Landlords blown a gasket - what are my options?
Discussion
To cut a rather long and sorry story short I'll bullet list the relevant informaiton and see if that helps. for context I'm a private renter with three other housemates renting a property in London, all young professionals, all new to living in London but not working here. Tenancy began at the start of September 2018 with a year long contract (we rent the entire property as opposed to rooms, which I understand some people do).
- In October 2018 my ceiling in the room collapsed whilst I was in my bed, caused some minor injuries and damage to property - I opened a dialogue regarding compensation but so far progress has been slow;
- The landlord has been generally reactive rather than pro-active in maintenance, as such the house invariably always has something wrong with it;
- leaking floors have caused some issues and these have yet to be fixed;
This next part is where things get particularly interesting.
- Thursday gone (24th) we're woken roughly around midnight by a utilities worker. He tells us that CO alarms have gone off in adjacent properties and he needs to turn our gas off. For one reason or another our CO alarms never went off;
- Contacted landlord Friday (25th) to let him know what was happening. He came round with workmen who decided that the boiler was at fault. They told us it would have to wait to Monday (28th) to be fixed;
- Now that leaves us with without hot water or heating for over 48 hours, in Jan - and the weather has been bitter recently. We send a polite, but firm, email reminding him of his responsibilities (under law) as our landlord and that we'd like it done sooner, preferably Saturday;
- Lowe and behold on Saturday he pitches up with a new boiler and installs it. At which point he more or less corners one of my housemates telling us that the orginal email was impolite, that he was well aware of his responsibilites, and that he doesn't like having the law waved in his face (sadly I wasn't there to quetion why, if he knew his responsibilites under law, he intended to deliberately avoid them);
- Nevertheless, at this point a boiler has been installed that works, and we assume that landlord is unhappy that he's had to shell out for a new boiler and is having a little vent because his wallet is now hurting.
On Monday, however, we receive this letter (names removed):
Dear Mr X
Thank you for your email and noted the contents.
We have deliver the Electric heater but you were not available. This is really awkward that your right email to deliver but your are not available to collect the delivery of the heater. Anyway, we have arranged through the landlord and it has been delivered.
The gas boiler has been fitted and so there is no room for the arguments anymore as your landlord taking personal care
The reason for the gas boiler blown was lack of water in the heating system and it was burnt down. As a tenant, you did not read the tenancy agreement and did not bother to look at in the gas boiler room where there is a smoke is really sad. We are really grateful from the next door neighbor that they have drawn our attention and not you tenants actually living inside the house. We have photographic images for your reference. This cost to your landlord £2,000 and we will seek legal advice in this matter.
Finally, Mr Landlord has spoken to Mr Y in respect of unacceptable email and as a lead tenants that you have kept away from your responsibility and liability. We have documented the photographic images as discuss with Mr Y and we regret that we disqualify you as lead tenant and replacing Mr Y.
After discussion with Mr Y, today we have inspected the property and we are happy to continue him as a lead tenant. We kindly ask you to provide all the co-operation and co-ordination to him in the future as he is a lead tenant and we hope he will keep our property safe, secure and clean.
A new carbon dioxide detect is left in the kitchen above the wooden cabinet right opposite the gas cooker.
Second one left in the conservatory right opposite the boiler room.
The heat detector and another carbon monoxide detector are located in the kitchen, which are easily visible.
There are two smoke alarm and we notify you that for your safety and security please do not relocate or turn it off. Under the Housing Act- 1988 it is an offence to tampered with it. If you have removed it, please put it back for the fire and safety of your lives. We do not take responsibility whatsoever.
A gas safe certificate that we have left in the kitchen dining table for your future record and a scan copy enclosed for your record hereto.
We have collected electric heater from the conservatory and we wish you pleasant stay in our property.
Finally, we thank you all for your understanding and co-operation in this matter.
Many thanks,
For reference, here is our original letter (the one deemed unnaceptable):
Dear All Concerned Parties,
On Friday morning at around 00:10 we were visited by a gas engineer from SGN, who had been called out by the tenants of the neighbouring property due to the activation of their carbon monoxide detector. He was required to check the properties at both xx and xx for gas problems, and switched off our gas having determined the situation to be immediately dangerous.
Later that day, Mr A of Gas & Heating Company, along with his two assistants, visited the property and determined that the boiler was broken and dangerous, and so resolved to switch it off until a new replacement boiler can be fitted on Monday.
This leaves us without heating or hot water for 4 days and 3 nights - which is, as I'm sure you can understand, a grave inconvenience, especially at this time of year.
I would also like to point out that, according to Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, our broken boiler constitutes an "emergency repair", and failure to restore the heating and water facilities within 24 hours would constitute breach of contract.
Mr Landlord has been, as usual, very prompt and polite in his communications with us regarding the matter at hand. Though we appreciate this, we nonetheless consider it wholly unacceptable to be without hot water and heating for up to 3 days in a property that costs us in the region of £3,000 per month. Please get back to us with a commitment to resolving the matter in the immediacy.
Kind regards,
Lead Tenant
So to recap, landlord has done the following:
- Unilatterly disqualified our lead tenant from this position and appointed a new one of his choosing;
- Implied we are responsible for boiler breakdown - and threatened to persue us for damages;
- Taken photos of our rooms whilst we are out (surely breach of privacy?);
- Repeatedly let himself into our home without informing us;
- Implied we are in breach because he did not service and install fire alarms;
On top of this, landlord has an advert up on another letting site advertising a property with his phone number listed - in this ad he calls himself 'Alex' and that he is a consultant travelling the world needing flatmates - both of these facts I know to be false and I believe a case could be made that this is fraduelent behaviour.
Now, aside from the fact that the letter is barely legible and the tone just appalling, I would like to understand what recourse I have/ what I should do next. At this point if the landlord gave the option to rip up contracts and take back deposits I'd do that, as to my mind the relationship has become untennable. I doubt he'll want to do that though, as this contract earns him the best part of £3K a month.
I'm certain what he is doing here is illegal and constitutes a breach of contract in some form - but I'd really appreciate some advice from people more knowledgeable than myself.
Sorry for the wall of text - I did warn you it was a long and sorry tale. Any and all advice appreciated. Cheers.
- In October 2018 my ceiling in the room collapsed whilst I was in my bed, caused some minor injuries and damage to property - I opened a dialogue regarding compensation but so far progress has been slow;
- The landlord has been generally reactive rather than pro-active in maintenance, as such the house invariably always has something wrong with it;
- leaking floors have caused some issues and these have yet to be fixed;
This next part is where things get particularly interesting.
- Thursday gone (24th) we're woken roughly around midnight by a utilities worker. He tells us that CO alarms have gone off in adjacent properties and he needs to turn our gas off. For one reason or another our CO alarms never went off;
- Contacted landlord Friday (25th) to let him know what was happening. He came round with workmen who decided that the boiler was at fault. They told us it would have to wait to Monday (28th) to be fixed;
- Now that leaves us with without hot water or heating for over 48 hours, in Jan - and the weather has been bitter recently. We send a polite, but firm, email reminding him of his responsibilities (under law) as our landlord and that we'd like it done sooner, preferably Saturday;
- Lowe and behold on Saturday he pitches up with a new boiler and installs it. At which point he more or less corners one of my housemates telling us that the orginal email was impolite, that he was well aware of his responsibilites, and that he doesn't like having the law waved in his face (sadly I wasn't there to quetion why, if he knew his responsibilites under law, he intended to deliberately avoid them);
- Nevertheless, at this point a boiler has been installed that works, and we assume that landlord is unhappy that he's had to shell out for a new boiler and is having a little vent because his wallet is now hurting.
On Monday, however, we receive this letter (names removed):
Dear Mr X
Thank you for your email and noted the contents.
We have deliver the Electric heater but you were not available. This is really awkward that your right email to deliver but your are not available to collect the delivery of the heater. Anyway, we have arranged through the landlord and it has been delivered.
The gas boiler has been fitted and so there is no room for the arguments anymore as your landlord taking personal care
The reason for the gas boiler blown was lack of water in the heating system and it was burnt down. As a tenant, you did not read the tenancy agreement and did not bother to look at in the gas boiler room where there is a smoke is really sad. We are really grateful from the next door neighbor that they have drawn our attention and not you tenants actually living inside the house. We have photographic images for your reference. This cost to your landlord £2,000 and we will seek legal advice in this matter.
Finally, Mr Landlord has spoken to Mr Y in respect of unacceptable email and as a lead tenants that you have kept away from your responsibility and liability. We have documented the photographic images as discuss with Mr Y and we regret that we disqualify you as lead tenant and replacing Mr Y.
After discussion with Mr Y, today we have inspected the property and we are happy to continue him as a lead tenant. We kindly ask you to provide all the co-operation and co-ordination to him in the future as he is a lead tenant and we hope he will keep our property safe, secure and clean.
A new carbon dioxide detect is left in the kitchen above the wooden cabinet right opposite the gas cooker.
Second one left in the conservatory right opposite the boiler room.
The heat detector and another carbon monoxide detector are located in the kitchen, which are easily visible.
There are two smoke alarm and we notify you that for your safety and security please do not relocate or turn it off. Under the Housing Act- 1988 it is an offence to tampered with it. If you have removed it, please put it back for the fire and safety of your lives. We do not take responsibility whatsoever.
A gas safe certificate that we have left in the kitchen dining table for your future record and a scan copy enclosed for your record hereto.
We have collected electric heater from the conservatory and we wish you pleasant stay in our property.
Finally, we thank you all for your understanding and co-operation in this matter.
Many thanks,
For reference, here is our original letter (the one deemed unnaceptable):
Dear All Concerned Parties,
On Friday morning at around 00:10 we were visited by a gas engineer from SGN, who had been called out by the tenants of the neighbouring property due to the activation of their carbon monoxide detector. He was required to check the properties at both xx and xx for gas problems, and switched off our gas having determined the situation to be immediately dangerous.
Later that day, Mr A of Gas & Heating Company, along with his two assistants, visited the property and determined that the boiler was broken and dangerous, and so resolved to switch it off until a new replacement boiler can be fitted on Monday.
This leaves us without heating or hot water for 4 days and 3 nights - which is, as I'm sure you can understand, a grave inconvenience, especially at this time of year.
I would also like to point out that, according to Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, our broken boiler constitutes an "emergency repair", and failure to restore the heating and water facilities within 24 hours would constitute breach of contract.
Mr Landlord has been, as usual, very prompt and polite in his communications with us regarding the matter at hand. Though we appreciate this, we nonetheless consider it wholly unacceptable to be without hot water and heating for up to 3 days in a property that costs us in the region of £3,000 per month. Please get back to us with a commitment to resolving the matter in the immediacy.
Kind regards,
Lead Tenant
So to recap, landlord has done the following:
- Unilatterly disqualified our lead tenant from this position and appointed a new one of his choosing;
- Implied we are responsible for boiler breakdown - and threatened to persue us for damages;
- Taken photos of our rooms whilst we are out (surely breach of privacy?);
- Repeatedly let himself into our home without informing us;
- Implied we are in breach because he did not service and install fire alarms;
On top of this, landlord has an advert up on another letting site advertising a property with his phone number listed - in this ad he calls himself 'Alex' and that he is a consultant travelling the world needing flatmates - both of these facts I know to be false and I believe a case could be made that this is fraduelent behaviour.
Now, aside from the fact that the letter is barely legible and the tone just appalling, I would like to understand what recourse I have/ what I should do next. At this point if the landlord gave the option to rip up contracts and take back deposits I'd do that, as to my mind the relationship has become untennable. I doubt he'll want to do that though, as this contract earns him the best part of £3K a month.
I'm certain what he is doing here is illegal and constitutes a breach of contract in some form - but I'd really appreciate some advice from people more knowledgeable than myself.
Sorry for the wall of text - I did warn you it was a long and sorry tale. Any and all advice appreciated. Cheers.
Edited by DartyBistard on Thursday 31st January 13:17
Carrot said:
Depends what you want out of it really. Personally I would find a new place to live as even if you do get some kind of resolution, you will be managed out of the place by the landlord soon enough.
same here. seems like a lot of obfuscation and smoke and mirrors to be honest. Impolite emails etc. all an irrelevant and a distractionThanks for the replies so far - the deposit is protected through the DPS. I'd leave the property tomorrow but the contract is 12 months long and we've still got a significant remainder of it left. If we could break the contract somehow that would be ideal - as I say I think landlord will be reluctant to do that given he's raking in circa £3k a month from us.
Did the landlord provide a record of annual gas safety checks when you started the tenancy period?
Also, was the CO alarm provided by the landlord or was it yours?
If he didn't (and can't) provide a record of annual gas safety checks, and if he provided the CO alarm, then i would say this would be sufficient justification to terminate the agreement and go find somewhere else. The combination of negligent maintenance and a faulty CO alarm feels like it would constitute a serious breach of contract on his part (from a layman's perspective!).
If it were me, I'd be going into writing to rebut any specific points in his letter, and request evidence of gas safety record, just so i had a record of having stated my counter position if he did seek to pursue damages (which i doubt he will, as he's most likely just trying to fluster you).
As I'm sure you know, the reference to smoke is total baloney given it was CO that was detected by the neighbours, not smoke, and CO is famously invisible!
Edit: typed this before your latest response, but still applies i think!
Edit 2: also I'm making a big assumption that he hasn't been maintaining the boiler as required, but not that far fetched as I would think it's unlikely for a well-maintained boiler to be given off enough CO to trigger next doors alarm!
Also, was the CO alarm provided by the landlord or was it yours?
If he didn't (and can't) provide a record of annual gas safety checks, and if he provided the CO alarm, then i would say this would be sufficient justification to terminate the agreement and go find somewhere else. The combination of negligent maintenance and a faulty CO alarm feels like it would constitute a serious breach of contract on his part (from a layman's perspective!).
If it were me, I'd be going into writing to rebut any specific points in his letter, and request evidence of gas safety record, just so i had a record of having stated my counter position if he did seek to pursue damages (which i doubt he will, as he's most likely just trying to fluster you).
As I'm sure you know, the reference to smoke is total baloney given it was CO that was detected by the neighbours, not smoke, and CO is famously invisible!
Edit: typed this before your latest response, but still applies i think!
Edit 2: also I'm making a big assumption that he hasn't been maintaining the boiler as required, but not that far fetched as I would think it's unlikely for a well-maintained boiler to be given off enough CO to trigger next doors alarm!
Edited by therag3 on Wednesday 30th January 13:55
Landlord does sound like a bit of a nightmare but I'm not 100% sure all of what you have written is 100% correct.
24hours to respond to an emergency would in my mind involve making it safe and providing some sort of elec heating over the weekend, I don't think there would be a right to an entire new boiler installation in those time scales.
Whilst inconvenient and slightly annoying in this world things do brake and sometimes that's inconvenient, I believe the landlord should fix issues in a a reasonable time, next working day would in my mind be quite reasonable, It's what I would do if it where my own house.
I have a couple of flats I rent out and recently some of the tenants have had quite optimistic idea's. About a 18 months ago I had a tenant reported a leak from a bathroom tap at midnight, told him how to isolate the tap, plumber was out and had repaired by 11am, apparently this wasn't fast enough, but luckily he had a fantastic idea and suggested we change all of the pipes in the flat to be on the safe side.
I've also had trades arrange to meet tenants to fix minor things only for them to not be there to let them in without so much as an apology.
24hours to respond to an emergency would in my mind involve making it safe and providing some sort of elec heating over the weekend, I don't think there would be a right to an entire new boiler installation in those time scales.
Whilst inconvenient and slightly annoying in this world things do brake and sometimes that's inconvenient, I believe the landlord should fix issues in a a reasonable time, next working day would in my mind be quite reasonable, It's what I would do if it where my own house.
I have a couple of flats I rent out and recently some of the tenants have had quite optimistic idea's. About a 18 months ago I had a tenant reported a leak from a bathroom tap at midnight, told him how to isolate the tap, plumber was out and had repaired by 11am, apparently this wasn't fast enough, but luckily he had a fantastic idea and suggested we change all of the pipes in the flat to be on the safe side.
I've also had trades arrange to meet tenants to fix minor things only for them to not be there to let them in without so much as an apology.
The landlord did indeed provide the original certificate when we moved in - curiously the boiler was also serviced back in Novermber and all seemed well.
CO alarm was provided by the landlord and he has replaced these since the new boiler was fitted. Agree that this is a poor attempt to fluster, so think a rebutal of his points is indeed in order.
andye30m3 - to be fair to the landlord he did pull his finger out and fix the issue, having lived in plenty a student house I'd like to think we're not demanding tenants and are realistic about how much ~700 a month gets you in London. That being said he should have probably offered the electric heaters given the circumstances rather than us having to ask for them at the point of knowing the boiler was done for.
Minor problems are part and parcel of living in a house and I'm certainly not after 'compensashun' for a broken door knob. But given in 4 months the landlord has put us in a dangerous position twice it doesn't fill me with confidence for the remainder of the contract.
Wrt to us not being in I feel he's bringing this up rather conveniently - it's certainly never stopped him entering the property before (or his trade people for that matter). We were hunkered under a patio heater at the local pub as it was significantly warmer than the house!
edited for typo
CO alarm was provided by the landlord and he has replaced these since the new boiler was fitted. Agree that this is a poor attempt to fluster, so think a rebutal of his points is indeed in order.
andye30m3 - to be fair to the landlord he did pull his finger out and fix the issue, having lived in plenty a student house I'd like to think we're not demanding tenants and are realistic about how much ~700 a month gets you in London. That being said he should have probably offered the electric heaters given the circumstances rather than us having to ask for them at the point of knowing the boiler was done for.
Minor problems are part and parcel of living in a house and I'm certainly not after 'compensashun' for a broken door knob. But given in 4 months the landlord has put us in a dangerous position twice it doesn't fill me with confidence for the remainder of the contract.
Wrt to us not being in I feel he's bringing this up rather conveniently - it's certainly never stopped him entering the property before (or his trade people for that matter). We were hunkered under a patio heater at the local pub as it was significantly warmer than the house!
edited for typo
andye30m3 said:
24hours to respond to an emergency would in my mind involve making it safe and providing some sort of elec heating over the weekend, I don't think there would be a right to an entire new boiler installation in those time scales.
I'd agree, basic heating restored in < 24h would be my expectation.It sounds like the landlord was being a bit sensitive, but quoting breach of contracts etc at the first contact is a bit much.
From a quick scan of the legislation you've quoted I can't really say that a 24h restoration back to the original function is a requirement either. It says they must repair and maintain them, but I wouldn't say a 24h repair time is reasonable if it was a replacement.
BUT on the overall feel of how you've faired so far I can see why you might be a bit nervous.
What is a lead tenant? What additional rights does it give over a non lead tenant?
The emails are both laughable.
I personally think next working day to replace a boiler is pretty good, assuming that they had supplied electric heaters. Were it your own home you would be rather lucky to find a plumber willing to install on the next day, let along that day being a Saturday.
The emails are both laughable.
I personally think next working day to replace a boiler is pretty good, assuming that they had supplied electric heaters. Were it your own home you would be rather lucky to find a plumber willing to install on the next day, let along that day being a Saturday.
surveyor said:
What is a lead tenant? What additional rights does it give over a non lead tenant?
The emails are both laughable.
I personally think next working day to replace a boiler is pretty good, assuming that they had supplied electric heaters. Were it your own home you would be rather lucky to find a plumber willing to install on the next day, let along that day being a Saturday.
Lead tenant, is in essence just the person who contacts the landlord with issues to avoid him bouncing around emails to all of us. That's not a real issue, more just an indication of how off the rails this bloke is. The emails are both laughable.
I personally think next working day to replace a boiler is pretty good, assuming that they had supplied electric heaters. Were it your own home you would be rather lucky to find a plumber willing to install on the next day, let along that day being a Saturday.
Not sure what's laughable about our initial email, bit stuffy perhaps but given the circumstances I don't think unnreasonable.
The fact he was going to leave us without any heat whatsoever, electric or otherwise, is the problem to my mind. The property had been made safe by the utilities worker who turned off the gas at midnight. If it were my own home of course it would be my problem to fix - that being said we pay rent not only for use of the house but also for its maintenace. I appreciate there's a bit of give and take but you'd struggle to convince me that the house is being adaquately maintained given the events of the last 4 months. Coupled with his attitude and you can see why we're not too keen to stay there.
DartyBistard said:
Not sure what's laughable about our initial email, bit stuffy perhaps but given the circumstances I don't think unnreasonable.
As a landlord I think the sentence below would have put my back up within hours of being told there was an issue with the boiler, having managed to get an engineer out in good time, which isn't always easy. 'I would also like to point out that, according to Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, our broken boiler constitutes an "emergency repair", and failure to restore the heating and water facilities within 24 hours would constitute breach of contract'
especially as it's not correct, There's been a case in the papers where Ashford borough council want to bring in rules to say landlords could be heavily fined if a tenant with a young child was left without a boiler for more than 4 days. The reason it made the papers was that a large local landlord said he simply couldn't confirm beyond doubt that this was achievable so either evicted or threaten to evict tenants with young children from his 300 properties. I'm quite sure they wouldn't have been looking at this if there were already laws in place.
andye30m3 said:
As a landlord I think the sentence below would have put my back up within hours of being told there was an issue with the boiler, having managed to get an engineer out in good time, which isn't always easy.
'I would also like to point out that, according to Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, our broken boiler constitutes an "emergency repair", and failure to restore the heating and water facilities within 24 hours would constitute breach of contract'
especially as it's not correct, There's been a case in the papers where Ashford borough council want to bring in rules to say landlords could be heavily fined if a tenant with a young child was left without a boiler for more than 4 days. The reason it made the papers was that a large local landlord said he simply couldn't confirm beyond doubt that this was achievable so either evicted or threaten to evict tenants with young children from his 300 properties. I'm quite sure they wouldn't have been looking at this if there were already laws in place.
"Under Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, you have the right to expect your landlord to carry out repairs in a ‘reasonable time’. If it’s an emergency repair as you’ve got no heating or hot water, your landlord should fix this in 24 hours." - from the following: https://www.thinkmoney.co.uk/news-advice/broken-bo...'I would also like to point out that, according to Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, our broken boiler constitutes an "emergency repair", and failure to restore the heating and water facilities within 24 hours would constitute breach of contract'
especially as it's not correct, There's been a case in the papers where Ashford borough council want to bring in rules to say landlords could be heavily fined if a tenant with a young child was left without a boiler for more than 4 days. The reason it made the papers was that a large local landlord said he simply couldn't confirm beyond doubt that this was achievable so either evicted or threaten to evict tenants with young children from his 300 properties. I'm quite sure they wouldn't have been looking at this if there were already laws in place.
now the above may or may not be true (and I don't mean to get bogged down in the interpretation of this particular section of the act) - but it's what we could find in the time and we were primarily conerned with getting some heat back into the property - I'll concede the letters wording may be a bit clunky. That said had the landlord had offered the electric heaters in the first place we wouldn't have had to bring it up at all.
I think what we can all probably agree on is that the reply fell well below the standard of common courtesy. As a group of tenants we really didn't want to burn any bridges as it makes no sense to do so - and we really don't want to be difficult either.
As you mention you're a landlord I'd be genuinely interested to know what your opinion was on whether the failure to install working CO alarms and the failure of the roof last year, as well as him repeatedly letting himself into the property without informing us, would constitute a breach sufficient to void a tenacny agreement? Have you ever had experience cancelling a contract with a tenant and if so how painful/painless was this process?
The time frame to replace the boiler is perfectly reasonable. If he fixed the ceiling in a reasonable time, then that's probably not worth pursuing either. Unless you were left blind or scarred etc, I doubt you'll get any compensation. It's a bit of a random act, really. Had you thought the ceiling looked dodgy and could fall down, reported it and he done nothing, then maybe. It's not necessarily negligence on his part if he wasn't aware it was an issue.
ETA - if your belongings were genuinely damaged, then that's a legitimate reason to claim, but probably not worth it if it's small value stuff.
Your best bet to get out of the contract is to get some legal advice on him entering without permission. As long as he hasn't been giving notice to someone else and they have not been passing the message on. And even then, if he just entered with the tradesman to look at the boiler and to drop off the heater, it's not exactly the crime of the century.
Or change the locks, force some friction, whilst keeping your actions legal, and get him to agree to a mutual termination. Not really good advice, but from what you've described, there's not a lot else to go on.
Edited by Slagathore on Wednesday 30th January 18:23
DartyBistard said:
"Under Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, you have the right to expect your landlord to carry out repairs in a ‘reasonable time’. If it’s an emergency repair as you’ve got no heating or hot water, your landlord should fix this in 24 hours." - from the following: https://www.thinkmoney.co.uk/news-advice/broken-bo...
now the above may or may not be true (and I don't mean to get bogged down in the interpretation of this particular section of the act) - but it's what we could find in the time and we were primarily conerned with getting some heat back into the property - I'll concede the letters wording may be a bit clunky. That said had the landlord had offered the electric heaters in the first place we wouldn't have had to bring it up at all.
I think what we can all probably agree on is that the reply fell well below the standard of common courtesy. As a group of tenants we really didn't want to burn any bridges as it makes no sense to do so - and we really don't want to be difficult either.
As you mention you're a landlord I'd be genuinely interested to know what your opinion was on whether the failure to install working CO alarms and the failure of the roof last year, as well as him repeatedly letting himself into the property without informing us, would constitute a breach sufficient to void a tenacny agreement? Have you ever had experience cancelling a contract with a tenant and if so how painful/painless was this process?
With regards to the co2 meter if he knew it wasn’t working then it’s completely unacceptable.now the above may or may not be true (and I don't mean to get bogged down in the interpretation of this particular section of the act) - but it's what we could find in the time and we were primarily conerned with getting some heat back into the property - I'll concede the letters wording may be a bit clunky. That said had the landlord had offered the electric heaters in the first place we wouldn't have had to bring it up at all.
I think what we can all probably agree on is that the reply fell well below the standard of common courtesy. As a group of tenants we really didn't want to burn any bridges as it makes no sense to do so - and we really don't want to be difficult either.
As you mention you're a landlord I'd be genuinely interested to know what your opinion was on whether the failure to install working CO alarms and the failure of the roof last year, as well as him repeatedly letting himself into the property without informing us, would constitute a breach sufficient to void a tenacny agreement? Have you ever had experience cancelling a contract with a tenant and if so how painful/painless was this process?
If they were installed and tested and have since failed then it’s to a degree one of those things, I’d expect the landlord to provide and install the meters, from memory the ones my boiler guy installed have test buttons which really come down to the tenant to use to check. I’d also expect them to be tested at the same time as the landlords gas certificate was issued.
The ceiling in my mind if very difficult to put any blame on the landlord, as I’m not sure anyone would be able to look at a ceiling as determine if it was going to fail, you slept under it and presumably didn’t see any sign that it would fail in advance.
Regarding ending a tenancy early I’ve done it a couple of times as people needed to move for work. I’m fairly relaxed compared to a lot of people and tend to go with the opinion that I don’t really want or need unhappy tenants. In the past I always let them go with a months notice, the last guy I ask to cover 1/2 of the letting agents fees as he’s only been there for 1/2 of the contract term, which in my mind was fair.
However if I was going to do it again I think I would insist on them paying the rent until a new tenant moved in (or their contract ran out) and the % of letting fees based on the % on contact remaining as I got a bit shafted last time due to it being empty for a while and it’s a risk I don’t need.
Edited by andye30m3 on Wednesday 30th January 20:30
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