Should I report my neighbour's landlord over an unsafe boiler?

[bigfacthunter]

Downstairs neighbour is lovely but they’ve obviously got a shit landlord. The windows have lots of black mould, the patio door doesn’t close properly and the garage is completely fallen down. God knows what other issues inside.

A couple days ago I smelled gas outside so I called the gas board who sent out an engineer. He said it was the downstairs neighbours boiler. He said it’s not critically dangerous right now but that it is a very old boiler and it really needs checked asap. He said owner occupants have no obligation to check boilers but that landlords must have them checked every year. And given the state of the rest of the property I’m going to assume that’s not happening and not likely to happen.

Now when I look up the landlords register I see that the property is in fact not on it so I guess that means he’s not an official landlord. I’m not sure how to proceed with this info. Should I report him? All I want is to make him do basic safety checks but I’d feel awful if my neighbour got made homeless as a result. And then there’s the risk of my next neighbour being shit which would also be horrible. Part of me thinks “well you don’t know for sure that the boilers belonging to any of the owner occupiers in the building are taken care of so why should this one be a problem?” And the other part of me thinks if there was a horrendous gas explosion from the downstairs boiler that killed my child it would be all my fault for not chasing this up.

What do you think? Am I being a busybody/drama queen? Any reassurance from gas savvy people? It’s just letting off too much gas during ignition but once it’s up and running there’s no gas coming off it.

What are the repercussions for the landlord if he does get busted for not being above board? Does he just pay a little fine, pay for a license and repair the issues? Or is it a massive fine and would it force him to sell?

difficult situation and I get that OP.
can you report it out of concern for your safety, as ultimately if there is an issue that could impact you too

A faulty boiler could very well impact you.

This definitely needs reporting

If the LL does not get the boiler/gas checked every year by a registered engineer he is potentially in for a lot of trouble. Faulty gas boilers are potentially dangerous to all the flats in the building.

As this is your neighbour's flat they themselves must take action by first contacting their LL informing them of the situation and that they intend to take the matter further if they do not attends to it. You should have a serious talk with them and warn them of the danger.

If the LL fails to take action this can be followed up with the local authority environmental health or private renting team. The tenant cannot be revenge evicted for reporting this disrepair to the LA for the next 6 months. Evicting tenants is now a great deal harder for LLs.

Thanks for this. But as he’s not a registered landlord if I report him presumably he might either be forced to stop renting out the flat or sell up to avoid/cover fees?

im going to speak to my neighbour first, that’s the main thing

You need to get that boiler sorted one way or another for your own safety.

Do you mean he’s not on the list of licensed landlords. until very recently You didn’t have to get licensed and I don’t know if 100% of landlord actually need to be licensed. But it is illegal to rent a flat without a gas safety check. I would report it to your local environmental health.

Not all landlords need to be registered. All boroughs (in England at least) have rules on who does and doesn't need to register. In most of England, if you are just renting to one family group then you do not need to do it. However, you do need to get an annual gas safety check as a landlord (and ensure your property is upto date with the "latest" legislation) which was news to us when we first rented out our long term family home due to a temporary move abroad. We are not on any registers but I can assure you that we take our responsibilities seriously and pay a (not modest) fee to a good property management company each month for this reason!

Talk to your neighbour before contacting anyone yourself, give them the details from the gas board engineer (ideally in writing from him) which they can then query/show to their landlord.

How did the gas engineer know the neighbour has an old boiler? Did he enter their flat or see it through the window?

Our new-ish boiler releases a gas smell through the vent over the patio when it starts up. I was told it was nothing to worry about - like the smell you get when turning a gas hob on. But our previous boilers didn't do that. Boiler is checked annually so it's definitely not unsafe.

I would have thought an old boiler poses more of a risk of carbon monoxide, which is odourless.

Did not know these exemptions to registration! Thank you.

As it happens the landlord has taken it very seriously and the boiler has been condemned and is being replaced tomorrow morning. ❤️

Hey went in and saw the boiler.

So yes it’s very usual for a sometimes quite noticeable smell of gas when the boiler is first igniting. It’s also not unusual to get a tiny occasional whiff from your gas meter. But the gas engineers reading from the boiler flue was much higher than the usual amount.

Thankfully the boiler has now been condemned and is being replaced tomorrow.

That's a great update.

When our ndn boiler was making a lot of noise i rang none emergency police for advice . Google indicated possible gas leak or carbon monoxide. They told me to ring 999 and get the fire brigade out. There is a British Gas number for suspected gas leaks.
Ring them when you next smell it. They will deal with him.

Excellent news. I hope this restores your faith in their landlord!