renting and broken TV aerial

spliced

Hi

I have been in my privately rented house for 4 weeks only. Since i moved in, the tv signal has been rubbkish, you cant watch anything as the signal cracks up, especiaaly when it rains. the plug going into the back of my freeview box was wet, and therefore i unplug it when not in use.

Question is, is it landlords responsibility to fix as it would mean someone has to go on the roof, or would i have to pay myself.

Thanks

N79

Unless stated in your contract that the LL would provide a working aerial then I am afraid that they are a T's responsibility (like telephone connections). It is not covered by the LL's statutory obligations.

However, many LLs would be willing to carry out the repairs as a gesture of goodwill or because the type of market for the property demands working aerials (normally the upper ends of the rental market) so you lose nothing by reporting the problem and asking the LL if they would be willing to repair the aerial.

Tulip09

What does your contract say? In my house i am responsible for all minor repairs.

spliced

Tulip09 wrote: »

What does your contract say? In my house i am responsible for all minor repairs.

Well i haven't yet been sent a copy of my tenancy agreement. Think i will give them a call tomorrow as free to ask i suppose.

Thanks

Tulip09

Yep it cant hurt tbh, and if you have to do it yourself you can pick up a cheapish aerial at argos etc and instal it yourself or get cable tv and you dont need one

N79

spliced wrote: »

Well i haven't yet been sent a copy of my tenancy agreement. Think i will give them a call tomorrow as free to ask i suppose.

Thanks

What happened to the copy the LL signed (your copy)? Why did you not take it with you when you gave them their copy with your signature? (Or did you do the contracts via post?)

casper_g

As others have said, the landlord probably won't be obliged to fix it unless the tenancy agreement says so. It might well be worth getting in touch with him/her though, and saying you're worried because it doesn't work well and the cable is wet when it rains. If the landlord knows water's getting in they'll at least want to fix that, and many landlords might assume the TV aerial was their responsibility and fix that too, without getting all legalistic and insisting they weren't obliged to do so. After all, many landlords will want to build a good relationship with their tenants.

So I suggest mentioning it, in a "just letting you know there's a slight problem" way, but if they don't do anything there's no point pushing too hard on this issue.

Gwhiz

Why not ask the LL or LA?