Does a landlord have to repair or replace a faulty cooker?

Trouserdeagle

Hi folks,

I've been in this property for about 4 years now and the cooker was here when we moved in, though appliances and other goods aren't explicitly mentioned on the tenancy agreement. In that time the element on the cooker has broken 3 times, and been repaired 3 times. This weekend saw the 4th element fail and I'm at the point now where I'm not prepared to have it repaired again.

I called the landord today and she asked that I buy a new cooker and just take it with me if/when I leave. 

What obligation, if any, does the landlord have to repair or replace the cooker given that it wasn't mentioned in the tenancy agreement?

Willis75

Trouserdeagle said:

Hi folks,

I've been in this property for about 4 years now and the cooker was here when we moved in, though appliances and other goods aren't explicitly mentioned on the tenancy agreement. In that time the element on the cooker has broken 3 times, and been repaired 3 times. This weekend saw the 4th element fail and I'm at the point now where I'm not prepared to have it repaired again.

I called the landord today and she asked that I buy a new cooker and just take it with me if/when I leave. 

What obligation, if any, does the landlord have to repair or replace the cooker given that it wasn't mentioned in the tenancy agreement?

Do I assume that the landlord paid for the cooker repairs 3 times? If so, then clearly the landlord has accepted that the cooker is owned by the landlord and is therefore part of the tenancy and he/she needs to either repair or replace.

Do you rent via a letting agency? If so, take the issue up with them.

Trouserdeagle

Willis75 said:

Do I assume that the landlord paid for the cooker repairs 3 times? If so, then clearly the landlord has accepted that the cooker is owned by the landlord and is therefore part of the tenancy and he/she needs to either repair or replace.

Do you rent via a letting agency? If so, take the issue up with them.

Actually no, 2 of the 3 times I paid for the element and fitted it myself to save time and money. The other time I paid for the element and the landlord paid for the electrician. Don't ask me why I did it this way. They're old people and I wanted to save them some money too.

There's not really a question of whether the landlord owns it, it's really whether they have a statutory or contractual obligation to replace it, or just a moral one, since it isn't explicitly mentioned in the tenancy agreement. 

The property was initially rented via a letting agency but management transferred back to the landlord and I pay them directly. 

deannagone

The thing is, I would avoid a cooker with a solid plate hob because they are slow to heat up, the ovens usually aren't up to much either.  So I've never had a problem with buying my own cooker, to get a better cooker, even when in private rental.  But its your choice, you can argue for a repair/replacement (could take a while) or look at the option of purchasing your own.  https://ao.com/product/is5v4khw-indesit-cloe-electric-cooker-white-65450-11.aspx . This is not going to be the best cooker (but a lot better than the one you have in your rental property) but it is relatively inexpensive.  Or you could look on ebay/facebook market place for a second hand one.., if you can arrange transport.

SavingPennies_2

Trouserdeagle said:

Willis75 said:

Do I assume that the landlord paid for the cooker repairs 3 times? If so, then clearly the landlord has accepted that the cooker is owned by the landlord and is therefore part of the tenancy and he/she needs to either repair or replace.

Do you rent via a letting agency? If so, take the issue up with them.

Actually no, 2 of the 3 times I paid for the element and fitted it myself to save time and money. The other time I paid for the element and the landlord paid for the electrician. Don't ask me why I did it this way. They're old people and I wanted to save them some money too.

There's not really a question of whether the landlord owns it, it's really whether they have a statutory or contractual obligation to replace it, or just a moral one, since it isn't explicitly mentioned in the tenancy agreement. 

The property was initially rented via a letting agency but management transferred back to the landlord and I pay them directly. 

Don't worry about saving them money, just cos they're old doesn't mean they're poor! Since it was there when you moved in I would be expecting and insisting they replace it. It's been four years and you've out up with enough repairs so far so it's not like you're trying it on. Buying one to take with you will be a pain, if you rent again the new place will probably already have one, they're a ton weight so you'll have to pay to get it moved unless you have help, and you'll also pay to have it wired in by an electrician.

Markneath

As a landlord I never rent houses with a cooker or any other white goods included, its just throwing money away. 

sammyjammy

Markneath said:

As a landlord I never rent houses with a cooker or any other white goods included, its just throwing money away. 

I bet you get great tenants!

deannagone

Its quite normal.  Unless an integrated hob and oven are supplied, there's too big a chance of them walking when a tenant leaves. Plus maintenance costs.  

If you repaired these items mostly yourself, I suspect you will have to argue long and hard to get the LL to repair or replace the broken cooker.  But obviously you can choose this option.  Ovens aren't that heavy!  Washing machines, now that's a different story lol. I had to buy wheeley things to move mine as it was super heavy.

Slithery

SavingPennies_2 said:
Since it was there when you moved in I would be expecting and insisting they replace it.

You can insist all you want, it doesn't legally make the LL liable.

Trouserdeagle

In all honesty I'll probably just go ahead and repair the thing again myself. Elements are only about £20 and take 15 minutes to fit (hence me doing it myself before) and I don't really want to be getting in a lengthy debate with my LL about it. Housing is precarious enough down here at the moment and my original tenancy agreement ran out a long time ago, and I can't really afford to be buying a new cooker with a new baby on the way.

Probably wouldn't be a terrible idea to get the thing checked out properly though as there's clearly something wrong with it (or I keep buying crap elements). Either way would still be cheaper than replacing the whole thing myself.

kazwookie

Might be an idea to question why the element keeps blowing.