Broken door lock - maintenance issue but being deducted from deposit?

Gorgeous_George

You are missing the point. All the legislation in the world will not protect tenants if LLs choose to save the price of a night out by not bothering with the gas safety checks.

I would always comply with the legislation as I am sure so you would. Sadly, not all LLs are the same - you only have to read these boards to know that.

The gas safety checks only prove that the system is safe on the day that it is tested.

Just as there are bad LLs, not all tenants are model citizens. Because responsibility for repairs lies with the LL, some tenants do not show the right amount of respect to the gas system. There needs to be a better way. Perhaps the tenancy deposit scheme could be extended to cover mandatory annual gas safety checks.

GG

clutton_2

the VAST majority of LL provide certification for LGSC

""All the legislation in the world will not protect tenants if LLs choose to save the price of a night out by not bothering with the gas safety checks.""


you could equally well argue

All the legislation in the world will not protect tenants if TENANTS choose to save the price of a night out by not bothering with the gas safety checks.

EagerLearner

Hi guys,
I agree with both sides - it's the landlord's property so they should tick all the boxes as to the legal requirements that need to be met for tenant safety. Equally well tenants might have a landlord, such as ours, who did not get these LGSC, and we could have been in trouble, or the next landlord could. Really both sides should know the legalities of course to protect themselves...

Anyway as to DPS, still no news either way and we are seemingly at her mercy.
Might try to call them later and see if they have any info but suspect that with the new tenant and snow, she'll put this right to the bottom of her to do list as for her it's a small amount and she knows we want the cash.

Any ideas anyone?

clutton_2

if you have lodged a dispute then there is nothing you can do other than to wait. There are time frames listed in the terms and conditions and your LL must comply with them.

EagerLearner

Hi Clutton thanks for that. One thing I was wondering is that we now have an e-mailed opinion from a professional locksmith as to why an outer handle lock mechanism would fail.

I was thinking that seeing as DPS told me it would not go to arbitration until a later stage, if we e-mailed that info from locksmith to her today, expressing an interest to have a local locksmith also attend that can offer a neutral informed opinion, she would see we're genuinely interested in moving things forward amongst ourselves rather than leaving it all to DPS?

N79

clutton wrote: »

the VAST majority of LL provide certification for LGSC

""All the legislation in the world will not protect tenants if LLs choose to save the price of a night out by not bothering with the gas safety checks.""


you could equally well argue

All the legislation in the world will not protect tenants if TENANTS choose to save the price of a night out by not bothering with the gas safety checks.

Apologies to Eagerlearner for the off track debate but I don't think there is anything to add to opinions above.

While I am not arguing for any changes to LL's gas check requirements I do agree with the principle that GG is arguing which I think Clutton has neatly illustrated (my highlighting) which is that the mitigation of a risk is best carried out by those closest to the risk. Of course, in real life this is not always possible and hence we have safety legislation to try to focus the more distant minds onto the problem.

silvercar

EagerLearner wrote: »

Hi Clutton thanks for that. One thing I was wondering is that we now have an e-mailed opinion from a professional locksmith as to why an outer handle lock mechanism would fail.

I was thinking that seeing as DPS told me it would not go to arbitration until a later stage, if we e-mailed that info from locksmith to her today, expressing an interest to have a local locksmith also attend that can offer a neutral informed opinion, she would see we're genuinely interested in moving things forward amongst ourselves rather than leaving it all to DPS?

I would email the landlord along the lines:

1. You have a professional locksmiths opinion that the outer handle would be prone to failure first and that you consider this fair wear and tear.

2. State that you are happy for a local locksmith to attend as you are interested in resolving the matter quickly.

3. If you don't get a satisfactory response within Xx days, you will continue with the DPS procedures which will result in arbitration and a decision.

The line is that you wanted it resolved quickly to close the matter and move on, not that you are desparate for the money.

silvercar

My opinion on gas certs:

As a landlord, I would ensure that they are in place, how could you sleep at night knowing you could be responsible for killing your tenant?

As a tenant, if I found that there wasn't a gas cert after moving in, I would nag the landlord to sort it out. I would also buy a CO detector for peace of mind.

EagerLearner

Hello Silvercar and N79 and thank you for your comments.

Would you suggest we should copy the text sent by the locksmith into the e-mail to her, or not send that at this point and just the 3 bullet points as above?

EagerLearner

Hi all,

Any thoughts on the above please?

Also made a few local calls to locksmiths and seems they almost always charge callout charges... so we're pretty stuffed from that side I think.