Built-In Oven

sacapuntas

My oven in my rental house is broken and my landlady doesn't want the hassle of finding a replacement, so she's giving me £150 (or letting me take £150 off rent) to get a new one and sort it out myself. So a couple of questions:

-Am I best off looking locally or online? I don't know of any local shops aside from Curry's and I'm afraid they're going to be out of my budget.
-Would secondhand be something to consider or would it be too much hassle (thinking like eBay)?
-The one that's broken is gas but I'm not bothered about gas vs. electric. Which is the better option price-wise? It would be in-built, standard size.
-If I get an electric, you can't just plug is straight into an outlet and be done with it, can you? Is sorting the wiring easy or would I need to get someone to help me?
-If I needed to get someone to do it for me, how much should I expect to pay?
-Anything I should look out for or be aware of?

bluebird

Its your landladys job to make sure you got a working oven,now if you want to take on the task of finding and buying an oven don't buy from ebay unless they have a certificate to say they are in full working order, you could waste time and money.Perhaps check out the local second hand store they have to sell working products but be warned they normally only give qa 3 month guarantee.why not save yourself the hassel and tell the landlady you want her to place the broken oven or repair it.

jennyjj

Hi,
I agree with the other reply. Why should you have the hassle, after all £150 won't go far for all the hassle you will go through. Besides, who will she blame next time this cheap/second hand oven goes wrong? Will she consider it her oven or yours.
I'd be inclined to politely tell her that she MUST get your oven replaced and that until she does, you will not want the hassle of paying her rent!

And No. Electric ovens don't just plug in. They need to be wired in by a qualified person. gas ovens often have plugabble hoses, but there are different fittings and you should consider having it fitted by someone qualified. I wouldn't recommend switching from gas to electric. First, Electric are far dearer to run, and second, you might have hassle getting a suitable electric point near the cooker.

Really.... Let it be your landlady's problem: That's what you pay her for.

JJ

sacapuntas

She's incredibly slow and has dragged it out 3 weeks now. I'm fed up enough that I'm willing to take on the trouble of finding one and installing it just so it's done with. She wanted "a few more weeks" to sort it out and we had a heated conversation about it and at this point I just want *an oven* as I have 2 kids and it's not been easy feeding them for 3 weeks without an oven!

The oven will be hers/the property's as she's paying for it, so if it were to break, it would be on her as well. I'm all for holding landlords accountable, but I need to weigh my hassle and convenience over sticking it to her, you know?

I've called a local electrician who is coming around this afternoon to give me an estimate on how much sorting out the wiring for an electric oven. I've seen electric ovens for about £120 online so I'm hoping that installing it won't cost more than £30 and I can just be done with it.

jennyjj

sacapuntas wrote: »

She's incredibly slow and has dragged it out 3 weeks now. I'm fed up enough .

Sorry, but you need to get a grip here. Personally I'd tell her that she's not supplying the habitable furnished property for which she's charging rent and so that rent will not be forthcoming until she does!!!

Maybe suggest that you will start heating your food by burning the furniture. OK. I'm kidding there, but it sounds like you do need to get far more assertive with her. Give her a deadline at least.

I know that not having an oven is a pain in the 4r5e but I very strongly urge you not to go for an electric oven. they cost an arm and a leg to run, and once it's in you are stuck with it.

JJ

sacapuntas

When I got assertive with her, she, in a vaguely threatening manner, reminded me that my tenancy agreement is only six months (I just moved in 3 weeks ago) and I can't afford to lose this house as for background reasons too long-winded to get into! I mentioned the right to repair and the possibility of consulting the CAB and she got extremely defensive. She's skint because they just spent a lot of money completely gutting the property and I understand where she's coming from-- she can't produce money out of nowhere to pay for an oven and as long as it doesn't cost me out-of-pocket, I don't mind sorting it out myself. I've weighed the pros and cons of backing her into a corner or taking it over myself and in this situation, I'm okay with handling the logistics if that's what it takes to get it done within the next couple of days rather than the weeks it will span with letter-writing, deadlines, etc. Not to mention that it would most definitely sour the business relationship.

I completely understand your pressing me to be assertive and I'm very familiar with having to be assertive and persistent with landlords (my last was a nightmare) so I'm really picking my battles with this. It's worth more to me to keep the relationship amicable so I can continue the tenancy long-term and so I can get this done more quickly than it is to assert my rights and make a fuss. She understands that it's her responsibility to sort it out and is willing to pay. She asked me if I wanted to handle it on my own with her paying for it instead of waiting for her to sort it out and I agreed.

Now, if it turns out that the price of an oven plus an electrician to install it will be over the £150 she's giving me, then it's back to the drawing board with her because I will not be paying for any of this out of pocket under any circumstances (her father outright asked me if I would pay half the cost of a replacement oven and I told him that it was in no way my responsibility to do so and that I wouldn't).

jennyjj

Sincerest good luck.
I see that you are between a rock and a hard place and I hope you weren't offended by my advice. I guess sometimes we have to go against our instincts to get to where we need to be. She sounds like a pretty lame excuse for a landlady if her cashflow and organisational skills are as bad as you say.
You are doing her a big favour, doing her work for which you pay her good money. It's a bit like a slow and inefficient employee (her) telling her employer (you) to do the job herself in return for a pay reduction. Bl00dy liberty
I hate to read of such behaviour as hers. Maybe she's a chip off her dad's block. He sounds worse still.

JJ
ps. I still recommend against electric oven if you have to pay your own electricity bill. Could you get hold of a cheap microwave to tide you over and give you a bit of time to shop around. Try freecycle.org for a free oven or maybe preloved.co.uk for a cheap one.

Cooker_expert

jennyjj wrote: »

And No. Electric ovens don't just plug in. They need to be wired in by a qualified person.


gas ovens often have plugabble hoses, but there are different fittings and you should consider having it fitted by someone qualified. I wouldn't recommend switching from gas to electric. First, Electric are far dearer to run

On the first point, if it's a single built in oven then yes it can usually be plugged in, and even if it isn't there is no legal requirement to be qualified to install it.

On the second, it IS a legal requirement to have a gas appliance fitted by a registered/competent gas installer, even on a bayonet hose.

Lastly with a swap from gas to an electric fan oven, you won't see much of a difference in energy costs.