Dripping tap - who is responsible.

Property_Auctions

It's the landlords responsibility - Interesting to read about the mystery problems that have occurred though.

Were the tenants fully referenced before getting them signed up?

dimbo61

I had a text message from my tenants re dripping tap in bathroom
Rang my local Handyman ( plumber) and had the problem sorted in 2/3 hours
Tenants think I am a good landlord, bill sent to me by email ( paid by fast payment ) plumber happy,
receipt for accountant ( Tax man happy)
Its called doing your job as a landlord

franklee

[Deleted User] wrote:

Hi,

here's a cheap and easy solution, a bit of string.

Have you stopped to think how much that costs with metered water and a tap running 24 hours a day every day? I have and it's surprisingly expensive when it turns into a run like your picture shows.

Take a measuring jug or bucket with a scale marked and time how long it takes to fill a given amount. Then multiply that up to get a day's wastage of water and use the information in your water bill to calculate the daily charge.

As for sorting a drip it gets expensive when you have quarter turn taps, mine cost twenty five quid to buy the cartridge for one tap!!! The old fashioned washer type tap washers cost pennies.

In either case what sane landlord wants an inexperienced tenant mucking with the plumbing especially in the run up to Christmas when an unattended leak if the tenants go "home" for Christmas could cost thousands.

Now would be a good time for all landlords to write to their tenants reminding them of cold weather drill and making sure the property is left in the best state over the Christmas break.

silvercar

Have you stopped to think how much that costs with metered water and a tap running 24 hours a day every day? I have and it's surprisingly expensive when it turns into a run like your picture shows.

Google search and the average drip wastes 90 litres of water a week. A search on MSE threads will get you a price of about 0.1p per litre. So we are talking 9p per week if metered. Zero if billed on rateable value.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

franklee wrote: »

Have you stopped to think how much that costs with metered water and a tap running 24 hours a day every day? I have and it's surprisingly expensive when it turns into a run like your picture shows.

not being on metered water, I hadn't thought of it.

I was thinking more of stopping the noisy drip, as that was the complaint from the tenant, being kept awake by it.

Though you would think from the kitchen to the bedroom with doors closed should help to eliminate the noise.

franklee

silvercar wrote: »

Google search and the average drip wastes 90 litres of water a week. A search on MSE threads will get you a price of about 0.1p per litre. So we are talking 9p per week if metered. Zero if billed on rateable value.

I'm talking about a run like in that photo posted and I've done the calculations on a real example and it is way expensive than that. Some random drip average on the Internet is irrelevant. I suggest anyone in doubt do their own sums.

sarahevie

BigAunty wrote: »

My landlord pal had tenants who didn't understand how to set the heating timer or switch on radiator valves, thought he was responsible for changing their lightbulbs and cleaning off the mould they caused in the bathroom and even claimed that a burglar had entered and used their laptop (not stolen it, mind).

Glad it's not just us then:rotfl:

propertyman

On the contrary I can't remember the case but it was in the Rent Officers Trust Manuals and it specifically said that a tap washers IS a tenants responsibility.

That said it is a skill that I or my parents generation had, not one of the "Yoof of today", who would replace the tap if it has flexi connections

Asking them to do it is, as said, asking for a flood; and have you ever serviced your isolation valves so they can shut it off?

If you do change the tap, you have to take the sink out of the counter top....

theartfullodger

Think a sensible Landlord would get a dripping tap sorted...

However, in Lord Denning's famous judgment re "tenant like manner.." , Warren V Keen 1954
http://www.letlink.co.uk/case-law/disrepair/warren-v-keen-1954.html

'What does "to use the premises in a tenant-like manner" mean ? ..The tenant must take proper care of the place. He must, if he is going away for the winter, turn off the water and empty the boiler. He must clean the chimneys, when necessary and also the windows.He must mend the electric light when it fuses. He must unstop the sink when it is blocked by his waste. In short, he must do those little jobs about the place which a reasonable tenant would do. In addition, he must, of course, not damage the house wilfully or negligently; and he must see that his family and guests do not damage it; and if they do, he must repair it. But apart from such things, if the house falls out of repair owing to fair wear and tear, lapse of time or for any reason not caused by him, then he will not be liable to repair it.'

So probably not a black-and-white legal responsibility...

mart.vader

Judging from some of the questions posted on this forum, some people have little, or no common sense, regarding DIY, so I would be worried in telling tenants to do anything technical themselves.

I do see what the OP means. Maybe its a long way from where OP lives to the house in question, and having to go there every time to fix little problems is getting to be a pain in the !!!!!. In their shoes, I would try to find an "Odd Job man" in the local area, who can go round at short notice and assess and fix these little jobs. Then send an honest bill to the OPs.

As said by previous posters, on some taps, it's not possible to tighten up the back-nut, without removing the sink from the work-top, which can't be done without ruining the old sink, so means a fitting a new sink.

Also, if a ceramic disc tap is dripping, you will find that there are dozens of different types, and no-one has the type you want. After a lot of mucking about, as I found out, that provided the ceramic disc is not scratched, the drip can be fixed by dismantling the cartridge, smearing some thick grease, like vaseline, in between the discs, and reassembling, (it only goes back together one way) Thus - drip fixed at no cost.