Turn up heat over stove

QUESTION: In January this year my two student children rented a two-bedroom unit in Coogee, offering $20 a week over the asking price ($550) to secure the rental.

The managing agent told them the owner planned to replace the very old stove immediately, because the oven wasn’t working, and update the whole kitchen in the near future.

It is now August and they don’t even have the new stove.  They have contacted the agent several times but he says the owner is being difficult.  Now they have basically given up because they feel they are just wasting their time and effort.

Is there anything they can do to at least get a working stove? – Willow, Port Macquarie

ANSWER: There a certain basic things that are supposed to be included in a home when you rent it and a working stove would be one.

I would ask the agent for a rent reduction backdated to Day One to compensate for the lack of a stove – that should get the owner’s attention.  But unless the promise of a new kitchen is in writing, they may have to let that go.

Contact Tenants NSW via their website tenants.org au and get their advice on the best way forward.

You can read the full text of the complaint and responses HERE.