L has not done gas safety check- can T complain?

[ROLI4MEL]

What are my rights? the landlord has not done a gas safety check and it is over a year due. can I take any action agnist her?

[Paul_f]

Contact your local Environmental Health Officer or the Heath & Safety Executive

[thesaint]

What are my rights? the landlord has not done a gas safety check and it is over a year due. can I take any action agnist her?

What have you done up to this point?
I would not contact the EHO yet.

[Paul_f]

I would not contact the EHO yet.Why not? It's long overdue and a criminal offence not to have one done!

[sparrow]

Have they definitely not done the check or is it just that they haven't given you a copy of the certificate. I would contact the landlord ASAP and ask why you haven't got evidence of the gas check.

[thesaint]

Why not? It's long overdue and a criminal offence not to have one done!

I meant until some facts have been established.

Contacting the EHO as a first point of contact about the gas certificate may not help the tenant long term.

[mind the gap]

I meant until some facts have been established.




Presumably if OP has lived in the house for over a year he will be aware whether or not the LL has commissioned a gas check.

[sparrow]

Presumably if OP has lived in the house for over a year he will be aware whether or not the LL has commissioned a gas check.


Maybe not. My three tenants lived in my property for a year and were totally unaware that there was an extra person (not on the lease) living with them. Apparently.

[mind the gap]

Maybe not. My three tenants lived in my property for a year and were totally unaware that there was an extra person (not on the lease) living with them. Apparently.

I take your point but it is not quite the same thing!

It would appear this LL is in the wrong one way or another. Either she has allowed access to the property without T's consent or knowledge, or she has not had a gas check done.

The only other explanation is that OP is an amnesiac.

[sparrow]

I know, mindthegap, i was being flippant. In a purely legal since then obviously LL is in the wrong if the gas check hasn't been done. However could it be possible that the tenant permitted entry for eg a boiler service and the gs check was done at that time?

It depends on the landlord's attitude generally but i always think if these things can be resolved amicably it can save a lot of hassle for everyone in the longterm. So if the LL is generally very good, then i'd be inclined to firstly check whether there is a gas certificate and if not allow LL eg 2 weeks to get this done. If they don't then i'd take some formal action.

My attitiude might be different if there were already other problems.

[mind the gap]

I know, mindthegap, i was being flippant. In a purely legal since then obviously LL is in the wrong if the gas check hasn't been done. However could it be possible that the tenant permitted entry for eg a boiler service and the gs check was done at that time?

It depends on the landlord's attitude generally but i always think if these things can be resolved amicably it can save a lot of hassle for everyone in the longterm. So if the LL is generally very good, then i'd be inclined to firstly check whether there is a gas certificate and if not allow LL eg 2 weeks to get this done. If they don't then i'd take some formal action.

My attitiude might be different if there were already other problems.

Yes, on reflection I think I'd agree with you there.

[ROLI4MEL]

Thank you for the replys.

I did mention the gas safety check to LL last year however when I spoke to her today she deinied all knowlage of me letting her know it was due.

She was annoyed and arrogant when I asked her to do it and said that she did it when we moved in 1year 8 months ago and she does not need to do it again. Then I told her that it is her legal responsibilty to do it once a year and it is an offence not to. Her excuse was she did not realise that it needed to be done yearly because it is the first time she has ever rented out a property and she is really busy. She then said she will get it done.

I will give her 2weeks as someone mentioned in one of the posts then report her if its not done.

Wil it be in my favour when we move out for the depoist as I suspect being the person she is will try to with hold it.

[thesaint]

Wil it be in my favour when we move out for the depoist as I suspect being the person she is will try to with hold it.

You have no legal basis to withhold the rent even if she's stupid enough to not get the check done.

[mind the gap]

You have no legal basis to withhold the rent even if she's stupid enough to not get the check done.

:confused: OP has not mentioned witholding any rent. What are you talking about?

[ROLI4MEL]

Update 2:

Firstly thank you all for your responses.

The gas engineer was in today to finally carry the gas check and condemned it due to the carbon monoxide being 3 times over the limit from the flue and the installation is not to the Regulations. So I guess no hot water until the landlord gets it sorted. Does anyone have any advice on long the LL has to fix the problem? Should I withhold the rent due next week?

My son has been suffering from Asthma and a runny nose since we moved into the house so it could be related. We going to wait and see it the asthma clears :mad:

Do you think I should report the fact that the LL has not carried out the gas safety check for 2 years to the HSE now?

[sparrow]

ROLI4MEL I can't believe how lucky you have been!

I can't really say what you should do but i personally would probably go on my feelings about the LL. If you think she made a genuine mistake and truly wasnt aware of what she should have been doing i think i might treat it differenty than if she is being extremely arrogant and unapologetic. What would most likely cause me to take action is if i thought that there was ANY chance that she would be either stupid enough or disorganised enough to allow it to happen again to you or someone else.

That would be my view but others may suggest you take a harsher stance. Also i think you may have a responsibility to persue it if you think it may happen again.

I am sure that if this person has any sense whatsover she will be fixing things ASAP for you. She owes you that! She could have been responsible for a death and it is only due to your diligence in persuing the matter that has saved her bacon too. I would mention this if there is any delay at all.

Re your son's asthma, i doubt it is related to the CO emissions. The thing about CO is that really it is relatively symptomless except for headeaches, dizziness, confusion and then death. As far as i am aware it wouldn't cause irritation to the lungs. If there is mould in the house that might be a different matter re the asthma.

[baldelectrician]

It depends where you stay.

In England /Wales they don't have to put in a new heating system (they can give panel heaters for instance)

In Scotland they have a duty to repair to the same standars

Another point- if the tenancy agreement mentions gas central heating and you now don't have it then the landlord may be under more pressure to have it fixed