Can I refuse further viewings on rental?

fc123

I just climbed the rusty gate (in a very non H+S way) and sliced the board off around the fixings with a huge pair of fabric shears.
Just read the EHO website on rented

Housing standards


A property should be safe and healthy for occupiers, so responsibility should be taken to ensure that:

• the dwelling is capable of providing adequate heating, which ideally means controllable central heating and insulation, with equipment and the fabric of the building in good repair
• electricity and gas supplies, and the sanitation (drains, basins, sinks, baths and WCs) are in working order
• there are no fall or trip hazards
• water heating equipment is in working order
• the property is free from damp

clutton_2

As a LL i am truly horrified at the conditions you are living in.....

Gas is much much more dangerous than electricity when not maintained well, and the fact that the lever is rusted in the "on" position means that you will be UNABLE to isolate the supply - ie.. you will not be able to switch OFF the supply if you smell gas and need to stop gas getting into the house....

indeed i am shocked that the GASSAFE engineer left it in that position....

Altho a boiler can go wrong at any time, even one day after a Landlords Gas Safety Certificate has been issued, it really is crucial that it is kept current...

i recently had a tenant who refused me entry for 6 months after expiry of the LGSC and when she finally left my gas engineer found a serious leak.... she could have killed herself her two kids and blown up the house....

another tenant did not tell me that the boiler needed topping up regularly and subsequently the vent pipe was seized solid.. so had there been any problems with over-heating the boiling water would have had to vent back into the kitchen....

Whether you are leaving now or not, whether you love living here, whether the LL is 80 / 106 years old ... the Gas Regulations are there to stop deaths.....

Please please contact Environmental health tomorrow ... NO ONE should be allowed to live in conditions like this... this LL is putting money before tenant safety....

EHO will come and assess the property, provide a Schedule of Works to be completed, Graded as per HHSRS regs, and a timeframe for the LL to do the works in..... if they are not done.. councils do have the authority to do the work and invoice the LL

Please... listen to the majority of folks here - we want you to do what is best for you and for those following on behind you ....

If no one reports her she will kill someone sooner or later... how would you feel if it was the next tenant's child ?

fc123

clutton wrote: »

As a LL i am truly horrified at the conditions you are living in.....

Gas is much much more dangerous than electricity when not maintained well, and the fact that the lever is rusted in the "on" position means that you will be UNABLE to isolate the supply - ie.. you will not be able to switch OFF the supply if you smell gas and need to stop gas getting into the house....

indeed i am shocked that the GASSAFE engineer left it in that position....

Altho a boiler can go wrong at any time, even one day after a Landlords Gas Safety Certificate has been issued, it really is crucial that it is kept current...

i recently had a tenant who refused me entry for 6 months after expiry of the LGSC and when she finally left my gas engineer found a serious leak.... she could have killed herself her two kids and blown up the house....

another tenant did not tell me that the boiler needed topping up regularly and subsequently the vent pipe was seized solid.. so had there been any problems with over-heating the boiling water would have had to vent back into the kitchen....

Whether you are leaving now or not, whether you love living here, whether the LL is 80 / 106 years old ... the Gas Regulations are there to stop deaths.....

Please please contact Environmental health tomorrow ... NO ONE should be allowed to live in conditions like this... this LL is putting money before tenant safety....

EHO will come and assess the property, provide a Schedule of Works to be completed, Graded as per HHSRS regs, and a timeframe for the LL to do the works in..... if they are not done.. councils do have the authority to do the work and invoice the LL

Please... listen to the majority of folks here - we want you to do what is best for you and for those following on behind you ....

If no one reports her she will kill someone sooner or later... how would you feel if it was the next tenant's child ?

.....which is why I think I have been feeling uneasy about it as it will only deteriorate further.

clutton_2

this landlord is living in another age, in her head, and clearly has no idea what current laws are - but she needs to know - and she needs to change her behaviour and her attitude - and the only people who can REALLY make her take her responsibility seriously are those Council officers - EHOs - who have the power to take her to court and have her heavily fined....

i have reported several landlords in my time whose disregard for human life and decent standards were appalling..... i feel no regret at all that i did this..... neither will you

Courts take this kind of thing very seriously... it is a criminal offence for her not to have a current valid LGSC...

fc123

clutton wrote: »

this landlord is living in another age, in her head, and clearly has no idea what current laws are - but she needs to know - and she needs to change her behaviour and her attitude - and the only people who can REALLY make her take her responsibility seriously are those Council officers - EHOs - who have the power to take her to court and have her heavily fined....

i have reported several landlords in my time whose disregard for human life and decent standards were appalling..... i feel no regret at all that i did this..... neither will you

Courts take this kind of thing very seriously... it is a criminal offence for her not to have a current valid LGSC...

This winter was really cold and we had some big storms so the exterior has deteriorated rapidly in the past 5 months.....like the coal bunker (which we don't use and never walk past as up the side) is now about to collapse.

Housing standards


A property should be safe and healthy for occupiers, so responsibility should be taken to ensure that:

• the dwelling is capable of providing adequate heating, which ideally means controllable central heating and insulation, with equipment and the fabric of the building in good repair
• There is no insulation and by fabric of the building, I reckon the windows and front elevation wouldn't pass now. CH workd fine but just takes the edge off.
• electricity and gas supplies, and the sanitation (drains, basins, sinks, baths and WCs) are in working order
• Rusted lever and outside drains I keep an eye on as they block (no covers) but rest OK.
• there are no fall or trip hazards Outside yes.
• water heating equipment is in working order Works fine but lead pipes discovered.
• the property is free from damp There is damp in the ante room and sunlounge is very damp feeling when it rains a lot but no signs of it.

Wee_Willy_Harris

As others have said, get the EHO in. They wont march her straight to court, but will give her a clear instruction on what needs to be done and a timeframe in which to do it. My guess is they will tell her that she cannot let it until those issues are dealt with. Of course, she will cop it if she just ignores them, but she'd have to do it without the agent because they just won't touch it. Either way, she will be well advised by the EHO. If they are anything like the ones on my patch, they want resolution, not prosecution.

dopester

Very interesting fc. I knew the house wasn't as in as smart a condition as many of the surrounding houses but nevertheless.... didn't realise you had problems like it being very cold and hard to heat, especially with the Winter just gone.

If the landlord is 80 years old, then I'm suspecting she probably has the house mortgage free so it isn't like she even has any mortgage financing costs to absorb with the rent you pay. What is the landlord doing with all the rent money? Probably Scrooging it away I'm imagining.

The age of the landlord doesn't give her a 100% "sympathy pass" from the duties she has as landlord [Gas especially, but I'd also be annoyed at the £50 (pm?)] charge for a gardener but no gardening work getting done.

fc123

dopester wrote: »

Very interesting fc. I knew the house wasn't as in as smart a condition as many of the surrounding houses but nevertheless.... didn't realise you had problems like it being very cold and hard to heat, especially with the Winter just gone.

If the landlord is 80 years old, then I'm suspecting she probably has the house mortgage free so it isn't like she even has any mortgage financing costs to absorb with the rent you pay. What is the landlord doing with all the rent money? Probably Scrooging it away I'm imagining.

The age of the landlord doesn't give her a 100% "sympathy pass" from the duties she has as landlord [Gas especially, but I'd also be annoyed at the £50 (pm?)] charge for a gardener but no gardening work getting done.

Update with news.

I went to through to the HO to talk over the gas certs and they said the cert up until Jan 2010 was vaild on their records with no mention of a dodgy lever. Odd. Differernt to what the bgas inspector told me...

So, I decided to take matters into my own hands and got Transco in (easy, came within 2 hours...doh, makes me feel a dbit dippy why I didn't think to do that before ) who checked it and discovered a second (working) lever up above the old one....however they were called out to another place this week with the same issue and, again found a second lever so he was a bit puzzled. He gave everything a lookover and all 100%. The cert will be redone this week.

Another viewing today and all the same issues were raised...she loved the space etc but concerns about poor maintenance, esp outside plus the lead pipes and flood damage. The gardener issue is something that is going to have to be adressed also.

So we made a detailed list of problems and LA are going to see if LL will do the repairs needed. I am going to deal with a few things officially if nothing seems to happen over the next 5 weeks but will update once I have left and got my full deposit back.

We also agreed that the ad needed pics of the kitchen (as grim but perfectly functional and not unsafe) and the other rooms to give viewers a better idea. Advising viewers of lead pipes I also said was essential as people should know...unless she is made to replace them + I know she got a report from the plumber post flood.

I also have said only block viewings on Sat pm as I do housework on sat ams.

I have never felt unsafe here at all as the original cottage is sound and solid....just rusty windows to the outside. The inner windows are leaded and fine (as they face onto the sun room) but the 1950's back add on is the biggest problem as it has come to the end of it's useful life really...and it is the side of it (that creates an ante room) that has the damp.

The front needs repainting and rendering and the lovely arts and crafts door is slowly rotting away through neglect.
She could sell it in a flash as a few viewers are inbetween buying and are looking in the area. Lady today said the same thing and would buy it tomorrow if it was up for sale.

clutton_2

why dont you offer to buy it ?

fc123

clutton wrote: »

why dont you offer to buy it ?

Would love to if I had a different life and income....unfortunately, we don't have £530k to hand (based on the auction price end April 2010 of next door and this is similar spec).......and we already own a house in London (with a mortgage we want to try and wipe out within the next 2 years)...and I have to go back there to live as work is all London centric, DD will go to college in London......and I think I need to go back to living with OH again F/T (:)).....what else?.....
elderly parents all local to us in London (as it's where we both grew up, hence always owning there) and I can see me going back to being the runarounder as Sis has young kids (mine are big) and my brother (with young kids) has now moved area.

Mind you ...I know I want to buy by the sea somewhere some day so at least I know what to look out for . My old dad used to come and stay and sleep in the inner parlour room (with the coal fire stoked up and a guard in front ) and once during a storm he said '' handy you rent this, I wouldn't want to own a roof on a property on this street''. He is stone deaf now too so he couldn't even hear the house groan.