Problems with rental house

Georgecarol

I've had problems with my heating for several months now. The agent sent 3 heating contractors out and all of them said the same thing, the rads need flushing. Finally, a couple of months later, after complaining many times about the lack of heat, a contractor came out, put something in one of the rads (equivalent of a liquid plumber from the explanation I got), said it would take a week or 2 to work and he'd be back to flush them. He came back over a month later and spent 3 hours flushing the hallway rad. Said he would be back in a week or 2 to do the others as the were so full of sludge it hadn't been done in years. This was the beginning of December and nothing has been done since. He made arrangements to come around then never showed. I called the agent to complain and was told the usual "boiler trouble" story and he said he'd contact him and tell him to get over here. Still have had nothing done, in the meantime, my sister has been contacted by the same contractor and told it was urgent as her yearly gas check was coming up. This really ticked me off as I thought a lack of heat was a tad more important. That is another issue also, the gas safety check. I have been asking since August for one as there is no safety certificate in the house. It's really ticking me off now as I just got my gas bill on Friday and it's just under £300. There's no way it should be that much at all, it's not like the heat is on all day, although the heat is on longer as we don't feel the full benefit of it, as the house is always cold, I wear a fleecy jacket and sit on the couch with a blanket at night.
I initially signed a 6 month lease when I moved in last April and have refused to sign anymore have other ongoing issues with the house. My question is, do I have a right to go after the agent for some of the money for the gas bill, or will they just laugh at me. Do I have the right to call my own contractor and bill the agent, my original lease says I can't do that. If I call British Gas and complain about the bill, will they send someone around free of charge to check everything for me so I could at least take it in the the agency and hopefully get something done.
Does anyone have any legal knowledge on this, thanks.

chant1l

Point 1) lanlords have a legal obligation to do gas safety certificates yearly, you should have a copy showing the dates by law. Without one the landlord is committing a criminal offence, and landlords have been jailed for this, there is no get out clause.
2)Landlords have a duty of care to make reasonable repairs.

Write to the agent today demanding action on both, gas engineers can be notoriously difficult to employ for minor jobs, but that is no excuse for not bothering.
Your final sanction is to withold rent. You must only do this if you can demonstrate that the problem is valid and unattended, otherwise court action could go against you.
Keep a record of all your contacts with the agent, better still only write to them and only accept written replies.

Georgecarol

I realise that by law they need to provide this info, I have mentioned this several times, he is supposed to be doing the gas check when he flushes my rads, if that ever happens.
I think the reason he is calling around for gas checks is because they are quick and easy money, it took him 3 hours to flush the one rad, he still has 6 more to go as they are all patchy and cold in various places, it's going to take him a couple of days, in the meantime, I still have £300 to pay. Can I get them to stump up any cash for that. We are in a 3 bedroom, as is my sister, who pays £25 a month for gas and my mum who pays £200 quarterly for gas and electric. Granted, we have a couple of extra kids, but that would only affect the hot water for laundry as the shower is electric. You don't use more heat because you have more people in the house. I would consider £150 to be reasonable, as that is double to my sister, but £300 is outrageous. Can I get them to do that??? Is that a reasonable request??

barnaby-bear

Georgecarol wrote:

That is another issue also, the gas safety check. I have been asking since August for one as there is no safety certificate in the house. It's really ticking me off now as I just got my gas bill on Friday and it's just under £300.

It's illegal, it's dangerous not to do gas safety cert. It is LL responsibility.
a) get a CO detector if you value your family's safety
b) he is doing the work so you will probably get it eventually, however you now have the big hit the landlord stick, he's done something criminal and you can prove it, so all your deposit back.

On the gas bills, flushing doesn't make that much different... I would check really your bill and not partly someone else's arrears or left over. Check the meter readings from when you moved in, most inventories now carry them although I'm sure you did them yourselves too.

Georgecarol

The readings are correct, in fact the bill was an estimate and the true reading is higher, there are no arrears from when we moved in. The flushing has helped the heat in the hallway, the rest of the rads are "temperamental". Sometimes the kitchen one is warm, most of the time it's cold. The others are patchy, they have warm areas, but mainly cold because of blockages. The cold patches are all at the bottom and are like a pyramid up the middle with cold patches either side, so that has to be a problem. The heat is on, I'm paying for it, but the heat isn't being pushed out of the rads if you know what I mean, we are not getting the benefit of it.
This isn't an issue about getting our deposit back, not yet anyway, as we have been looking for other accomodation for months now, but the fact of the gas bill. I feel, as I have been trying to get this sorted since last August, that either the agent or the landlord should take partial responsibility for my high bill as it would not be as much had these things been fixed when I asked for them 5 months ago. What I need to know basically, is, can I legally get them to take responsibility for this or am I dreaming!!!!

Georgecarol

I have contacted my agent every day since last week and always seem to be getting fobbed off as to the heating contractor. I've heard, extremely busy, I thought he'd called you already, I'll call him again, I can't get hold of him, he's got a really big contract right now, you're next. As this has been going on since August, and we still have not had a gas check done, (we've been here a year in April), as mentioned there is no safety certificate in the house and I have had no response to my questions to if they have a copy in the office. Can I legally withhold my rent until this has been fixed? My rent is due next week and this is the only way I can think of to get them to do something, but I don't know if I would be in the right legally to do this. I feel that if they have to explain to the landlady why she doesn't have a payment this month they would get on it immediately. Does anyone have any knowledge on this??
I did ask this question earlier, but I haven't had an answer, as I only signed the initial 6 month lease and have refused to sign anymore til all of the problems which were cited to me before we moved in last April had been fixed, (which none of them have by the way). Am I within my right to get my own workmen and bill the agents as my original lease said I would be responsible for payment if I did this? Any info would be much appreciated.

I did have another thread on the problems with this house and many of you reading may wonder why we're still here:o The plain fact is, we seem to be getting no help from anyone. There have been no other houses in our price range as the rents seem to be soaring and we are not on benefits. I have contacted the council 3 times to ask for advice and have been promised 3 times that they would sent someone around to check everything and no one has been. I have filled out housing forms and have had a home visit, but we are bronze banded, which basically means no hope in hell, I know this as my sister has a disabled son and is gold band, she has seen nothing in town on the site so we are so out of luck there. I have had someone out from the firehall to itemise all the issues and sent that in. I have itemised all of the issues with the house and sent them with a request for a rent reduction to the landlords, thinking that this would get them moving if she got on the phone to them, but she phoned me and her stance is, basically, that she has requested that these things be done and she feels like piggy-in-the-middle as why should she take less rent when she's paying someone to take care of all this for her:eek: She is not understanding that we are the ones that are living in this day to day, not just the heating, all the other issues that were listed. A non-working stove, 3 fireplaces that the wind howls down as there is no cap on the chimney, a promised kitchen renovation that has, for the 4th time, gone back to square 1 as the plans were finally approved and the builder has apparently dropped off the face of the earth and I now have another one coming over next week to measure up and quote them, doors that don't close, especially the front door, which has to be slammed every time to close. The door issue also is linked to the heat as there is not much insulation in the house and wherever you walk, there is a breeze that comes from somewhere. That's only the half of it.
This is really getting me down now as I also have my own health problems to deal with and I just feel all of the fight draining out of me as the days go by. I need to be concentrating on my trying to sort out my health, not on what seems to be a losing battle with, sorry to say this, a bunch of morons. Any, any help that anyone can offer about any legalities to do with this would be much appreciated

fishpond

No offence meant, but with all the problems, can't you find somewhere else to live.
Please ignore the sentEnce above, as I have just reread your post and you do explain why you can't leave.

prudryden

(1) You can withhold rent, but it would be a breach of the contract. Probably not a good idea for various reasons.

(2) Ask the LA to get another contractor to do the rest of the rads.

(3) Gas bill may not be to out of line at this time of year. May have something to do with the heat escaping out of the fireplaces and the drafts you are getting.

(4) You can buy sausage rolls to block off drafts from under doors and windows. Not overly expensive.

(5) You can stuff newspapers into the outlet of the fireplace, as long as it is a non-working fireplace. Or you can get a carpenter to fix a board across the hole. (Carpenter probably won't charge you very much)

(6) Gas Safety certificate should have been provided with your tenancy agreement or soon afterwards.

(7) If the cold is at the bottom of the rads, then it is sludge. If at top, then they just need bleeding, which you can do if you have the key.

(8) If some work sometimes, then not work, could also mean they need balancing or the boiler pump is not strong enough to push the water thru all the radiators.

scrummy_mummy_2

If there is no VALID annual gas safety certificate in effect, the LL is criminally liable should anything happen to you or your family as a result of a faulty/defective gas appliance. Not having one is a criminal act and you can take legal action against them if this is the case. In this instance suggesting you will laert the police will probably be enough to get them moving on that one.
A Gas safety certificate will only show that the appliances that are gas are SAFE..NOT that they work effectively.
The LL has a duty of care to you and if you are renting the property from him/her this includes the provision and supply of effective heating/water/sanitation. Even if they use an agent...the agent takes some of this responsibility on for the LL
If these services are suspended for an unreasonable period of time, you can sue the LL through the small claims court for compensation, particulalry if you have a history of being proactive and trying to get the problems resolved through the agent.
In law, the defects you have encountered with the heating should have be corrected within a reasonable amount of time. It is up to interpretation, but I think a reasonable amount of time would have been a month from notification. In your case, a reasonable time has been exceeded and I would advise the agent that you will begin action to sue the LL through the small claims court for compensation for loss of services accordingly if they do not resolve the problem (heating) within 2 weeks from now.
Advise them you wish to see a copy of the gas safety certificate immediately, and that if one is not forthcoming (as it should be in force and a copy held by the agent if you haven't got one) you will take further action by notifying the police that the agent (on behalf of the LL) is committing an offence.
That should sort them out.
If you have any problems, or need some legal advice, I would recommend
https://www.painsmith.co.uk
Marveen Smith is the solicitor for the National Association of Estate Agents and specialises in Tenancy law...she is my solicitor and no-one will mess with her!
DO NOT withold rent at all....you will then breach you tenancy agreement.
If the above doesn't work, it may be worth you getting 3 separate estimates to fix the heating, submitting them to the agent with a deadline for approval by the LL...when they don't approve it, get the owrk carried out and sue through small claims court for the cost PLUS compensation for the entire period you have been without effective heat.
It is very unlikley a magistrate will hold that clause in your contract against you as, to be upheld, it needs to be reasonable and clearly, in your case, it backs you into a corner.

Above all....don't be intimidated or fobbed off

Good luck.

Georgecarol

Thanks Pru, I would use the draught excluders, but none of the doors close as they are old and have been re-hung improperly. The latches don't work properly either, one of them locking my children in their room if they close the door as it seems to freeze. We have had to jemmy them out a couple of times and have now had to take the door handle off for safety reasons. As we re-located back into the country last year, elctric tools were not on our list of things to buy or we would have done it ourselves. As we are at this time a 1 income family, not in our immediate future lists either:o I have asked the agent to find a new contractor, he says he is contracted to use the ones he has
The cold in the rads is sludge, they have been bled 3 times, although all times they have let out air, seems to think that there is air getting in from somewhere which could be a problem
The hot water tank is small, (one load of laundry and it's cold), and extremely old, so could be adding the the issue, although not something we can fight over correcting I don't think.

black-saturn

My next step would be to contact environmental health. If they see your house as a health hazard they will take steps on your behalf to make him get the work done or face court.