too low does not reach the required height of 900mm.
  are these mandotory as they were there when the house was buiklt
  any avice would be gratefull

Are we talking about a bog-standard two storey non-HMO house? They're probably not mandatory (most building regulations only apply to new work) but is it worth the aggro of arguing with the council, particularly if you're planning to get rid of this tenant in the not too distant future? There's also the risk that your tenant may take a header over the banister rail and sue you for neglecting to address a risk that had been brought to your attention. You could write back  to the council and ask them to quote the legislation/regulations they're basing their report on, and pointing out that some of the items they mention are original features of the property (although not the hollow-core door, obviously). How is the report phrased? Are they requirements or recommendations? Do they expect the works to be done within a certain timeframe?