To demand that my landlord repairs my flue/chimney?

[Grammarphone]

Good afternoon.

My OH and I have been renting a 3-bed end terrace cottage privately from a very wealthy landlord who owns a large portfolio of land, lettings and other associated buildings. We have rented our house from him since June 2016.

The house came with an open fireplace, swept and ready to use. Supposedly. We used it the first winter with no issues, but not frequently as we had no wood stored and ready to go.

In October 2017 we lit our first fire of the year and realised shortly afterward that the upper floor of the house was becoming very smoky. Fire was put out and a chimney sweep booked to come and clear the chimney. He advised us that the chimney was filthy - and in his opinion hadn't been cleared for some years - but otherwise would need a camera / IR camera inspection if the problem with smoke persisted.

The third time we lit the fire after getting the chimney swept it was again very smoky, and at this point we alerted the landlord via his private office/secretary. Letting agent not involved at this stage.

Weeks passed with no word back so in late December (!) I called to find out what was going on, and was told that they were in the process of getting quotes to have the chimney lined, but these probably wouldn't be completed until after Christmas. Fine, no problem, just glad they were being proactive.

Last week I again had to chase the office/secretary for an update, only to be told that the matter had been referred to our letting agent. I then called him, and was told the following -

• The quotes they had received to line the chimney were very expensive - some upwards of £8000
• Therefore it is not financially justifiable to line the chimney
• Use of the fireplace is revoked with immediate effect because of safety concerns
• A £10 reduction in rent will be offered off of our £1200pcm rent by way of offsetting the rise in heating oil.

I am absolutely fuming, we adore having an open fireplace and I am gutted to lose it so shortly after moving into the house. We had plans to stay put for the foreseeable future, and the open fireplace was a massive draw. The offer of £10 a month off our rent has been rejected and we have told the letting agent in no uncertain terms that the situation is unacceptable, and that we would be seeking professional advice on the matter.

However, I am also left scratching my head over a number of things:
Why did the landlord immediately jump to lining the chimney before inspection work has been carried out? Eg: did he know there was a problem before we moved in?
How have they got these quotes, and where from? No one has set foot in our property and I would argue that these cannot be accurate based on never having seen the fireplace/chimney/property.
A fireplace is classed as a working combustion appliance, and as such surely the landlord is obligated, by law, to ensure it is in safe working repair as it was when we moved into the property?
And finally, how can he justify offering us just 0.8% off our rent when the open fireplace surely would have increased the rental value of the property by much more than that? Some figures quote 5%.

The CAB, chimney sweep and general online scoping have been helpful and all agree he is accountable for repairs, and we certainly have a strong argument to put forward in this regard, but the actual law on these matters is also stupidly ambiguous - technically the landlord IS responsible for the maintenance and repair of the building structure, and this extends to chimneys and flues, but the letting agent is arguing that his responsibilities end with providing a heat source, and as we have a central heating system he is under no obligation whatsoever to continue providing use of the fire.

Can anyone offer some solid advice/knowledge/law on this before I go back formally with a request for works to be carried out?

Thanks.

The chimney was working OK last winter though, so it was working when you moved in. The problems have happened since.

If I was you I would be disappointed, but you cannot force them to repair it

Contrary to popular belief it is the LL who is supposed to get the chimney swept.

Ours never did we never asked, just got it done. Once we had a chat with the local sweep we bought brushes and DIYd it. We did get the LL to build a cage over the top though, jackdaws are a pain and can fill up a chimney pretty quickly!

I think you should start looking floor alternative accommodation tbh. It’s unlikely he’ll renew your tenancy. He might decide to get a wood burner (c £3k) if he feels this is a good investment. But you have adequate heating and used the fire very infrequently. The fact he is wealthy is neither here nor there. That property is there to make money for him and he will want to maximise profit.

8k to reline the chimney is rubbish on a standard 3 bedder. If it is a straight reline should be about 2k. If he is looking at putting a stove in then you can add the cost of a stove on top which of course would vary. I would consider getting some localised quotes yourself and if they are significantly different to 8K send them in and see if they will reconsider. I bet the agency have whacked a % on for managing it which is a bit overinflated

But yes other than that move on

A chimney sweeping kit is on amazon for less than £20.

I would buy that and sweep it myself. We burn a lot of wood and sweep the chimney monthly, it only takes 10-20 mins.

Burning unseasoned wood will also cause soot and crap to build up faster.

I think you need to start looking for somewhere else. They are highly unlikely to renew when the time comes up.

You could try ringing environmental health for advice. They deal with disrepair issues in private rented property. They could say that as you have central heating, it's not regarded as significant disrepair and decline to get involved.

I think your tenancy may be recent enough to come within the change to the law that prevents landlords getting "revenge evictions" when tenants have reported disrepair to environmental health, but I'd do a quick google to check before you get the council involved.

It won't be an eviction, just not renewing when the current AST comes to an end! That doesn't need a reason!

'I think your tenancy may be recent enough to come within the change to the law that prevents landlords getting "revenge evictions" when tenants have reported disrepair to environmental health, but I'd do a quick google to check before you get the council involved.'

And the LL can still elect not to renew the tenancy when it's up for renewal. So he'll stall and then not renew. Job done.

YANBU. I’d push for someone to come out and look at it.

He could easily turn round and say that it is a safety issue (which it is) and tap the chimney off. He has offered you a reduction, I don't think that you can make him do anything. I don't suppose for a minute that says that there is a working and checked open fireplace in the house. IMO no landlord would want to bother offering that to a tenant anyway, far too much bother.

I've just been looking at costs for this kind of work. I've had a chimney swept, cost me £55. Passed smoke bomb check.
Lining it would cost around £500, this is a simple 2 bed terrace type property.
£8k sounds steep. It also sounds like they just don't want to do it and would prefer you to use the other heating available.