Moved into new rented house, oven not working

Doozergirl

I'm the third one to move away from a dodgy tenancy and move into a better place with a better LL and a dodgy oven! Luckily we have two but it's the bigger one that doesn't work and in the winter I will need it.

I'm just waiting to confirm properly on how long we're going to be here for (coming to the end of the first 6 moths) and then I'm going to sort it myself. They're forking out for a new front door and they put in an outside tap, simply on request. I don't want to give them too much to deal with tbh.

Complete wuss but after the last LL I like being left alone. And I'd have to deal with this stuff myself if I had a mortgage.

For you, HOW easy is it exactly to break an oven without being delibarate?! I'm sure they'll have a look at it and then, when it doesn't work, they'll get it sorted.

maxmycardagain

we had a private let, nice 2 bed house on a nice private estate ..... nightmare. landlord had the loft full of her stuff, and the garage was full of hers stuff too, house had halogen bulbs in the lounge, £5 each, 10 went in a year, nice but not practical. she wouldnt let us keep our cat £because my cat may be confused by its scent" (she hadnt lived in the house for 3 years), then she robbed us blind when we moved out.

Lavendyr

I sympathise, our last (technically still current due to the 2 weeks' overlap) landlord has been the worst tenancy we've ever experienced.

1) The house was furnished and he told us that he would leave all the furniture in - but when we got there, he'd taken half of it including a double bed, which was only replaced a week before he served us with notice to quit.

2) Left the house in an absolute filthy state for us to move into - food still caked to the microwave, oven and fridge, bathroom covered in dirt, floors absolutely filthy, white carpet black from dirt and stains, massive damp patch under the sink...

3) Vanished without telling us or the letting agent for over a month, meaning it took even longer to get above-mentioned furniture replaced.

4) Did not redirect any of his mail or change his address, relying on us to deliver it to the managing agent every week (which was stipulated in the contract but we didn't expect it would be literally *all* his mail!).

5) Was obviously not paying his mortgage on time as well as several other payments, as we had several debt collectors and one bailiff on the doorstep throughout the few months we were here. In the last week a court summons arrived which was addressed "To the Occupier" (hence why we saw what it was).

6) Initially, verbally told us he would want us to stay here for a minimum of two years, then served us notice after four months.

In summary, gah! And compared with that, even with a faulty oven the new rented place is bliss, so far!

Doozergirl, you're right (assuming I've understood what you meant correctly), it's not exactly easy to deliberately break an oven - literally, all we did was turn it on at the wall & turn the fan oven dial...and nothing. It's a Tricity Bendix electric cooker, pretty straightforward...we'll talk to the landlords tomorrow. I just feel bad as they've obviously gone to a reasonable amount of trouble to make sure everything is ready for us to move into.

franklee

Who is responsible for what repairs will be in your AST. If it isn't mentioned then it would be the LL to repair his appliances unless the tenant abuses them.

Even so, if the AST says you I should expect given it's so early in the tenancy it would still be the LL's responsibility, the goods he left should at least work at the start.

I'm sure the LL will be fine so long as you are polite, which I'm sure you are. You could preface with a brief thank you for the things the LL did that you appreciate, leaving things in good order and whatnot.

There are often repair issues as the start of a tenancy, my first week here was a complete write off, but I got renewed. Maybe the LL broke the oven when cleaning it, or maybe it was the electricain that put the sticker on the fuse box who tampered with something?

sdooley

Hate to say the obvious but have you checked:

(a) it is switched on at the wall; and

(b) the fuse didn't trip and need resetting.

maxmycardagain

dont forget that under legislation it is illegal for unqualified persons to touch electrical equipment, we cannot even shorten a lead on a ceiling fitting, and i was qualified on industrial electrics!

maxmycardagain

on 1 private let the letting agents rang, said the LL was considering a rent rise (we had been in the house a year), after a few minutes we agreed a sensible figure, all was fine





3 days later they rang saying he wanted us out so he could sell the house.


even worse, our son rented a small 1 bed property, 3 weeks before his lease ended he signed and returned a new lease (before the due by date)

a week later he was offered a housing association place, his private LL enforced the NEW lease, and blagged his £400 deposit/bond, bloody crook

Lavendyr

franklee wrote: »

Who is responsible for what repairs will be in your AST. If it isn't mentioned then it would be the LL to repair his appliances unless the tenant abuses them.

The AST is very standard/basic, states only the landlord's statutory responsibilities in this area (i.e. building, exterior, wiring, supply of heating/hot water), but since this is most likely a wiring issue rather than a problem with the appliance itself, I expect it is covered by that in any case.

franklee wrote: »

I'm sure the LL will be fine so long as you are polite, which I'm sure you are. You could preface with a brief thank you for the things the LL did that you appreciate, leaving things in good order and whatnot.

OH rang the letting agent this morning, and started by saying how pleased we were with the place and thanking the landlords for leaving it in such a nice state, so I hope that helped.

It seems that it's very likely the electrician's fault - the agency bring in a gasman & electrician to do all safety checks prior to tenants moving in, and apparently the electrician had to do quite a bit of work on the wiring so it's entirely possible that his work has caused the problem.

sdooley wrote: »

Hate to say the obvious but have you checked:

(a) it is switched on at the wall; and

(b) the fuse didn't trip and need resetting.

Hehe it's OK, perfectly reasonable questions. We have checked that everything is switched on at the wall, and the fuse was not tripped at any point.

Gorgeous_George

When my former tenants told me the oven was faulty I replaced it within 3 days. They said it hadn't worked for 10 months! Talk about thick. I would have replaced it within 24 hours if he hadn't been so threatening. I told him it would be replaced when he was at work (his battered wife was home).

GG

Lavendyr

The letting agency is arranging for an electrician to come out this week with any luck