need opinions re rent reduction/situation

LilMissEmmylou

Ok a little long winded so sorry in advance.

I moved into the house im in at the moment in August. When i moved in I asked how the gas worked (in N.Ireland we have oil) and was told there was a manual on the gas boiler up the stairs and it was easy. Anyways there was no manual and we couldnt get the boiler to work so we had no heat or hot water. I contacted the gas people over the weekend to see if they had shut the gas of, which they said they hadnt.I then i contacted the letting agents first thing on the monday morning and they said they would get somebody out or a manual sorted. I called a few days later and was told they had asked the landlady for the manual and it would be sorted soon. Next week still no hot water or heating (pretty cheesed off as i have a baby and not easy to wash her etc at short notice when you have to boil kettles), so I call in and mention it again to them and they said it was being sorted.

2 weeks after I moved in a friend was over and he looked in the gas meter cupboard and said it had been switched off :mad: so i rang the letting agents just to make sure there was no reason for this and that it would be ok to turn it back on - sure turn it back on they say. We do this and a few secs later all we can smell is gas so its quickly shut off! It seems to be coming from the kitchen. We check it out and the landlady hadnt sealed off the gas point where the cooker had been removed from the old resident. So i get out of the house to let it air etc and go right to the letting agents kicking off stink about how dangerous it was etc etc and they ring the landlady there and then who says she will send somebody out the next day to sort it - my friend then demanded they get somebody out now. I also requested a copy of their gas safety certificate as im aware they should have had one before i moved in, but with shoddy work like the gas not capped off i was sure they didnt have one (they didnt!). A nice man came from the gas board (is that the emergency gas people who come out? sorry if thats the wrong term) and he seals it off and tells me just to air the house well etc and not to be lighting anything (good job im not a smoker ey?).

The next day still no sign of the gas man the landlady was sending, so i ring the letting agents again and they say they will sort it as they are very unhappy with that. The gas man turns up the next day and it seems he had been on the day previous but went to the wrong house as the landlady gave him the wrong house number :rolleyes:.
He has a quick look about etc and issues a gas safety certificate and informs me ill never be able to get to the bottom of whos fault it was (as far as im aware the buck lies with the LL as its her house... and also his friend) and just to be happy its sorted.

Now I go to pay my rent and ask them can they sort out a deduction for 2 1/2 weeks no heat or hot water and the fact we had a gas leak. Not a problem they say they will sort it but it will have to be for the next month, which was fine by me. Now we get to this month and i call the agents leaving a message asking about the reduction before i go to pay my rent. they call back saying the LL has left them and they are sorry they cant help me now.

So where do I stand with this? I dont think its unreasonable to want a reduction for the 2 and a half weeks of no heat or hot water (despite the LL trying to tell me that it didnt mater as it wasnt cold anyway :eek: (i beg to differ when i have a baby in a house thats only half double glazed!) and that they will only offer me £50 off the rent as it wasnt their fault etc etc and that they have a mortgage to pay. However it isnt my fault, so if they feel its the letting agents fault they can take it up with them after they have sorted me out? (i dont think it was the letting agents fault though as they where always good when i rang them etc).

Sorry if thats all a bit rambley and muddled, im not the best at typing up a situation. So what do people think? Where do I stand? What should I do? and what is a resonable amount of rent to ask to be reduced? I currently pay £430 a month.

Im just so peed off with the whole situation - especially the gas leak as had there been any flames, God knows what would have happened and I have more than just myself to think about.

LilMissEmmylou

anyone? any advice would be regretfully received.

PROFESSIONAL_LANDLORD

So what do people think?

Appalling ! everything should have been checked before you were given the keys, the gas cooker is normally a bayonet fitting which ' self seals ' if a cooker is removed ,nevertheless it should have been checked. The LL should compensate you, even just for their embarrassment, apart from the obvious dangers, write your LL a letter reminding them of the 2 1/2 weeks with no heating or hot water.

LilMissEmmylou

the fact that somebody turned the gas off says to me they knew the cooker gas point hadnt been sealed and assumed i would put a gas cooker in (im not). They are aware i want some kind of reimbursement for the problems etc but they seem to think £50 is enough, im just not so sure i agree. Hence wondering what other landlords etc think

PROFESSIONAL_LANDLORD

LilMissEmmylou wrote: »

the fact that somebody turned the gas off says to me they knew the cooker gas point hadnt been sealed and assumed i would put a gas cooker in (im not). They are aware i want some kind of reimbursement for the problems etc but they seem to think £50 is enough, im just not so sure i agree. Hence wondering what other landlords etc think

Yes I agree £50 is nothing for that amount of hassle, but it all depends on the LL there are good ones, others are like FAGIN, it was both the LL and the LA who let you down, none of them checked the property. The only time I have compensated a tenant was when the heating in a property broke down and it was off for a week, (problems with CORGI people) we supplied halogen heaters and gave the tenant a cheque for £40 because of the extra fuel cost, another tenant called us xmas eve, again halogen heaters where installed, the heating was repaired after the holiday, no compensation was given in this instance, hope this helps.

silvercar

On the basis that nobody would leave the gas on with an open gas pipe, the most logical course of events was:

1) LA/ LL performs end of tennacy check with previous tenant

2) previous tenant (illegally) disconnects cooker, realises that there is no bayonet fitting and cuts pipe and turns gas off. Then disappears.

3) LA/ LL give place a quick once over and starts new tenancy with you.

Probably LA/LL were unaware there was an open gas pipe. It may be that they had a gas certificate less than a year old so didn't need to arrange for another inspection.

Fault could well end up with previous tenant; I wonder if they have their deposit back yet?

franklee

I think you would get a better answer here

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/forums/

It doesn't matter whose fault it actually was (landlord/agent/previous tenant) your contract is with your landlord so that's who you should claim off. It is then up to him if he wants to claim off the others he had contracts with.

Lack of heating isn't that big a deal this time of year but lack of hot water is. I would want a full refund for the 2 1/2 weeks as lack of hot water when moving in is even more disruptive as there's a lot of cleaning needing doing then. I think these things should be functioning when you first move in, not to mention nearly getting you killed and the house blown up! Someone knowingly left the house in a dangerous position without leaving written warnings which is negligent.

See what landlordzone say.