stupid landlord

owen2008

hi,

i have so many problems with the house i am renting. The heating has been broke for a while. The landlord has arranged for it to be fixed (new radiators)

when we had a gas safety check in march the plumber made it very clear that the back boiler really needed a service asap. He said it was full of dust and would affect how much gas we use.

We never got shown an EPC either when we moved in (Jan 09)

The letting agency has advised us that the landlord is refusing to service the boiler as she is not legally obliged to do it? The gas is "safe" according to the report but it has some recommedations in order to fix certain things?

where can i go with this, i understand the landlord is not obliged to service it as it has been deemed safe but i have had 3 plumbers all say it needs servicing asap

many thanks

littlemisslettings

You have new radiators and a boiler that works - so whats the problem?

Of course plumbers will recommend servicing the boiler - they get paid to do it. Servicing it may not add any benefit to you.

An EPC could be performed tomorrow, but that would make no difference to your property - it would just tell you how energy efficient it is.

owen2008

as it stands, we dont have new radiators, there meant to be getting fitted next week. we have waiting 6 months for this.

yes the boiler does "work" but in the words on the safety record it needs "urgent service asap"

thats the bit thats doing my head in, we pay alot of money for this house and for the sake of a couple hunderd quid the landlord cant be bothered servicing it. our gas bill for 2 months was £400 and we "hardly" use the gas (theres only me and the gf), and weve been told by various plumbers with no VI that this could make out gas bills higher

in regards to the EPC, its a legal requirement a tenent sees one before renting - we never!

ILW

Move elsewhere if your landlord rubbish.

owen2008

think its looking that way i think, might be time to up sticks again. God i hate moving aswell

littlemisslettings

EPC are a legal requirement, but worse case senario if he doesnt provide one is that the council fine him £200. An EPC doesnt achieve anything or prove anything other than the energy effciency of a property. It makes recommendations but i have yet to meet a landlord who has ever taken up those recommendations as they seem fairly pointless.

The landlord has met his legal requirements in terms of Gas Safety Certificate and is not obliged to do anything else. If you are really unhappy with the situation then unfortunately moving may be your only option ( I can empathsie here a bit as I REALLY hate moving!)

talulahbeige_2

If your gas bills are so high isnt it worth it for you to pay the service cost? (maybe try barganing with LL and go half & half)
Not ideal obviously but it will save you money in the long run

clutton_2

not ideal but i do agree

""If your gas bills are so high isnt it worth it for you to pay the service cost" ?

anotherpaul_2

owen2008 wrote: »

think its looking that way i think, might be time to up sticks again. God i hate moving aswell

Have you actually got an estimate of how much money this would save you on gas? I find it hard to believe it's worth the cost / hassle of moving (possibly to a place that will be just as bad or worse) to save the little bit of gas. Especially considering that you won't need the radiators for a while now anyway.

Of course, there may be other issues.