no heating no water no gas safety certificate.

YUMMY_MUMMY_OF_5

hi,id appreciate any advice anyone has about the situation i have found myself in.i live with my 5 kids age 18,10,5,3 and 2.we live in a rented property and pay 1000pcm.from the start of my tenancy <16 months ago> the boiler has been faulty.it has been "fixed" at least 6-8 times and we have been left without any heating or hot water for weeks on end.i rang the landlord yet again informing him the boiler wasnt working yet again.he sent round another plummer who as did all the other plummers told me it was an ancient boiler <over 30yr old> and needed condemming.the landlord was informed and the day after he came to my home and served me with an eviction notice and told me he wouldnt fix the boiler and had 8 weeks to get out.im out of tenancy anyway.i have been asking him for 4 months for my new gas safety certificate and he still hasnt got one.<the most recent plummer told me no engineer would put their name on a safety certificate for that boiler.i have contact the enviromental health dept who are trying to contact the landlord.ive witheld my rent which is due today but wanted some advice on where i stand with reference to witholding my rent or is it justified given the problems im having.my astmatic daughter has had to go and live with my mum along with my baby because the house is so cold.

sooz

Ask the LL for electric heaters in the meantime until you move?

Keep on at EH about the lack of certificate.

FInd somewhere else to live asap. You don't have to stay until his notice expires, you can give him one month's notice.

poppysarah

Go to the press. Name and shame the bad landlord.

I know one round here who evicted someone after she complained about the mushrooms growing in her kitchen...


http://www.talktothepress.co.uk/ one of these type places might even get you money for it.

sooz

Just invite gmtv round. They'll no doubt do one of their well-researched pieces. Maybe they could get Suzy back to comment

Jowo_2

No, the failure of the landlord to abide by their obligations does not mean that a tenant is entitled to breach theirs by witholding the rent.

The Shelter website does detail a process to withold rent but only in relation to a tenant undertaking repairs themselves and there are specific steps to follow.

It's a shame that some landlords are so bad that they'd rather serve notice on tenants rather than meet their obligations.

If the property is in England or Wales, did you receive confirmation that your deposit was put in a tenancy deposit scheme?

poppysarah

Jowo wrote: »

No, the failure of the landlord to abide by their obligations does not mean that a tenant is entitled to breach theirs by witholding the rent.

BUT snitching the !!!!!! up to H&S and letting the LL worry about a big fine is a lot of fun I should imagine.

lynzpower

Jowo wrote: »

No, the failure of the landlord to abide by their obligations does not mean that a tenant is entitled to breach theirs by witholding the rent.

The Shelter website does detail a process to withold rent but only in relation to a tenant undertaking repairs themselves and there are specific steps to follow.

It's a shame that some landlords are so bad that they'd rather serve notice on tenants rather than meet their obligations.

If the property is in England or Wales, did you receive confirmation that your deposit was put in a tenancy deposit scheme?

No but the tenant can take further steps

OP have you got records of ie when plumbers came?

Have you informed the HSE about this gas breach?

Are environmental health involved?

lynzpower

http://www.hse.gov.uk/gas/domestic/faqtenant.htm

HappyMJ

the_realist wrote: »

I would also give HMRC a call just incase this fine upstanding landlord has forgotten to pay his taxes.

I doubt he's making a profit on it. At £1000 per month rental income less expenses the profit would be almost zero. At least any decent accountant could reduce it to zero. HMRC aren't worried about a few pounds they are looking for much bigger fish. It's probably made him realize he's in the wrong business as you need a higher cashflow than the rent provides to be able to fix big ticket items like this.

Profit is usually made on the sale of the property with the capital gain with all the interest on the mortgages and loans paid for by the tenants.

At least that's the case with my house...A 100% mortgage costing 4% with the landlords own home used as additional security would cost £450 in interest the rent would be £550 the management and maintenance costs would be £100. Therefore zero profit.

tbs624

It's irrelevant whether any tax is due, any person receiving *income* from a rental property should register the fact with HMRC.

Let's all try not letting HMRC know what we have coming in, on the grounds that we have creative accountants. That's not how the system works.

In this LLs case, if he isn't performing repairs or paying out for basics such as a GSC , then he'll have few expenses to set down................

tbs624

YUMMY_MUMMY_OF_5 wrote: »

... the boiler has been faulty.it has been "fixed" at least 6-8 times and we have been left without any heating or hot water for weeks on end.

This is a breach of your LLs legal obligations - under s11 of the LL&T Act 1985 he is required:

(a)to keep in repair the structure and exterior of the dwelling-house (including drains, gutters and external pipes),
(b)to keep in repair and proper working order the installations in the dwelling-house for the supply of water, gas and electricity and for sanitation (including basins, sinks, baths and sanitary conveniences, but not other fixtures, fittings and appliances for making use of the supply of water, gas or electricity), and
(c)to keep in repair and proper working order the installations in the dwelling-house for space heating and heating water.

You as T should notify all repairs issues in writing to the LL , and keep copies of letters. A LL has to fix things within a "reasonable time". You say that the plumbers say the boiler "should be condemned" - either they issue notification to that effect or it's just a figure of speech

YUMMY_MUMMY_OF_5 wrote: »

.the landlord was informed and the day after he came to my home and served me with an eviction notice and told me he wouldnt fix the boiler and had 8 weeks to get out.im out of tenancy anyway.i have been asking him for 4 months for my new gas safety certificate and he still hasnt got one.<the most recent plummer told me no engineer would put their name on a safety certificate for that boiler.

Unfortunately, attempts at retaliatory evictions are all too common. He cannot, however, just get away with not fixing the boiler for the remainder of your tenancy. It may count as behaviour likely to cause you to give up your home - illegal eviction/tenant harassment.

He also has to give you proper notice to line up with your rental periods. You say you have been there 16 months, so presumably you had a fixed term that expired at 6 or 12 months and the tenancy has continued to run on month to month? ( you are not "out of tenancy" btw, the law allows for what is called a statutory periodic tenancy to follow on from the original contract)

Your rental period is determined by how often you are required to pay rent, and the date of expiry of your FT. If it finished on the 24th of a month then the rental period runs from 25th to 24th of each subsequent month. LL (a) can't ask you to leave on say the 19th and (b) regain possession of the property without a court order if you choose to stay put.

If you have paid a deposit and the LL has not registered it with a scheme, then a s21 notice will be invalid, until he does scheme register the deposit

YUMMY_MUMMY_OF_5 wrote: »

i have contact the enviromental health dept who are trying to contact the landlord.ive witheld my rent which is due today but wanted some advice on where i stand with reference to witholding my rent or is it justified given the problems im having.my astmatic daughter has had to go and live with my mum along with my baby because the house is so cold.

Push the EHO on this - get the property assessed under what is called HHSRS ( Housing Health & Safety Rating System) This would help you in the event of you following up a disrepair case against this LL.

As Lynz and Poppysarah have said , contact HSE who can prosecute LLs on lack of gas safety certs. there are separate offences for failing to get boiler checked, certified, passing copy on to T, keeping copies for 2 years.

Search this forum for the Evict a Rogue Landlord thread so you can see that many LLs *have* been charged for failing to comply with gas safety regs.

You may also want to talk to Shelter 0808 800 444 or community legal advice 0845 345 4 345. You may qualify for legal aid so that a solicitor can help you follow this up.