We were supposed to move in start of this week, but the apartment wasn’t ready in our opinion.
When we collected keys, the property manager told us candidly that the apartment was not yet in acceptable condition – bedroom carpets were washed twice but stains weren’t coming off so they were going to change the carpets in both bedrooms. Blinds were still being fitted, bathroom hose to be replaced.
When we checked the apartment, the cleanliness wasn’t to standard, though admittedly these weren’t issues requiring major works unlike tearing out the stained carpets – eg. toilet covers were stained, some door locks (including main door) wasn’t working, grease stains missed by cleaners, trash left in appliances, some lights were not working, mould and dust accumulation in ventilation fans.
It was apparent the apartment isn't ready to be moved into, as throughout the week there would be contractors and cleaners needing access to address these issues. As such we immediately emailed the landlord for a rent reduction. We still have a 2-week crossover with our current apartment, so we’ve rearranged our movers hoping all the works will be completed by end of week 2.
The small issues were addressed over the past week, however the big issue now is with the carpets in both bedrooms as they are filthy. We are now at the end of Week 1, and when we collected the keys at the start of the week we were told it should take 1-2 weeks, but now we’re not so sure.. As of now, the property manager said they have not received a confirmed date for the carpets to be changed even though measurements have been taken.
Logically we wouldn’t move anything into the bedrooms seeing that everything needs to be moved out for the carpets to be changed. Also, the apartment will need to be deep-cleaned once the carpet change is completed hence we would expect this to be arranged by the landlord (or cleaning reimbursed).
The property manager just emailed back saying the landlord isn’t agreeing to the rent reduction as 'even though the carpets need to be changed this wouldn’t have prevented you from moving in the apartment until this was completed'.
While we appreciate the landlord changing the carpets, shouldn't this have been completed before our tenancy start date? If we were to leave the apartment at lease-end in a bad state, this wouldn't have been acceptable by the landlord for sure, so why should we be paying the rent when the apartment isn't in an acceptable condition at the agreed start date?
Do we have a case here to push back?