Tenant called locksmith on bank holiday

Deedoodee

Sounds like they were trying to come to an arrangement with you by messaging you and you brushed them off saying it’s an none emergency. Which really doesn’t show any consideration for the tenants. Did you check if they were comfortable no lock? Or if they needed to go out? The response is a pretty sh*tty landlord thing to say. What you might be happy with as an owner/ occupier, isn’t that same as providing a service in your letting business. 

I’ll happily eat a meal I burned myself at home, but I certainly wouldn’t accept the same charcoaled plate in a restaurant. 

chrisw

As a landlord, I'm also with the tenants. You could always have arranged the emergency locksmith yourself and then you could have got a couple of quotes if it's that important to you.

You should be pleased they're protecting your property. Pay up and move on. 

saajan_12

rahrah21 said:

Ok, so our tenant sent a text message at 7pm on Easter Monday saying the front UPVC door would not lock.
The house is in a cul-de-sac, with a front garden area, in a nice safe area. - irrelevant, its standard to expect a house can be secured, and an expectation of any insurance. Quiet cul de sacs can be great cover for not many people watching. 
Tenant messaged to say there was an issue, and we said that it wasn't an emergency warranting a locksmith on a bank holiday. T went ahead and called a locksmith from out of the area, at a considerable cost and is now witholding rent demanding its our responsibility.
I don't think it should be an emergency as there was no risk to anyone, and it could have waited until the next day. - well only if they could go in and out of the property, and secure the property on both sides.. 
Are we now responsible for this call out? T made no attempt to get agreement, didn't try other companies who were local or cheaper and is now being abusive about this. - were there other companies / tradespeople who would have been cheaper? Ring around and see what you get for emergency quotes. 

rahrah21 said:

I should have clarified that the main UPVC lock didn't work, but there is a slide bolt- ah, that makes a dif! was there another back door they could exit from and lock?

I think its reasonable to have the property secured, both when inside and outside. If they can achieve that via bolts / other doors, then great. If not, then some locksmith / tradesperson that can visit the same day to allow the tenant to secure the property from both sides. If you can find someone (or a few people) cheaper but still on an emergency basis, then show the tenant - they can't take the mick, but if not then you'd probably have to pay the amount. 

There's no 'law' listing out every single repair and allowable speeds / costs for remediating them. There's just a notion of attending to things in a 'reasonable' timeframe, as a normal owner occupier would do. The above is what I think. Ultimately to get a 100% concrete answer, you'd have to let it go to court / arbitration, either when tenant withholds rent and you sue for it or withhold the amount from deposit and either a court or deposit scheme decide. 

caprikid1

Another Landlord with the tenants, if you had owned the problem and not brushed them off they would not have felt the need to have acted.

If it was your house and you were living there you would have sorted it I expect. The tenants expectations are not unreasonable.

penners324

Do you not have landlord's insurance with emergency call out option? That would have resolved this issue.

canaldumidi

There are two separate issues:

1) what was wrong with the lock? You don't say since you apparantly don't know. If the tenant damaged/broke the lock, then the T is liable for all costs. As an example, T came home drunk, put wrong key in lock, and broke the key off in the lock or broke the lock trying to force it. Many other possible examples.

On the other hand, if the lock was old and this was simply wear and tear, the LL is liable for replacing the lock

2) bank holiday call out. There is no specific statute law regarding this, just Contract law and Common law. The LL has a duty to repair the property (including doors and locks) and a duty to provide secure accommodation.

But if the door could be secured (eg there's a bolt on the inside) and the T could exit/re-enter (eg via the rear) then there's no emergency and it's perfectly reasonable for the LL to arrange repair the next working day.

If the property could not be secured, then emergency repair is justified.

So, I'm not coming down on either side as there are unknown variables, and though I seem to be in a minority here this might be the T's responsibility.

cymruchris

Had you engaged initially and arranged your own locksmith - you might have gotten a more competitive price - either way it needed doing. I'm also with the tenant on this one (as an ex-landlord).

jackieblack

lisyloo said:

I would not be prepared to sleep in an unlocked house overnight (I'm female FWIW).
I would however negotiate with the landlord and say I wanted a fix or hotel.

The problem with going to a hotel would be leaving the house unlocked…

poppy12345

I privately rent and had an issue a couple of years ago with my front door and i couldn't lock it. I contacted my letting agency who arranged for a locksmith to come out the same day because it was classed as an emergency.

I'm female and live with my daughter. I definitely wouldn't feel safe at all if i couldn't lock my door. Therefore, i'm with the T on this one and i would have done exactly the same thing if my LL or LA refused to rectify the issue the same day.

connors07

Its your house but their home and it couldn't be locked. Fully justified. Timing is frustrating around a Bank Holiday but rarely when something like this is there a 'good time' for it to happen. Unless it was caused by damage by the tenant you'll need to pay for this one.