Whose responsiblity is arranging boiler repair and staying at home to let them in?

ordnancesurvey84

I rent a one bedroom flat which has a boiler which has been leaking since starting the tenancy.


The first time I reported this to the landlord, he kindly arranged for this to be repaired and dealt with the workmen directly.


It is now a few weeks later and it is playing up again, leaking all over the kitchen work surface when in use.


I contacted my landlord, who sent me details of his boiler repair policy and asked me to contact them to arrange the repair at a time of my convenience.


Whose responsibility is it to actually take time off from work and tend to the workmen?


I am a doctor working in an obstetric unit and taking time off work is not possible. My annual leave has already been allocated. When I phoned my landlord he was insistent that the "Law of the Land" is that the tenant must make himself available for boiler repairs. He continued that "he has been in the property business since the 1970s".


I can see nothing of the sort in my tenancy agreement, which seems to state quite clearly that boiler repairs are the responsiblity of the landlord.


As it happened I remembered I have a day off on Monday, so have arranged for the work to be done then, but am a bit worried about setting a precedent.


Have I touched upon a legal grey area? I'd be interested to hear the views of other forum members.


Many thanks,


David

stator

It's his job to repair it, you don't have to be there. He can give them the keys and let themselves in.

moneyistooshorttomention

I wouldn't want to deal with someone else's responsibilities myself personally (ie if it aint my accommodation then it aint my responsibility).

On the other hand, though its not "yours", it is your home (as at present anyway) and I don't know what the legal angle is on just who should be present (ie the owner or the tenant) in those circumstances BUT I would tend to go along the lines of ignore the job you do to earn your money (regardless of what "level" of job it is) and just think "It's my home - regardless of whether I own it or no and whether its my legal responsibility or no" and want to be sure that no stranger was in my home without me there too keeping a watchful eye on them. The level of job you do is not relevant.

The only time I recall having A.N. Other supervising work being done in my home when I wasn't there was me taking the "It aint my property...so it aint my responsibility" viewpoint and having a neighbour let the workman in.

I shouldn't have done it in the event, because by the end of the day one of them had stolen a personal possession from my home whilst I was out. I couldn't be 100% sure which one of them was the guilty party. On balance the greatest chance was that it was the workman that was the thief...but I couldn't be quite certain enough to ring up British Gas and complain about their workman and ask for him to be sacked. I honestly didn't know whether British Gas' workman should be sacked or my neighbour thrown out of their home - as it wasn't totally clear in my mind which one of them was the thief.

Don't put yourself in that position and stay put do the supervising yourself - regardless of which person has the legal liability. Chances are the landlord thinks they are doing you a favour - on the grounds that its your home - anyway.

slopemaster

ordnancesurvey84 wrote: »

I contacted my landlord, who sent me details of his boiler repair policy and asked me to contact them to arrange the repair at a time of my convenience.
David

I am a LL, and that is what I would do

ordnancesurvey84 wrote: »

... he was insistent that the "Law of the Land" is that the tenant must make himself available for boiler repairs. He continued that "he has been in the property business since the 1970s".
David

He is talking rubbish. It is his responsibility.
However, as others have said, you probably do not want your LL or random heating engineers in your home when you are not present.
And you do want the boiler repaired....

Argghhh

basically its in your hands - arrange it at your convenience - ie when you are in, or put up with a leaky boiler, can't complain that he is refusing to fix it as he has provided you with the means. a friend, relative or someone you trust can surely house sit for a repair job

Jagraf

Maybe you could help out by offering to be there at a time to suit you, if not its the landlords responsibility to repair the boiler.

Jagraf

I thought the policyholder would need to organise it?

ordnancesurvey84

Thank you all for your varied responses.


I'm all for the landlord offering me the option of arranging the repair for a time of my choosing, but ultimately, I feel I should be spared the hassle associated with staying indoors, waiting all day for a tradesman who never turns up. That ought to be one of the perks of renting - not to have to deal with such matters, and as far as I can make out from my tenancy agreement, that responsibility lies solely with the landlord.

G_M

The LL has a legal duty to get it repaired.

If you want to be there, either to protect your privacy (strangers in your home) or to make life easier for the LL, fine - you can offer to let the engineer in.

But if you are not there or willing/able to take time off work, the LL still has to get the repair done somehow.

He can go round himself to let the engineer in;
He can give the engineer the keys;
He can give arrange for his agent (friend whoever) to let the engineer in;

But he must get the repair done.

paddyrg

Maybe get yourself a couple of discrete 'nannycam' hidden cameras for the bedroom/lounge/rooms they have no business of going into - at least if you keep your valuables in the bedroom (say) and someone enters it/things vanish you'll have very clear evidence to kick up an absolute stink. They're also handy for when you stay in hotels ;-)

Jagraf

G_M wrote: »

The LL has a legal duty to get it repaired.

If you want to be there, either to protect your privacy (strangers in your home) or to make life easier for the LL, fine - you can offer to let the engineer in.

But if you are not there or willing/able to take time off work, the LL still has to get the repair done somehow.

He can go round himself to let the engineer in;
He can give the engineer the keys;
He can give arrange for his agent (friend whoever) to let the engineer in;

But he must get the repair done.

Excellent post.