Help for my sister please

prudryden

What breach of contract are you referring to? If there is a breach of contract, what does your sister plan on doing about it?

If your sister is causing condensation and thereby causing damage to the window frames, you can bet she will be losing a portion of her damage deposit. She has several options to prevent this happening: use a laundrymat, dry the clothes in the bathroom where there should be a window ventilator, wipe the condensation off the windows with a clothe, open the windows while drying, buy a portable dryer but be sure to empty the water.

rach!_3

well this is it, we want to know what can be done
1:

3.2 insure the property and use all reasonable efforts to arrange for any damage caused by an insured risk to be remedied as soon as possible and to provide a copy of the insurance policy to the tenant.

My sister doesnt have any form of insurance policy wether it be a copy or the original
2:

3.3 keep in repair the structure and exterior of the property(including drains, gutters and external pipes)
keep in repair and in proper working order the installations at the property for the supply of water, gas and electricity and for sanitation(including basins, sinks, baths and sanitary conveniences)
keep in repair and proper working order the installation at the property for space heating and heating water

She decided she was going to put double glazing in and got cowboys to do it, within a month there were 2 or 3 problems it took her a year before she finally did something about getting them fixed and this time given she got proper people in.
3:i have just spoken to my sister 5 mins ago, the bloke can put a boiler in today, the landlady wont do it as she wants central heating in and that cant be done until 2 weeks time.
4:i have been told(dunno if its correct) that my sister should have current gas and electric safety certificates?? GUESS WHAT?? she doesnt have them either

prudryden

I think you are stirring up a hornet's nest and your sister will be the one to get stung. You might want to let your sister sort these problems out with her LL herself. The stress of claiming and counterclaiming may not be in the interest of your sister.

INSURANCE: Haven't seen anything in your post that is insurance related, so really not relevant.

DOUBLE GLAZING: Your sister should be happy she has double glazing.

BOILER/CENTRAL HEATING: Central heating sounds like a good idea. Your sister might want to ask the LL for some electric heaters in the meantime. Or, go buy her own. They aren't particularly expensive, but surely less than finding other accomodation.

GAS/ELECTRIC CERT: She should ask for a copy of the gas cert when the new heating system is put in. Elec Certs - not required.

rach!_3

prudryden wrote:

I think you are stirring up a hornet's nest and your sister will be the one to get stung. You might want to let your sister sort these problems out with her LL herself. The stress of claiming and counterclaiming may not be in the interest of your sister.

INSURANCE: Haven't seen anything in your post that is insurance related, so really not relevant.

DOUBLE GLAZING: Your sister should be happy she has double glazing.

BOILER/CENTRAL HEATING: Central heating sounds like a good idea. Your sister might want to ask the LL for some electric heaters in the meantime. Or, go buy her own. They aren't particularly expensive, but surely less than finding other accomodation.

GAS/ELECTRIC CERT: She should ask for a copy of the gas cert when the new heating system is put in. Elec Certs - not required.

i am not doing anything i have not been asked to do, so that blows your first suggestion out of the window.
the reason i am doing all this asking around?? my sister doesnt have a pc/internet access
Insurance is relevant, she has read through her tenancy agreement(which she hadnt done before) and has just realised that this landlady uisnt sticking to anything
double glazing why should she be happy that cowboys did a bad job??boiler yes central heating will be good but as i said SHE HAS 2 YOUNG CHILDREN she doesnt have hot water or heating, duh! do you have kids?? put yourself in the situ
certs she should have had them all along
i thought this site was for help/advice it seems to me apart from the odd person on this thread all i have gotten is a few jumped up landlords???
no one has given me any advice only imo a load of abuse for trying to help my sister.
my sister has rang this COW today and dya know what she said???
you have problems elsewhere and are taking them out on me, i mean whats that about, i know 150% my sisters only problems are with her and the house nowhere else does she have problems, kids are happy and healthy, OH is happy and healthy, she is happy and healthy, family are all getting on.
Gorgeous George and Nelly are the only ones that have really said anything of help.

EliteHeat

rach! wrote:

i have just spoken to my sister 5 mins ago, the bloke can put a boiler in today, the landlady wont do it as she wants central heating in and that cant be done until 2 weeks time.

Does she have a warm air system then? otherwise this does not make sense. A boiler provides both central heating & hot water, otherwise it is just a water heater. Some of the old warm air systems also provide hot water via a hot water cylinder, but these have independant burners so why would she have lost heating & hot water?

rach!_3

hmmmm, i dont know then all i know is what my sister has told me and that is she has no hot water and the gas fire in the living room doesnt work, that is the only source of heating well that and a electric radiator in the landing/hallway area

scrummy_mummy_2

To reply to your questions/issues
1. If the LL cannot or indeed, will not provide the tenant with a copy of the current annual gas safety certificate, she may not actually have one in force and if she does not, she is committing a CRIMINAL Act. Not a civil breach, like breach of contract...CRIMINAL.
She may not be aware of this...suggest you remind her of her obligations to give you a copy and prove that one exists or advise her you would like to share this information with the police.

Secondly, a LL has a responsibility to provide the services detailed in the contract as you describe, this means that they also have a responsibility to provide her (your sister) with heaters should the main heating system be out of service for an extended period of time whilst arrangements are made to have it repaired/replaced.
If the LL refuses to supply alternative heating, you could buy the heaters yourself and then make a claim in the small claims court for the cost of them to be refunded (plus court costs etc)....however, a contract is only as good as the determinatuon of both parties to enforce it and is then subject to whether or not it is deemed fair and reasonable by a magistrate. I think that is what some people are trying to say...yes she is in breach of contract, but by the time you sue her and incur the costs associated and the stress and the time, it'll be the summer anyway! and your sister's heating problem exists now.

You always have the option of going to the small claims court and applying for compensation for loss of services, costs to your sister of the LL poor managment of problems but you need to trade off whether it is worth it in terms of time, money and stress overall.

If you want to deal her a blow and have a jab....go for the apparently missing annual gas safety certificate....won't cost you anything and if she doesn't have one it'll take one more dodgy LL out of circulation, or at least giver her a good legal slapping!

olly300

If your sister is out of her fixed rental period on her contract than if she complains the landlord can serve 2 months notice on her to leave the property. The landlord is allowed to do this by law for any reason they want. So it's better of trying to deal with the landlord by talking to her.

Also if there is no gas certificate your sister is better of trying to move. And as the landlord impersonated your sister I would move anyway if possible.

BTW I agree with the others about damp. If you dry clothes in the house you have to ventilate the room PROPERLY.

clutton_2

rach! - why are you SO angry ? - coming on here and being so abusive and rude is really not doing your sisters cause any good at all.

If you consider Nellys advice to "stop paying rent" is good, then god help your sister.

Gorgeous_George

rach

To add to my previous post, the LL is responsible for the buildings and I insure my BTL accordingly. This is necessary because I have a mortgage. In the absence of a mortgage I could choose not to insure the buildings. My buildings cover also covers MY contents and potential loss of rent under certain circumstances (not sure what circumstances as I am highly unlikely to claim for fear of increased premiums). My insurance does not cover damage caused by the tenant.

Usually, the tenant is required to insure the contents.

As pointed out by others, nothing revealed so far constitutes an insurance claim.

Whilst I pay for buildings insurance and the optional electrical safety certificate, you can be assured that I recover these costs as part of the rent.

My BTL does not have gas at the moment but gas safety certificates are not negotiable. The LL may have one without your sister knowing but I do know a number of LLs, some with many houses, who do not bother. Shocking.



GG