Landlord Issue - please advise

Baileyborough

Thanks for all the replies and support.

Re : gas boiler checkup services etc, I've not had anyone in in the past 3 years we've been in the property.

Is this something I should've been organising, or would that be a landlord responsibility?

fishpond

It is a legal requirement for the LL to arrange an annual gas safety certificate. ( this will cover all gas appliances within the property e.g boiler, cooker, fire etc)
Just a thought --- Do you have smoke alarms fitted?

Baileyborough

We have one smoke alarm, so I guess that's something. I'm slightly regretting re-signing the lease, but we're happy in the house, it's a nice area, and I didn't fancy sorting out a new dog friendly property 6 months out from a wedding.

Plus, when there's no issues, we never see or hear from her from one end of the year to another.

jayII

Please fit a carbon monoxide detector (if you don't have one) as soon as possible.

An unserviced boiler could be a death trap and you won't know about it until it's too late.

Baileyborough

Thank you, I will do first thing.

One last thing that came to mind as I was discussing this with a friend.

I'm fairly comfortable with the idea that we can't be charged to replace a boiler. Are we at risk of being charge part/all or any damages that arose from the leak? To be honest, I don't think there are any, but should she come up with any extra repairs or work that needs doing off the back of this leak, should I be safe from paying for that too?

cells

Baileyborough wrote: »

Thank you, I will do first thing.

One last thing that came to mind as I was discussing this with a friend.

I'm fairly comfortable with the idea that we can't be charged to replace a boiler. Are we at risk of being charge part/all or any damages that arose from the leak? To be honest, I don't think there are any, but should she come up with any extra repairs or work that needs doing off the back of this leak, should I be safe from paying for that too?

You wont need to pay for any of it unless you were grossly negligent and even then its close to impossible to prove.

Tell the landlady to stop being such a cheapskate the repairs are tax deductible so if they cost say £1,000 it will likely only cost her £600 in her pocket. And tell her maintenance is a routine part of running and letting a property its difficult to not have an annual bill of £1,000 on average (some years a lot less some years more)

She should know all that already so sadly you got a novice landlady. Of course you cant be this frank to her if for no other reason that not wanting to hurt her feelings but say all the above in as nice a way as you can think

cells

Baileyborough wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies and support.

Re : gas boiler checkup services etc, I've not had anyone in in the past 3 years we've been in the property.

Is this something I should've been organising, or would that be a landlord responsibility?

She needs to have an annual gas safety done and issue you a copy.

Also buy yourself a smoke and a CO alarm its only about £20 on amazon and will last close to 10 years so just £2 a year. Normally the landlord should provide but at £2 a year its a backup if nothing else and you can always take them with you. Many models dont need to be wired to the ceiling there are free standing ones too

FBaby

If she hasn't been doing annual checks, she is in no bargaining position at all to demand anything from you. If she becomes insistent, maybe you can politely remind her of her legal responsibilities.

buglawton

HappyMJ wrote: »

There's no need to quote anything at all. Quoting legal stuff may annoy your landlord enough to make them issue a Section 21 notice to you. They cannot make you pay. If they send a bill to you ignore it. When you eventually do leave they may try deducting the expense from your deposit. Refuse the deduction and refer the matter for arbitration. You'll get your deposit back.

Whilst doing as fishpond has suggested and telling your LL to 4 stars off sounds good it's not really a nice thing to do and it really would make them want to give you a Section 21 notice. I'd just politely say no and ignore any further requests for payment.

If the tenancy was started after Oct 1st 2015 there's better protection for tenants, probably not going to help op if the tenancy is older but this info may help others with a similar issue:
http://www.fixflo.com/Section-21/Explainer
Repairs: Failure to follow the prescribed and time-limited repairs process set out can both invalidate a Section 21 Notice and prevent one from being served for a further six months

Miss_Samantha

cells wrote: »

Tell the landlady to stop being such a cheapskate the repairs are tax deductible so if they cost say £1,000 it will likely only cost her £600 in her pocket.

I wish the government offered such a cash back scheme.