To think this is really rude?

[Evielucy2019]

Hi,

Back story is, I’ve been in my private rental property for 4 months now. Still no heating and hot water due to issues with debt on the meter from the previous tenancy (prepayment meter). It was all in the Landlady’s name but she didn’t sort it before I moved in so I had to do it when I put it into my name. It has taken ages to get sorted, phone calls and emails to the supplier, something that should of been simple ended up taking ages, my gas card was faulty too so just long delays.

When I moved in There was no gas safety check on the property. It had expired. apparently it didn’t matter because there was no actual gas being supplied to the property. landlady said as soon as I got my gas on, her gas safety engineer would come out to do the gas safety check and service the boiler.

Made an appointment with gas engineer. thought I had the gas sorted, turned out I didn’t, so I had to cancel the gas engineer coming out.

Had a message from the Landlady saying I shouldn’t be cancelling contractors without 24 hours notice and that he is self employed and has lost out on money because of me doing this and it’s not fair because he has children. It wasn’t my fault as I only realised the morning he was meant to be coming out that the gas wasn't actually activated and I wouldn’t of cancelled otherwise.

Now since then the gas engineer won’t give me a proper date or time of when he can come out. It’s always ‘I should be able too this week’ or ‘I’ll let you know’ but then he just never gets back to me and is ignoring me.

I’m getting really fed up because I have a 2 year old and it’s starting to get colder, we need heating and hot water. There is money on the gas meter now but I have no idea how to work the boiler on and it’s not safety checked so really I shouldn’t be using it till it is

Anyway, the bit I think is rude is I messaged the contractor earlier saying I wondered if we could make a firm appointment and his response was ‘I can’t make an exact appointment with you, I have 5 people before you. Now, if you don’t cancel I will come out on Tuesday next week’

I feel like this is really rude. Plus in my opinion There should of been gas on and a gas safety check before we moved in.

Jeez, I'd be out there like a flash.

You shouldn't even be organising the gas check
your slum landlord should.

Phone environmental health. They will be on to her like a fly on shit.

We have okay landlords but we go through the letting agents and we were without heating in March for a week so I phone EH and asked my next steps. As it was the LL confirmed that day they'd get the radiator fixed but if they hadn't even given us a date/ or if they were going to put it off being fixed EH were going to be on their case.

EH take these matters seriously.

I hope you have somewhere you can shower etc. This is not on

Thank you. I’m getting so fed up of it now. The house is so drafty and I’m worried at this rate we won’t have hearing or hot water even by winter. I highly doubt the gas engineer is going to come Tuesday because every time it’s been arranged since I had to cancel he has let me down or ignored me. He complained about me to the Landlord because I had to cancel and since then it seems he doesn’t want to come. Not only that the fire in the living room is condemned. It will be freezing if it doesn’t get sorted soon

My Landlady is always singing the contractors praises and says ‘none of my other tenants have these issues’ which I think is so unfair. I was really annoyed when she said that because I shouldn’t be even having to sort it in the first place, like you said. It’s really not my responsibility. When we moved in, the house was absolutely filthy. She had done nothing. I had to stay at my mums with my daughter before we even moved in for a few weeks to get it ready to move into. There was no smoke alarms either. My dad had to fit them.

Luckily we have an electric shower. The bathroom window doesn’t even shut properly which also happened before I moved in but is yet to be sorted. So it’s cold in there at night too

Oh my goodness. It just gets worse and worse.

Get straight onto the phone to EH. Because of your daughters age as well they will contact your LL. Your LL will probably move things along then.

Where did you find this property? No smoke alarms! Please you need to report her. Go to your local council too.

They are utter cunts. Are you a single mum?

@BlueberrySugar it’s just awful, I am having to sort all the basic things that should be done before a new tenant moves in.

No smoke alarms, the ones up didn’t work. She promised me one her contractors would come and fit them but that I was to arrange with him a mutually convenient date to come out and fit them but again couldn’t get hold of him and my dad had to do them. Her excuse was ‘all good contractors are busy and he needs reminding, he has a back log of work’. But it is basic safety and a legal requirement. I really can’t believe her cheek!! I think she is all about the money. The problem is if I give notice I have no where to move too. There is hardly any rental properties on the market

@pelosi yes, it’s just me and my daughter living here. She is so rude about it. I had put up safety gates and she said ‘oh, you’ve put up safety gates. I hope they won’t damage the walls’. It really is unbelievable. She clearly has a lack of care about our health and safety

Sorry, tried to name change but it didn’t work that’s why the two usernames!

Were you given the correct documentation when you moved in? Gas Safety Cert? Deposit Protection Scheme details? Your Rights doc (can’t remember exact name)?

If not, contact Shelter and get advice on your tenancy - you seem to have a Slum Landlord but my goodness, you have some serious rights.

The way the landlord is treating you isn't right at all. Having a tenant in their house with no gas is all levels of wrong.

I'm not sure what to advise re your rights as a tenant. But I can only suggest you look for somewhere else to live as this landlord is awful.

I have a friend in a rental flat. The agent asked her when would it be convenient for the electrician to come to do the check. She gave the agent a 2pm appointment on a specific day and this was agreed. It involved taking the afternoon off work and losing a half days leave. She was home from work by 1pm but the electrician did not show up. She learned from a neighbour that he called at 10 am! This is really taking the piss coming 4 hours early and expecting a working person to be there.

When she complained she got a load of drivel about how she should "be more flexible" and that the contractor had complained because he came early and there was no one home.

She now dug her heels in and refused another appointment until the agent/LL agrees to cover her loss of pay for a second appointment. Appointments are something that is agreed on by both parties, not dictated by one

You have so many rights and she has breeched so many of her regulations. Honestly, you could get her in so much shit and I would!

I had the letting agents phone me yesterday and say can a plumber come out on x date. Yes no problem. The letting agent always phone me and arrange appointments for a good/suitable day. That being for gas checks, inspections, plumbers etc.

Please phone EH and let them know what exactly is happening. This is not acceptable or humane!

Speaking as a landlord you need to report her - if there's no up to date gas safety certificate then she's breaking the law.

'By law landlords must carry out an annual gas safety check and provide tenants with a copy of the record of that check. New tenants should receive a copy before they move in and existing tenants should get a copy within 28 days of the annual check being done you don't have a current gas safety record you can report to HSE via form LGSR11_.'

It's the same with her failure to fit smoke alarms:
On 1 Oct 2015 the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015 came into force. From that date, private rented sector landlords have been required to have at least one smoke alarm installed on every floor of their properties and a carbon monoxide alarm in any room where solid fuel is used. After that, the landlord must make sure the alarms are in working order at the start of each new tenancy.

Have you received a copy of the EICR (electrical safety certificate)? T

If you rented through a letting agency I would write to them explaining that you have no gas nor is there an up to date gas a gas safety certificate. Also mention about there being no smoke alarms.

There are several things that are in breach of the law at the moment - make sure you put everything into writing and get a receipt/proof of postage.