Housing Association flat problems

cos_2

National Grid Gas Emergencies (Formally Transco Gas ) – 0800 111 999 (This is a 24 hour emergency line)

Owner or tenant or landlord or just a passer-by - smell gas and no obvious reason why? Call them asap

BitterAndTwisted

sasparillo wrote: »

She then was told verbally by the gas engineer that the gas flue was unsealed both inside and out and he had to cement it in.

And of course she has also found that the thermostat is faulty.

The gas situation is obviously very dangerous whoever the owner/landlord is and the issuing of the gas safety certificate begs a number of questions.

No, the gas situation is not obviously very dangerous: you said yourself that a gas engineer attended and has done remedial works, so I don't understand where the danger is now. Doesn't sound like there is any.

A faulty thermostat is a trivial matter and so is a property in need of decoration. Ergo, your friend has no serious issues which require any help to resolve.

tbs624

sasparillo wrote: »

Thanks tbs624! However, does this structure still apply as the Tenant Services Authority is no longer in existence? It has now been taken over by the Housing and Communities Agency and I found it very difficult to find anything regarding such matters on its website.

Apologies - my error.:o

Basically your friend has to use the HA's own complaints procedure initially, if she thinks that issues that should have been addressed haven't been.

The next step, from last month onwards is via http://www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk/

tbs624

sasparillo wrote: »

... the issuing of the gas safety certificate begs a number of questions. It could be the gas engineering company involved didn't do the job and gave the Housing Association a signed gas safety certificate or the Housing Association has a whole pile of pre-signed certificates but hopefully still tells the gas engineers to do a survey and was led to believe that it had been done. However that would still be an unsafe and unlawful practice. Maybe there are other possibilities such as a mistake with inputting but it seems curious that a SIGNED certificate was given to her. Surely the engineer does the signing on the spot or shortly afterwards?

If your friend has concerns about the validity of a gas safety cert then she should contact the Gas Safe Register and the HSE for guidance.

Mrs_Arcanum

Brother had a similar problem with his gas boiler & lack of decoration (holes in the wall etc). It took many months of letters/phone calls and e-mails to get it sorted. Even went as far as trying to be a tenant rep on the board of governors.

The answer is to be persistent and read the tenancy agreement very, very carefully. They are often full of weasel terms which can be interpreted in different ways.

theartfullodger

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Housing Associations and Local Authorities have exactly the same responsibilities towards their tenants where repair issues are concerned as private landlords.

.... .....................

err.. no.

It depends on the tenancy agreement, e.g. see Shelter's comments here..
http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/renting_and_leasehold/housing_association_tenancies/secure_tenancies#3

The housing association should give you information about what repairs you are responsible for, which usually includes internal decoration ...

.. whereas many private landlords would get do not permit tenants to do internal decoration.

You need to read the tenancy agreement and/or check with HA. By the way, some HAs are terrible landlords (as are some councils & some private landlords..)

Cheers!

BitterAndTwisted

I said "repair issues". I don't consider internal decoration to be a repair issue and neither does my Local Authority, who are my landlords.

I'd be willing to undertake and pay for any number cosmetic changes to the property in return for a secure tenancy for life. Oh look, I have.

sasparillo

cos wrote: »

National Grid Gas Emergencies (Formally Transco Gas ) – 0800 111 999 (This is a 24 hour emergency line)

Owner or tenant or landlord or just a passer-by - smell gas and no obvious reason why? Call them asap

Thanks Cos. I think she did phone the emergency gas line because there was a smell of gas as soon as she moved in and it was the call out engineer who said the gas flue was unsealed inside and outside, despite her having been given a Gas Safety Certificate. Hopefully the Housing Association will now do an overall check of the flat and my friend can rest easy.