privite rent tenents rites

I just had a quick look at this and found the following which clearly states what the landlord should and shouldn't be doing.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/gas/domestic/faqlandlord.htm

It looks as if it should be carried out by a gas safe registered engineer, but this is the landlords responsibility so your friend should continue to hassle the landlord and make it clear that they want it done.

I had this issue, with an awful landlord. Send lots of emails (then you have a record of whats said). You can withhold rent if a landlord is not taking their role seriously. We used the arguement that as we had been there for more than 12 months we knew it was due. They can't argue with that.

We used to send a list of problems to him once a week, removing any that finally got done. After one gets done send another email to remind them what still needs to be done then continue with the weekly/daily emails.

Good luck to them.

Hi Krill yes it's the landlords duty to ensure that his property is safe for his tenants to live in.

The Bandit and cffalco have given you good advice, I would just like to add if anything should happen to a tenant say with Carbon Monoxide poisoning then the landlord would be held culpable.

If this is mentioned to him he might well be prompted into doing something and quickly too.

Hi krlll08

I would be really concerned about this situation because gas leaks from appliances can be dangerous as mentioned by Lillie.

I would suggest to your friend that he gets some quotes from registered gas engineers (they should be able to get some over the phone) and then writes an official letter to his landlord sent by Signed For delivery (make sure he keeps a copy), stating that since he has lived in the property for the past 12 months the gas inspection on the appliance is overdue and as such the appliance could be unsafe due to Carbon Monoxide leakage. Let the landlord know what the quotes are for the inspection to be carried out and the cost range from £ to £, give him a period of time to arrange the inspection himself (i.e - 7 days) and that if you do not hear from your landlord concerning this matter that you take it as his agreement to arrange the inspection himself and deduct the cost of it from the rent.

Hopefully this will get a response and some action from the landlord. There is a paragraph in this link under repairs and maintanance that supports the above action

http://www.tenant-check-worldwide.com/uk/uk_landlord_tenant_law.asp.

Make sure that if your landlord arranges the inspection that you friends gets sight of the certificate of gas inspection to make sure that the inspector is properly registered etc. Check out this link

http://www.rla.org.uk/landlord/documents/gas_safety/gas_safety.shtml

In the meantime it might be worthwhile your friend investing in a C.O2 monitor and making sure that they research the signs and symptoms of C.O2 poisioning to protect themselves.

Hope that this gets sorted out for your friend and the above helps.

Yes, the landlord must by law have an annual gas inspection of the property by a registered gas inspector and your friend should have received a copy of the last Landlord's Gas Safety Record when he/she moved in. Contact the landlord about this and if nothing happens send a registered letter asking for the inspection certificate immediately. The landlord has a number of other legal requirements so please check the website that TheBandit has given in his response and do as others have suggested re the state of fittings etc.

Hi krill08 and thank you for a great question.

I work for a local authority and was recently approached by a local resident, who rents her property from her father but on a full commercial basis using a local managing agent. She complained that the old 'warm air' gas central heating was almost non functioning and she had been complaining of feeling sick for many months. She had not had a gas inspection completed for five years!

I felt that this was akin to a criminal offence and that the gas appliance could well be dangerous, almost certainly emitting toxic fumes and resulting in the lady feeling very, very unwell.

I got straight on to our Environmental Protection team who stated that they had no enforcement powers directly in this matter but gave me a direct number for a Health & Safety Exective officer to take the matter up with. The HSE officer took all the details, including the landlord and managing agent, and with a few hours the agent had been officially advised that his business would be 'closed down' unless the matter was given priority attention that very day. As a result, a CORGI regsitered engineer attended the property that very day, confirmed the gas boiler to be dangerous and emitting poisonous and toxic fumes ( that could not be detected normally ) and 'red-taped' the appliance as officially dangerous and in urgent need of replacement. The HSE take that matter very, very seriously.

I suggest that your friend contacts the local council Environmental Protection team for advice ot directly to the HSE as per the link below :

http://www.hse.gov.uk/contact/

As for the other irritations, unless they affect personal safety, it will always be a battle to get errant landlords to do things I am afraid but Gas concerns are paramount.

the gas has to be checked ans service every year,if she isnt getting anything done when she contacts her landlord i would advise to move out .i am a landlord and i respond straight away .because if it was me renting i would wanted to be treated right