Broken down white good, landlord's responsibility?

Sam13

Hi all and many thanks in advance for any advice you can provide.

I am a tenant within a assured shorthold tenancy contract for a flat which was unfurnished but contained white goods.

Recently, my refrigerator packed up. This was in the property when I moved in, is owned by the landlord and is part of the inventory. Ruling out accidental/malicious damage, this seems to be just simple wear and tear to an everyday kitchen applicance.

My question is, is this a cost for myself or the landlord? I have read through Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 regarding landlord's obligations to provide and maintain the property in a habitable condition. No mention here of appliances provided with the property. But I feel that as this appliance was provided by the landlord and is on the inventory then it is his responsibility to maintain. I can totally understand that if I caused the appliance to break in some way then yes, it is for the tenant to bear the cost. Also, if the landlord didn't want to bear the costs of maintaining his appliances, then why did he leave them in the property for me to use?
Note, nowhere in my contract doed it say that maintenance of white goods are excluded from landlords obligations.
Any thoughts please?

rentergirl

It is absolutely the landlord's responsibility. Don't worry - no what they (eventually - you haven't reported this yet, and you should asap) say in the end. They have to repair/replace with similar quality. It is increasingly common for 'unfurnished' to include white goods, as newbuild buy-to-let and conversions come ready supplied with white goods.

G_M

You are right that the 85 Act does not require the LL to maintain/repair white goods:

to keep in repair and proper working order the installations.... for the supply of ..electricity .... but not other fixtures, fittings and appliances for making use of the supply .....electricity

So that removes the LL's obligation by statute.

And leaves contract law. If the Tenancy Agreement made reference to the repairing of white goods (either saying the landlord will repair, or the tenant will repair) that would be clear, but it appears it does not.

(Was anything discussed orally at the start of the tenancy?)

So that leaves implied contractual terms (always less certain/harder to prove). As you suggest, the presence of the white goods at the start of the tenancy, combined with their inclusion on the inventory, does imply an obligation on the LL to repair.

The LL could, of course, argue he provided old (but safe - he has a clear duty on safety!) white goods as a goodwill gesture to assist his tenant initially set up home, but that he had no intention of maintaining those items.

Your arguement is stronger than his (had he intended this, an exclusion clause in the contract would have been normal) but unless you reach agreement with the LL on this, only a court could ultimately decide.

edit: as so often, rentergirl's response is too simplistic. Life (and in this case a washing machine etc) is never quite so black and.... err.... white.

Sam13

Thanks for your replies both rentergirl and G_M.
Although I didn't know the technicalities behind this, (i.e. statute/contractual) I was always under the impression that whatever the landlord provides in a property is his reponsibility to maintain/replace. Especially if it's in the inventory. Having lived in rented accomodation for over ten years now, I have never experienced such a case where the landlord tries to avoid his obligation to maintain kitchen appliances that have packed up due to wear and tear.

My landlord has repeatedly quoted to me section 11 of the 85 Act which of course is true, but I believe this applies to all residential properties without reference to some properties that include some furnishings/appliances.