1 in 10 landlords failing tenants on basic legal requirements

Graham_Devon

OK, so the statistics should be taken with a slight pinch of salt.

However, the overiding point shouldn't.

As many as one in 10 landlords and letting agents could be putting their tenants' lives at risk by failing to carry out compulsory gas safety checks, according to Shelter.

The housing charity, in conjunction with British Gas, asked more than 4,000 private tenants in England about the last time their landlord or letting agent carried out a check of their boiler for, among other things, a carbon monoxide leak. One in 10 said a check had not been carried out in their home for more than a year.

The law states that a gas safety certificate must be issued annually for each rented property. Gas safety checks can pick up a range of problems including faulty boilers, and are vital in helping to prevent gas leaks, explosions and carbon monoxide poisoning – all of which can kill.

So, what's going to be done then?

Squat. Diddly squat. Though, with the increasing amount of landlords something desperately needs to be done to protect tenants. It's all getting a little too much.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2013/may/09/landlords-agents-fail-tenants-gas-safety

John_Pierpoint

Never mind in 2018, wicked landlords will no longer be able to exploit tenants by forcing them to live in inadequately insulated homes, thus forcing them into poverty and risking their health?

http://www.property118.com/epc-regulations-should-landlords-sell-band-f-and-g-rated-flats/37638/

Do we expect rigorous enforcement of these regulations:rotfl:

Mind you do we expect poor little tenants to grow a backbone and say:

May I see documentation to prove:

A. There is a gas safety certificate.
B. You have protected my deposit.
C. There is an Energy Performance Certificate .

It should be illegal to correct rent without these in place, if that would not motivate both tenant and landlord, nothing would.

Niv

Only 1 in 10? From reading these forums you would think it were closer to 10/10!

Percy1983

As with any industry driven purely by greed, corners will be cut to the detriment of others.

There needs to be much more regulation on the sector in general and this is certainly one of the things which should be high on the list.

Sampong

I have a friend who is a British Gas Engineer who visits loads of tenanted properties who regularly tells me about some of the things he witnesses going on. Many of the landlords who he tries to speak to quite literally don't give a ***t.

Something definitely needs to be done though. Every other industry has to jump through hoops with Health & Safety - so why should rental properties be any different. If a business cannot be conducted ethically, then it shouldn't be conducted at all.

Any genuine landlord who is attentive to their responsibilities has to compete with those who cut corners and pack - yes you guessed it Moby.........loads of immigrants in the house.

There was a recent case in my locality where the council applied prohibition orders to several HMO's that failed all safety standards etc. These were owned by a Lithuanian Gangmaster who packed the houses full of migrant workers and beds were discovered in outbuildings and sheds.

The prohibition orders were only applied after the council tried to "work with" the landlord over about two years to try and resolve the issues.

Something seems to be going terribly wrong in this country.

Pricklepants will be along shortly to call me racist for mentioning migration again but before you do you may want to consider that what I have pointed out there is lack of any action by the authority to tackle exploitation of migrant workers.

wotsthat

Percy1983 wrote: »

There needs to be much more regulation on the sector in general and this is certainly one of the things which should be high on the list.

What we need a regulation to make it a requirement that people follow regulations?

Why not enforce what we have? Both tenants and landlords know a yearly gas safety check is a legal requirement. Why don't tenants complain to the H&S executive or the council?

That said I'm surprised Shelter published this survey - they must have been hoping for much less than 90% compliance with the law.

CKhalvashi

wotsthat wrote: »

Why not enforce what we have? Both tenants and landlords know a yearly gas safety check is a legal requirement. Why don't tenants complain to the H&S executive or the council?

Because many tenants, it would seem, don't know how to do this.

I am a LL, and I do adequately protect my tenants, however as seems to be apparent on these boards, there are many that don't.

CK

ILW

CKhalvashi wrote: »

Because many tenants, it would seem, don't know how to do this.

I am a LL, and I do adequately protect my tenants, however as seems to be apparent on these boards, there are many that don't.

CK

Possibly because the penalties are so low it is more profitable to ignore the rules (Unless you actually kill somebody)

What is the fine for no or an out of date gas cert?

princeofpounds

Why don't tenants complain to the H&S executive or the council?

That's a simple one. It's because every complaint made comes with a free bonus retaliatory eviction notice from the landlord. :j

With very little security of tenure, there is little upside to asserting your rights as you rarely get to see the benefit even if you do force improvements.

Councils can be so slow even if you do have a bit of fixed term left.

The deposit protection legislation is about the only thing that works, and that's only because it has real legal teeth and comes into effect only when the tenancy is ending anyway.

Of course I always encourage tenants to assert themselves, because I would be confident in my position and willing to sacrifice things to see a little justice. But I can understand why so many tenants feel they can't jeopardise their accommodation.

Graham_Devon

wotsthat wrote: »

Why not enforce what we have? Both tenants and landlords know a yearly gas safety check is a legal requirement. Why don't tenants complain to the H&S executive or the council?

Quite simply because if they complain they risk getting chucked out. It's never quite as simple.

The tenant may well be right. But that doesn't stop the landlord getting rid and turning that families life upside down.

wotsthat

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Quite simply because if they complain they risk getting chucked out. It's never quite as simple.

The tenant may well be right. But that doesn't stop the landlord getting rid and turning that families life upside down.

Who'd want a landlord that ignored safety standards and would likely throw them out for having the audacity to ask for a gas safety certificate?

Time to find somewhere else to live anyway by the sounds of it. Move out and report the former landlord - it really is that simple.