To move house asap and consider suing estate agent/landlord?

[OhWhatAPalaver]

We rent a house, have lived here around two and a half years. In January of this year we had a new kitchen fitted, which was badly needed. We thought everything was fine until we noticed a strange smell. Initially thought something had died underneath the cupboard or something but we had a gas safety check and they found a pretty bad gas leak, which is apparently now fixed. However, I happened to also buy a new kettle a fews days after the gas leak had been fixed. When I unplugged the old one (which wasn't actually very old at all, it was just crap) I was shocked find one of the holes in the plug socket all burned and blackened and there was black stuff all over the prong of the kettle plug as well. Now alarm bells are ringing. We had a gas leak and an electrical fault literally right next to each other. The kitchen could have exploded, we could have died or been seriously injured. We arranged for the landlord /letting agent to get someone in to check the plugs. They did and said all were fine and it was 'cosmetic damage.' I didn't believe them for one minute so we asked our neighbour who is an electrician and he said it absolutely would not have passed the safety check as it will be a loose connection. Not only have the people who fitted the kitchen done a seriously unsafe job but the electrician who came to check a burned plug said it was fine. I'm fuming.
Where do we go from here? We've not told the letting agent yet. Needless to say I am absolutely furious with them for putting my family in serious danger. My partner wants to sue. I just want to get the hell out. Thankfully our contract is open ended so we can just move whenever but I'm not entirely sure how to proceed other than get toon rightmove straight away!

This does sound a bit of an over-reaction OP, possibly due to the fright. Am I right in thinking that your neighbour who is the electrician has not actually examined anything, he's just told you what the likely fault is?

You haven't suffered any loss so you can't sue - it's up to the LL if they want to pursue it with the contractors who fitted the kitchen. You can put your concerns in writing to the letting agent who should pass it on to the LL.

I am guessing the people who are asking 'sue for what' have never rented. It actually costs a lot to move even when renting. Deposit, random fees, moving van, maybe time off work to sort things out etc. You need a couple of thousand quid at least. Even renting with a flexible lease doesn't mean you can just walk into a new property the next day. If the landlord paid for dodgy workers then he or she should pay for moving cost as the place is unsafe. I expect that is what they mean by 'suing'.

I do not think you have a case tbh.

Landlord’s contracors installed a new kitchen. There was a subsequent gas leak. This was resolved promptly without injury to you or your family.

There was a subsequent electrical fault in one plug. Landlords called a qualified electrician who reported that there was only cosmetic damage and no underlying problem. You dispute this on the basis of what your next door neighbour, also an electrician has said. But there is nothing to indicate that your next door neighbour’s opinion is more accurate than that of the other electrician.

It sounds to me as if landlord and their agents have acted promptly and reasonably at all times. Any new kitchen or bathroom installation involve teething problems. These now seem to be resolved.

If you have ongoing concerns about the electrical installations you need to go back to the landlord and their agents. It would be reasonable to ask for an electrical safety certificate.

You would have no justification for moving out. And suing - for what exactly?- would be a waste of time, energy and money.

You have no financial losses so no grounds to sue. You could use what has happened to ask if you can come to a mutual agreement with your LL to end your tenancy so you can move but they don't have to accept it.

Have all the required safety certificates been issued for the tenancy and has the deposit being properly protected?

Contact your council housing team. They can do a proper examination and intervene with your landlord if necessary.

I have rented, I've also been a LL at the same time.

You're being over-dramatic. There is no basis for believing your kitchen could have exploded and you could all have died. Unless your neighbour is willing to write a report (using his professional registration) stating he thinks the socket was unsafe and that it was caused by negligent work then his opinion is worthless tbh.
You could also ask for another gas check but again unless you had a report that said the builders were negligent and their work caused the gas leak then I'm not sure what you expect the LL to do about it. It may seem 'obvious' to you that everything was caused by the builders but you actually need a paper trail showing liability. Or, you need the opposite, a paper trail of new electrical checks and gas safety checks to reassure you.

Yes Spotting but contract isn't with the OP, it's with the landlord or the letting agent. The OP's contract is with the landlord.

OP, I presume your contract is with the landlord so they're ultimately responsible. I'd be livid if I were you.

You are being ridiculously over dramatic. Sue for what? You can't sue for what might have happened. There was a gas leak. It was fixed.

The kettle short circuited and damaged the socket. That will be the kettle that was at fault (I had a crap kettle that did the same thing).

As long as the LL had gas safety checks done you have no grounds for any action of any kind. Electrical safety certificates aren't obligatory except for HMOs. You have a new kitchen. Nothing bad has happened to you. Just chill the fuck out.

Of course you can look for another rental if you aren't happy where you are, but you really can't sue anyone for anything.

Yes all the moving costs cost money but they are expenses you chose to have if yoy chose to leave and will eventually have anyway so they will not form part of any claim.

As suggested above pay for an independent report on the state of the electrics and see what it says. If there is an issue you can claim for the report, the kettle (if it was not a faulty kettle) and the enforce any repair required.

@bookmum08 - you're guessing incorrectly: I've rented and I cannot see the OP has suffered a loss she can sue for pure and simple.

I think it may depend on whether the property is managed by the LL or the LA. If the agent manages it, then the LL is paying them to get all inspections done, hire contractors, etc and I would say they are liable for any issues. If the LL is managing, then all the LA did was advertise it and find a tenant, so the LL is liable.

@Piffle11 liable for what exactly? There have been no losses suffered. The LL/agent hasn't presumably broken the law (issues were fixed/checked when they arose/ the LL presumably has gas safety certficate/ the electrics don't require a certificate they just have to have no obvious issues such as broken sockets - and before the kettle incident there is nothing to suggest there was a problem so no laws broken).

There is no reason for anyone to think that the house is currently dangerous so no need for the OP to leave - so no claim there either.

This kind of thing crops up from time to time on here - if you owned the house, you'd look to get it fixed, not move.

@thecatneuterer er, liable to make sure all is ok? Make sure the gas safety cert is up to date? I didn't mention a claim. Maybe calm down?

wowfudge what I was meaning was that the OP may not have the money to move. Although she hasn't actually lost money she would have to find (borrow /get a loan) money if she doesn't have those few £1000s.

Well we are presuming the gas certificate is fine - the OP hasn't said otherwise. And he's got an electrician in to look at the electrics. I'm not sure what else you/the OP would expect.

OP - what exactly would you like the LL to do? I'm not having a go, I'm honestly just trying to understand.

And Piffle - I'm perfectly calm thank you. What an odd comment.

(as an aside Piffle, I haven't heard the word 'piffle' since my grandma died - she used to say it all the time - mainly to my grandad - no one else in world seems to use it - so it's nice to be reminded of it.)

@bookmum08 that's exactly what anyone who wants to move for whatever reason has to do. Seems an overreaction to move because this has happened. Get it fixed and move on.

You can't sue because of something that MIGHT have happened

Compensation by definition is to repay for the loss encountered due to the actions of another person/entity.

Nothing actually happened OP, your DP is an idiot tbh, there is no basis to sue for anything.

Why not speak to the letting agent and bring them up to speed? why not speak to CAB to see what obligations the agent has to you to protect you from shoddy contractors?

I don’t think you can sue for something that could have happened.. I’d be furious too though.

it's the kitchen fitters who caused the initial issue but they landlord hired them and they were an inappropriate company to use for a kitchen as the specialised in bathrooms

What a daft comment. Most kitchen fitters are also bathroom fitters and vice versa. There is no reason to think that one that happens to do a few more bathrooms than kitchens would be no good for fitting kitchens. Shit happens during construction work - it doesn't mean that the fitters were no good, and it sure as hell doesn't mean that the person hiring the fitters could have reasonably foreseen what would happen. What matters is that the problem was promptly fixed.

You can sue for defective workmanship. Leaving an unsafe electrical supply and a gas leak is pretty defective. Posters are so passive and accepting.