Frozen Pipes / Flood

Pitlanepiglet

clutton wrote: »

how did i know someone would raise the thorny question of tenant access here sooner rather than later ???


""the possibility that the heating might be off isn't an emergency. ""

In these temperatures of course its an emergency...... as entry into the property and switching on the heating will prevent a lot of damage to both landlords property and tenants possessions

we, as LL, really cannot win can we ?

If we go in to turn the heating on, to prevent the tenant from huge bills for water damage.. that is not an emergency ?

if we dont go in - we should have done so to stop the tenant getting charged for water damage.....

I think the LL is in an entirely "no win" situation!

It would depend on the exact wording of the tenancy agreement and ultimately it would be a question for a Judge, but I think it's highly unlikely that going in just to check that the heating is on would be classed an emergency to enable the LL immediate access without notice or consent.

Knowing that the place was unheated in weather like this is much more likely to be an emergency but just checking - I doubt it.

silvercar

Students are generally far less precious about right of entry than other tenants.

Pitlanepiglet

silvercar wrote: »

Students are generally far less precious about right of entry than other tenants.

Really? That's not how it reads from many of the threads on here and anyway, it doesn't matter whether you think a tenant may be precious or not. No right of entry means just that, not "if the tenant doesn't object".

Mankysteve

clutton wrote: »

""repaired for £30 max DIY style very easy fix. ""

but then there are the consequential losses of possibly replacing flooring, kitchen units (which soak up water like blotting paper if they are the old fashioned sort) checking electrics etc etc

if this is a leak upstairs it would be very easy to rack up £5k-£10k of damage

since OP tells us ""Place flooded on return."" it is quite possible a bill of this size could be presented....

Hence the if your lucky.I should have added if the tenets turn the heating off then any frozen pipes should be there responsibility to sort out I rent we switch our boiler onto always on and turn the thermostat on to its frost setting.

On side note Must add that if our boiler get frost damage then I anit paying for cos out in a old outhouse(attached to the building) with a rotten door frame so the door doesn't shut properly and a smashed window which I've told them several times about grrr.

clutton_2

judges in small claims courts, where this could end up, are very common sense reasonable people - they look for a Balance of probability

i think a judge would rule that if the weather was not bad, that a LL had no business letting himself in to check the boiler, but, in conditions such as we have where i live right now, and where a lot of the country is in a state of emergency, the sensible thing for a LL to do whilst tenants are away Would be to call it an emergency and let themselves in to switch heating on....

Landlords have an insurance duty to "mitigate" their loss... otherwise their insurers would not pay out....

BitterAndTwisted

Of course, the supposition that a landlord would pop round and check that the heating was left on to prevent frozen pipes is that either the landlord was aware that the property was going to be completely unoccupied for weeks on end AND that the landlord actually lived within reasonable distance of the rental property. Neither of those conditions are certain in most cases. Lots of students don't go home for the entire Christmas break, especially those whose families are overseas or who work during the holidays and many, many landlords don't live within a couple of hours drive away either. Once this cold-snap started the snow was very heavy very quickly, so even if a landlord could get to the property in normal weather-conditions they might have been able to then. A lot of parts of the country are still cut off weeks after the snow and ice started

pinkshoes

I went to uni in N.E England, and due to the cold weather up there, we knew it was common sense to leave the heating on low for an hour in the morning and evening in winter when we were all away.

It's basic physics about water freezing, expanding, and breaking pipes. One would hope that students had this basic knowledge of physics given they're supposed to be intelligent, so they are responsible for paying for any damage.

At the very least, if the LL has insurance that will cover this, then they should pay the LL's excess. This could potentially be taken from their deposits when they leave.

kmmr

I just don't think that the fact that the tenants are students should be a relevant factor.

Landlord and tenant obligations are the same regardless of the age or profession or life experience of the tenant. Practically you may take more care with certain tenants, but when it comes to liability it's only contract law that counts.

Ulfar

Surely this would also depend on whether the property had central heating and what condition it was in.

I have lived in a flat where the boiler hadn't been serviced for 5 years(it did pass a gas safety certificate) but the pilot light would go out whenever it got very windy.

I certainly wasn't left with a manual or any guidance on how the heating worked, I looked the manual up on the internet.

They may be mitigating circumstances that affect who is responsible either way.

anselld

Thanks for all the advice to date. I should be able to get an update on the situation tomorrow.