Reasonable time for tenant to wait for a new hob?

markelock

Hi

Tenant reported hob faulty on 4th Nov. Inspected and "condemned" on 8th Nov. Assume it can't be fixed, no further communication from agent.

Tenant chased today to be told replacement is in stock (22/11) and will be fitted 25/11, which tenant is happy to accomodate.

Is that a reasonable amount of time to wait?

Its a managed property (if that is relevant - Do agents have discretion as to £ to spend or what to fix?)

always_sunny

are you the LL?
For hob are you referring to the whole cooktop and not just one hob?

Tenant reported faulty on 4/11 and till 25/11 is not going to be fixed? 21 days? I hope you have given the tenant a replacement hob or a break on the rent!

It depends on the tenant but essentially it means they cannot cook and you would assume they need to eat so they would have increased eating out costs. I cook at home all the time so it'd be a major discomfort for me having to eat out for 3 weeks!

More likely I would have bough something like this for £15 and deduct from the rent!

markelock

Quizzical_Squirrel wrote: »

Do you still have an oven and grill?

Hi

Thanks Both

I'm a friend of the tenant, not the landlord. It's a hob built into the work surface (if that makes sense?) with the oven underneath.

Oven works ok though. I believe the issue is the hob (perm 1 from 4) just switches off at random.

I just wanted to make sure she's not being taken advantage of to be honest.

The agent originally signed the place over to her, when it was infested with fleas, and had several remedial actions, broken sockets (loose) and not working, filthy walls, nicotine smells permeating throughout etc etc. My feeling is they didn't check it properly at all.

They agreed to refund a weeks rent due to the flea treatments, which I felt was ok (althought it took a month and several chasing e-mails), but shes only been in the place a month, I want her to confidently set a realistic benchmark of what to expect, but at the same time, not be too highly strung.

I'm keen to record everything in writing for her protection also.

Riggyman

Seems reasonable to me. It's not like they were without cooking facilities.

always_sunny

is it a private let?
TBH it depends on the person; I would have walked out and receded the AST at the mention of fleas and nicotine smell!

markelock

always_sunny wrote: »

is it a private let?
TBH it depends on the person; I would have walked out and receded the AST at the mention of fleas and nicotine smell!

No agent managed. I'll be complaining formally around that to the agent. They appear to be a waste of time.

She has a dog, and two cats however, so after a fresh coat of paint, having carpets that are already ruined, is actually not too bad an idea. (especially when I've paid the deposit!)

G_M

Why complicate the issue by introducing the flea issue, which is resolved, in post 4?

From 8th to 25th is not that long - it's quite feasible a supolier may not have in stock. An owner-occupier might well have to wait that long too.

A landlord has a legal obligation to provide cooking facilities. In this case there is a grill and oven, so statutory duty is met. However a temporary arrangement like that suggested by Sunny above, or a micowave for the duration, might have been a nice getsture by the LL.

Do agents have discretion as to £ to spend or what to fix?

Depends on the contract between agent and landlord.
This might say
* all expenditure must be agreed/authorised by the LL
* agent can spend up to (£100? £300? whatever) without referral to the LL
* agent has complete discretion to spend out on repairs/replacements

Agent seems to have resolved previous, and current issues. But yes keeping a written record is wise. Always report issues in writing to the correct adress provided.

AdrianC

G_M wrote: »

From 8th to 25th is not that long - it's quite feasible a supolier may not have in stock. An owner-occupier might well have to wait that long too.

Indeed. The perennial "Is it reasonable?" test is whether an owner-occupier would be similarly inconvenienced.

And, as they described in the original post, it sounds like they would be in exactly the same boat.

markelock wrote: »

Tenant reported hob faulty on 4th Nov. Inspected and "condemned" on 8th Nov. Assume it can't be fixed, no further communication from agent.

Tenant chased today to be told replacement is in stock (22/11) and will be fitted 25/11...

Bossworld

I own my house but the Miele hob left behind by the previous owner was on the blink, and finally gave up the ghost a fortnight ago. Didn't seem worth the cost of getting it looked into and the fault seemed fairly common from a quick online search.

Ordered a new induction one via Indesit directly, but their lead time was stated at 1-2 weeks. So I'd say the times given could be probable, ours did turn up within 10 days so hopefully you'll have the same luck. Depending on the type, it might need a specialist to fit (someone who's gas safe registered)? which is why I went like for like as I can do the wiring, but can't touch a gas appliance.

There's ways and means around not using a hob for cooking - we coped without during that time although there was a couple of times we set out to make a particular meal and forgot.

Hope your friend gets it sorted.

jimjames

Having had similar problems with faulty oven I'd ordered from AO.com and got next day delivery. Unless you are after a very specific model it shouldn't take long to get a new one delivered although fitting may be a bit longer.

jennifernil

Many hobs are a standard size, so easy to get a replacement. i would imagine that the hob in this property was nothing special, so a suitable replacement could easily be sourced on line within a few days.

What could well take longer is finding someone to fit it.

As a householder, I would consider anything longer than 2 weeks unacceptable.

I would however organise it a lot faster than that. As said, many suppliers can do next day delivery, and I have a husband who can fit a hob. So I would expect it to take no longer than 3 or 4 days from decision to replace.