No cooker in furnished rental

coldblue

We viewed a property we liked 4 weeks ago and signed the contract on friday. The house was advertised as part furnished and the contract states furnished. When we viewed the house there was a gas cooker in the kitchen but having been round today there is no cooker. The gas certificate we were given after siging the contract includes a gas cooker but further paperwork in the house says that the cooker was not up to standard during an inspection in feb of this year. We were given a copy of the inventory after signing the contract and have been through it with a fine toothcomb. There was no cooker in the kitchen when the inventory was taken (by an independent company) it is stated as being in the yard outside waiting for disposal but not there today. The cooker was one of the selling points for us that it had a gas cooker (can't stand electric) and we wouldn't have considered taking the house otherwise. The rightmove and agent ad states that the kitchen is "with appliances"-we've printed it off. Do we have a case to get them to reinstall one and as the tenancy has now commenced can we expect ask for a reduction to the first months rent? Or if they won't play ball can we get out of the contract as it was misrepresented to us at the viewing? Also, there are no keys for any of the windows in the house and as a consequence these cannot be opened, which may explain the slight musty smell in the house. Surely we should be able to open the windows. The last point, there is no lock on the gate into the back yard which was full of rubbish and therefore we couldnt go out and look during the viewing. Is it reasonable to ask for one to be fitted as without it the yard is not secure leaving the back of the house very vunerable to burglary.

clutton_2

You must first give them the opportunity to put things right -

i would go back to the letting agent and insist they provide a cooker.

i would ask if they have forgotten to provide you with window keys, pointing out that if they do not provide them you cannot be responsible for any damage if you have to get out of the windows if there is an emergency (this is an unacceptable situation on my view on Health & Safety At Work Acts grounds - as a LL has a duty of care for the safety of his tenants)

it is reasonable to ask for a lock on the back gate - but you could always buy a padlock yourself and take it with you when you go for use elsewhere.

coldblue

Thank you for your reply Clutton.

We will be contacting the letting agent first thing Monday to discuss these issues and hopefully come to an amicable arrangment.

I dont think we are unreasonable to expect a cooker as there was one there when we viewed and we were told all the appliances were included.
The contract states that we should take reasonable steps to heat and ventilate the premises in order to prevent condensation, can't really do this if we can't open the windows.

There is nothing on the back gate to use a padlock on, it is literally just a wooden gate, no handle or anything. We could attach a lock ourselves but would be worried the landlord would charge us for damaging the gate if we did this without permission.

slummymummyof3

Also with regard to the lack of keys to open windows - what of there was a fire?