How do we stand on this situation?

jazzys

Hi, my son has just moved into a house he has rented.
Between the time he put his application in indicating he wanted the house and the time he moved in, the rental agency had the necessary gas checks etc carried out.

The fire in the main living area was condemned in the inspection.

Is it the landlords duty to replace the defective fire?

We have since been told by the agent that the house was never advertised as having a working fire. But on the other hand it wasn't advertised as having a defective one either. Surely it needs to be replaced or have a rental reduction as he has not got the heating he was led to believe he would have.

Can anyone point us in the right direction here, does he have a right to force the landlord to remedy the situation or does his reply about it not being advertised as working get him off the hook?

Steve

jenny74

Does the house has central heating? If so; I wouldn't bother about it or make a fuss. In our last house we used the gas fire about 20 times in 10 years! In our new house, there is no fire gas or electric, though we could put one in if we wanted to... We just don't see the point.

J

jazzys

Yes the house has central heating but apparently its a cold house and the central heating doesn't do a great job of heating the place,

princeofpounds

When did he find out about the defective fire? If it was flagged up to him before the tenancy started, then it is more of a grey area. If it was not then the landlord should certainly fix it.

'Not advertised with' is not a get-out clause. Next the agents will be telling you that 'it wasn't advertised with a working roof'...!

But bear in mind that this is not the responsibility of the agents, it is the landlord who always bears ultimate responsibility.

chappers

I'm sure that even if this had happened half way through atenancy that , the LL has no requirement to fix or replace the fire as there is an alternative form of heating.
You could try negotiating with your LL but thats all it would be a negotiation. As I said i'm sure he has no obligation to fix or replace this fire.

Dogz111

I think the legal view would be tough – it’s not a core part of the contract as it is not stipulated in any inventory or explicitly in the contract.

My view would be that the house is to be rented as seen and as such any appliances etc should be in full working order. In any property I own I would replace the fire as you want things to start off on a good footing with a new tenant.

I’d speak to the landlord directly and see what his / her view is. Most decent landlords will try to keep tenants happy to stop churn every 6 months thus giving them potential of a void period.