What are the landlords responsibilities?

pennyjar56

Hi, first post so sorry if this is somewhere else.....

We moved into our rented house 6 months ago having sold our property to relocate (We're currently saving for a new house to buy).

The situation is this, on moving in we realised the soil pipe wasn't properly installed so raw sewage was leaking onto the side access. I had a huge battle at getting this fixed and had to resort to threatening to call the environmental health agency at which point they came and fixed it.

We've now realised the boiler is substandard and is showing signs of throwing out carbon monoxide (partner is plumber!) When we alerted the letting agency they first suggested my partner could do something about it. This is of course not acceptable as time and parts cost money that we're not keen on spending to add value to someone elses property.

They said that the landlord had had a check before he rented it out and that the boiler was fine. She said she'd check with the landlord to see what he wanted to do about it. That was a week ago and we've heard nothing.

We're not whingey people. However, raw sewage and carbon monoxide are surely things that a landlord has a responsibilty to investigate and fix straight away?

Any help as to what we should do now and what the landlord should be doing would be gratefully recieved! Thanks.

BitterAndTwisted

If you're worried about potential carbon monoxide poisoning, and I would be, arrange for a qualified engineer to call to do an inspection and pay for it yourself. That's the most important thing at the moment. If you were supplied with a valid Gas Safety Certificate the boiler was safe at the beginning of your tenancy but it might not be now. Deducting the cost from your rent can be discussed later once you know you're not in danger of asphyxiation.

ETA: If the boiler is unsafe, the engineer will disconnect the boiler and it will then be your landlord's responsibility to arrange and pay for the repair to make it safe.

clutton_2

excellent advice from B&T - get safe first - argue the toss later on

have you got a carbon monoxide alarm ? if not i suggest you go to B&Q and get one this afternoon - this will give you information, hopefully peace of mind, but, may also provide the evidence you will need to get the Environmental Health Officer down there immediately - if there is a Carbon monoxide leak this is a very serious matter.

""She said she'd check with the landlord to see what he wanted to do about it. That was a week ago and we've heard nothing."" - a WEEK ????? this is utterly appalling - if you get the alarm i mentioned, you can then call on Monday and play holy hell.........

I'm a LL btw and hate landlords who do this....

pennyjar56

Thanks for advice: will do both today.

Looking around the forum, have noticed the deposit protection scheme........... Don't think this has been done. Going to check all our paperwork and possibly add this to the list of complaints! Feel like a bit of a fool! Last time I was renting was about 10 years ago and the landlord was a nice man who came round whenever anything needed fixing and also helped me pack and move out when I bought my own house. I guess I was very lucky and foolish to think every renting experience would be the same oh well!

clutton_2

""They said that the landlord had had a check before he rented it out and that the boiler was fine.""

does this mean that you have been provided with a Landlords Gas Safety Certificate then ?

poppysarah

Gas safety certificate?
Council private sector housing team should be your first port of call.
Then look for new place to live.

skint-student-nurse

we have to service our boiler and heaters every 12 months for our tennant, and if there is anything wrong with the flat that deems it unsafe, we can not leave it,otherwise we can get into a whole heap of trouble! not to mention a hefty bill if the letting agent gets someone into fix it....it is disgusting that your LL can be so 'relaxed' about this.

from a tenants point of view,my previous house that i rented, had a faulty boiler and i called environmental health and in turn,they got on to the landlords and ive never had a boiler fixed so quick in my life. apparently it was me that broke the boiler...! i moved out not long after as i didnt want to go through that ever again.

clutton_2

it is compulsory to do a LGSC inspection every year - it is not compulsory to have a boiler serviced every year

pennyjar56

Thanks everyone for all your help. To be honest when we moved in it was pretty chaotic and we're beginning to realise that there was alot we didn't check before we moved in. We did see the gas safety stuff, but of course boilers break all the time regardless of whether they worked 6 months ago! As I said my partner is a plumber and it was one of the first things he noticed that the boiler wasn't that great. It's only now we're expecting to use it for heating as well as water that it's obvious it's not running efficiently. The flame colour through the boiler spyhole is orange which gives my partner cause for alarm which can be an indicator of carbon monoxide.

I'm going to get onto the agents tomorrow, be very strong and insist someone comes to check the boiler straight away.

Thanks again for all your help! :T