Tenants and Gas Inspection

[Irishgurl]

We have given our tenants notice that we are not renewing their lease when it expires in May. This is more than the required notice. We have asked repeatedly (Texts and three letters) to allow the gas company in to undertake the required gas checks which are due for end February. Tenant doesn't reply. Obviously we will not just enter the property but what else can I do? Tenant has previously answered texts, always paid on time. We are aware they don't want to move and have lived there 4 years but we are going to sell the property so cannot extend the lease when it runs out.Have offered to give them a good reference but I'm now very disappointed with them.

Negative equity= house is worth less than the amount borrowed against it. Meaning the deceased has left a debt to be repaid. A debt owning to the mortgage company.

You can enter in an emergency and I'm sure that an annual gas inspection could possibly count as such. It is for the tenants benefit and is a legal requirement.
If you did it on the last day the old one was valid, I'm sure there is no way you would be in breach of the contract.
Landlordzone in an excellent place for advice.

I am also overseas for work for a few years. It makes sense both for me and a tenant for me to rent my house out. I wouldn't sell it as the costs wouldn't be worth it in that time frame. Where I live your unfurnished house has a council tax discount for a few months and then goes back to normal. I rent overseas because it isn't worth buying. Renting has pluses and minuses.
Hope you get cert sorted out OP.

Thanks for the replies. Incidentally , we have offered that if the tenants could offer market value for the house , we would seriously consider an offer from them. We also confirmed no viewings from estate agents or potential purchasers until the end of their tenancy as it would seem intrusive. They haven't replied to anything.

In the UK some landlords don't feel much of a responsibility to their tenants so op isn't unusual. In other countries renting is set up much more favourably. It is considered your home long term and you wouldn't just decide to sell and throw them out.

It's the tenants home and they've been paying the mortgage for the last four years

It's the tenants temporary home and they've been paying the rent (which may pay the mortgage) for the last four years.

You can enter in an emergency and I'm sure that an annual gas inspection could possibly count as such. It is for the tenants benefit and is a legal requirement.
If you did it on the last day the old one was valid, I'm sure there is no way you would be in breach of the contract.

An emergency is just that - an emergency. Something unforeseen. Fire, flood, structural damage etc. Not a planned gas inspection.

Hmmm. I used to living in a housing association flat. They'd send a letter giving me the date of the gas inspection, but if you ignored it or kept cancelling they would send another letter saying that they would be entering to do the inspection and you didn't have any choice . Don't know if that's legal or not?

They'd have gone to court and got the right to enter from that.

you dont have to have a valid gas certificate in England to do a section 21 notice....we did a section 21 last year and the tenant wouldnt let us in either. we just had to prove that we had attempted to do it,,,,ie show 2 letters we sent to her. The legal people said not to send letters that needed her to sign - if she just ignored the post man she wouldnt get them (normal post just goes through the letter box of course).

In your circumstances i would serve the section 21 notice now and then that will save time. otherwise it can take 7 months plus if you wait and see if they leave when the tenancy ends

Can you text and explain that the gas certificate is a legal requirement for their own safety and although you have given them notice you still as a landlord need to protect their safety in the house - even for a few months.

It seems perverse that some landlords act illegally- not all but a few- and op is acting legally to do this and is being prevented by the tenant

Op I would contact your district council private housing sector, email them and explain you are trying to get the gas certificate organised and are being thwarted by the tenant refusing to respond

On one count they will help

On two counts you have proof your doing your upmost to get this legally required certificate

In the UK some landlords don't feel much of a responsibility to their tenants so op isn't unusual. In other countries renting is set up much more favourably. It is considered your home long term and you wouldn't just decide to sell and throw them out.

Lots of misconceptions about renting abroad on this site.
Selling the property (as OP is doing) returning to the family home, requiring the property for a family member are all grounds to terminate the contract (whatever its length) in other EU countries. In fact, UK renters with a long fixed term contract have MORE protection than those in eg Belgium because it is almost impossible for a landlord to terminate the lease before the fixed term has ended.

Similar misconceptions on Mumsnet regarding rent controls etc in EU.

@jimmyhill Now they're getting chucked out and the landlord wants to have gas engineers barging in at her own convenience.
It's a legal requirement to have a gas certificate for their safety and to comply with the law. If they died because of a gas leak the ll can go to jail for not ensuring the certificate was up to date.
You really need to inform yourself.

Now they're getting chucked out and the landlord wants to have gas engineers barging in at her own convenience
Yeah, how dare the landlord to want to spend money on a gas inspection to be sure that their tenant is safe from a possible gas leak or explosion. Very unfair to the tenants. Sorry Jimmy but you need to stop assuming any steps taken by landlords is purely for the purpose of being a nuisance to their poor, vulnerable tenants.

@EssentialHummus and the LL would love to go to jail for negligence

@ILoveMaxiBondi a gas certificate is a legal requirement that needs to be enforced by the LL.

@jimmyhill you simply don't get it do you?
A gas certificate is a legal requirement that need to be updated every year.
Houses don't explode but people can die by carbon monoxide poisoning.
LL's can go to jail.

www.rla.org.uk/ every ll should belong to one or other landlord associations this way they know the rules & have advice (by phone as well) or the legal way to do things. Gas servicing is a safety checks are a legal requirement & obviously a safety issue protecting the tenant. It isn't about inconvenience and to treat it as such is not sensible. Section 21 take time up to 6 months if a tenant chooses not to leave. If you rent you don't own the property nor do you have the cost of care for the property upkeep - there can be many reasons why a ll might want you to leave & there have been times when Housing Associations & Council have given notice to tenants - a lot of council no longer give life tenancy & if main tenant dies other adult members of family who live with them can find themselves evicted without the right of being offered alternative council accommodation. (this happened to a friend of a friend of mine)

you’re not telling me anything I don’t already know. Why are you telling me this?

That was to @BlueJag

I'm stunned at pp who think that either tenants or LL can just ignore the annual gas safety check. No they can't and they shouldn't be able to.

*Jimmy
*
If there is no gas safe cert for a rented property the building insurance is invalid.

So if a gas leak occurred and god forbid an explosion as a result of that, the OP has lost her property whilst maybe still paying a mortgage on it.

But hey, so long as the tenants made their point and didn't provide access to a home they don't own for their own safety then it's fine eh?

There isn't enough council property to meet needs. People can't afford to buy. So let's
Penalise the landlords eh?

Houses can explode over a gas leak. There's been a couple over the course of the last few years.

A gas explosion can total a house and surrounding houses.

Landlordzone is the right place to go. Firstly the tenant should have signed on the AST that the landlord can enter the property for essential maintenance and repairs provided 24 hours notice is given. The Gas cert is essential and a legal requirement. If there was an issue the landlord would be taken to court. Secondly just giving notice that a lease will not be renewed is not the way to do it. Did the tenant have an Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement? You should serve a section 21 Notice giving at least 2 clear months notice that you require possession of your house. There are a lot of emotional responses on here, another reason why it is the wrong forum. Of course, the house is a home and most landlords respect this. You have no idea why the landlord wants the house back. Mostly it is for economic reasons, a small landlord is not a charity

@BlueJag

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-41374322

Houses explode. That was very close to me.

@AleFailTrail more reason to have the gas installation up to date with a gas certificate.
It is a very serious matter for everyone. Also carbon monoxide monitor.
It's too risky.