Gas Safety Cert question

palindrome_2

Hi,

I am a first time poster on here although I have lurked about for a while, so please be gentle with me!

My partner and I have recently been issued with a section 21 by our landlords who want the property back – they are looking to do a very expensive conversion on the ground floor and either re-let or allow a child to move in. We are due to move into our new place in 2 weeks, I am however a little worried about getting our deposit back. We have never really seen eye to eye with our landlords (who live just down the street). I don’t think it is anything awful, just a clash of personalities due to age difference, lifestyles and an inability to let the property be seen as someone else’s home (tellings off for having too much stuff??! and not maintaining the garden to their standards etc) but I have a strong feeling in the pit of my stomach that we will have a fight on our hands to get the deposit back (it is protected with the TDS).

Having lurked about on here for a bit now I have realised that we have never been given a gas safety cert. I know I should be more clued up on things like this, but I missed this one totally and will be checking more throughly next time. We have had someone come and check the boiler but they have never given us any certificate and we never had one in the house when we moved in either – that we were aware of. I believe that by not issuing a certificate they have broken the law. We have no idea what the checks that they did do were for so although they could have been the legal safety ones we do not know this 100% – also they did only check the boiler and were going to leave our gas cooker until we forced them to look at it and it had to be condemmed due to a crack in the grill which meant we were without a cooker for over 2 weeks while the landlord sourced a new one. :mad:

We are planning on making the landlords and letting agents aware of the gas cert situation once we have left anyway – for the future safety of any new tenants and the landlords themselves, however if we are faced with a situation where the landlords try to make unfair deductions (we will not challenge anything we feel is fair and justified) from our deposit I would like very much to be able to use the lack of gas certificate as leverage. Can anyone please advise on the best way to approach this if we need to as I am unsure of the best steps.

I realise that it may sound very unfair planning a battle before I even know if there will be a war but I want to make sure I am fully prepared should the situation arise. I know we have been good tenants and will be leaving the property in a far nicer state than when we moved in (it was filthy) but the relationship with our landlords feels wrong and as such I am a little unsettled.

Many thanks for taking the time to read this rather long post.

P x

N79

Why do you need leverage? Your deposit is protected. If you have a disagreement with your LL why not sort it out through the appropriate channels? If the deduction is fair then you say you will agree. If it is not fair then the LL will not have any evidence to support it so your deposit will be returned when either arbitration or the courts agree with you.

Of course, you should still ask for a gas certificate and feel free to report the LL if they have failed in their obligations.

palindrome_2

You are right, I guess I am just very nervous and on the passive offensive with this one because of previous conversations with the landlady and the way she has acted towards us in the past. I am probably panicking about something that I don't need to as I have always got my full deposit back before, and to be honest I have always got on with previous landlords so I am in unfamiliar territory this time.

Ok in that case gas certs aside we did have an inventory when we moved in and we did sign it, make amendments and do have a copy but we do not have a copy that the landlords signed (I don't know if the landlords signed the copy we sent back to the agents), where do we stand with this? Do both parties have to have signed to make it valid or does the fact that we have signed it confirm the condition of the property? I ask because during one inspection the landlady got most upset about an area of plastering that is badly done and started telling us off about it and how they had just had the place redecorated when her husband arrived and said he knew what it was and it was there before we moved in. As we have been informed that it is the landlady who is dealing with the check out inspection and deposit stuff I am worried she does not know what bits of the house were badly decorated when we moved in and I didnt mention when I signed the inventory things like uneven plastering etc just areas that were dirty, worn etc.

Thanks for your input, it is really appreciated.

P x

N79

No need for a LL to sign the inventory. It is there to protect you as a description of the property at outset. LL already knows (or should know) the condition. If the LL challenges their own inventory then they will end up with no proof of the property condition - a very silly thing to do.

Feel free to raise the gas issue separately with the appropriate authorities - an most importantly make sure that you receive one for your next and subsequent homes.

palindrome_2

I will be making sure we have a gas cert in the new place no worries there. I think I have just been reading too many rental horror stories of late and got myself all worked up.

I am planning on inviting the landlady round this week to look at the place and note anything she wants doing. I will then ask her again once the house is empty (we have a few cross over days) so that hopefully she can see everything a bit better without furniture in the way and then we can make sure she is happy with everything before we have the final check out which I presume will be the landlady and or the letting agents.

Thanks for your posts, I am probably still going to panic, but perhaps not as much..........perhaps!

blackshirtuk

I would suggest the LL probably does have gas certs but not given you a copy(naughty). The reason? the agent shouldn't let the property without one.

tbs624

blackshirtuk wrote: »

I would suggest the LL probably does have gas certs but not given you a copy(naughty). The reason? the agent shouldn't let the property without one.

It's always a possibility, but the fact remains that the T is legally entitled to have a copy , which is precisely why one of the copies issued is called "tenant copy".

It should be shown to the T before they sign up to a tenancy and if a check and re-certification becomes due during the tenancy then the LL/LA has to pass the T a copy within 28 days.

The contract between LL and LA should clearly set out which of them is responsible for dealing with the annual gas safety check and certification, but that is of no relevance to a T.

girleight@

I can't see how they could blame you for dodgy plastering. Why would you have been plastering their house?

palindrome_2

We haven't plastered anything, but the implication was that we had damaged the wall and had been trying to cover it up by doing a bad job and then painting over it, hence why she started to get cross with us until the husband stepped in.

tbs624

palindrome - on your deposit: the LL has to give you written confirmation of any proposed deductions and if you have cause for disputing them you are entitled to do so,as N79 has said, either via the scheme's arbitration set up or via the small claims court.

You are doing the right thing by having a pre-check out discussion and then when you do actually move out take clear photos of everything - garden area, down the lav, inside any white goods, any areas where dust would be expected to accumulate, carpets etc.

You have to leave the property in the same condition as when originally let to you, save for "fair wear and tear" and the LL would have to be able to show that you had not done so. There is a guide to FW&T here (from mydeposits, one of the 3 schemes) and another one here (from ARLA - residential LAs association)

palindrome_2

Thanks so much for that, I shall have a good read and make sure I am up to date with everything. Just can't wait for this all to be over and I can be back to my normal, slightly less stressful lifestyle.