It’s far simpler to leave the white goods in situ. Most tenants will not have their own and the cost of removing them is not far off the cost of replacing them if they go wrong.
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In every single situation in over 20 years of letting 5 properties, the opposite has been true for me. It entirely depends on your market.
I charge for a furnished house
I understand if you provide inventory you are responsible for its upkeep
When a fridge freezer broke down the tenants wanted me to pay for their damaged food
My solicitor advised you are responsible for inventory
The tenants should have insurance for their own stuff including food damage
If you gift it , we’ll then it’s the tenants responsibility and they can take it when they leave
I’ve been told that at conferences and webinars too
I’m sorry to hear that.
Why would you be sorry to hear that?
The inventory is just part of the tenancy contract, (if worded correctly). It doesnt trump the rest of the contract. Its laudable that you take responsibility for repairing goods provided to the tenant and so do I. I would agree that its usually good practice. However, it is possible to opt out of repairing them by including a clause in the agreement that relies on the s11 exemption.
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I think I will stick to the advice of the legal experts but thank you anyway
neither is there yearly pat testing in law
In HMOs there are
Last year I was given a different perspective by a fire inspector, on a different matter, but the advice was pertinent (he was the father of one of my student tenants ) . He alleged, before Grenfell it would not matter. After Grenfell, one should be very cautious and look at everything through the victims perspective
Should anything go wrong this is how it will be portrayed …
In court you will be asked by the victims legal team how much is pat testing and then you will be asked how much is the cost of human life
It will never pan out in your favour
For a £1 an item ….
The amount of items that fail every year is surprising ( especially microwaves and sometimes they’re only 12 months old )
Since Grenfell our local university mandate students have their items pat tested before they can take occupation of their room
The way I look at this is that if the good in the property belong to you - you can be helped legally responsible for then.
This could be white good furniture , carpets etc.
If you let unfurnished can of of course gift them unconditionally to your tenants and then they are full responsible for them if they accept the gift. They can take them withem when they leave if they wish but you then have no further responsibility for them.
You can also sell them to your tenants but then they have all the rights of purchasers - so make sure everything is safe at the time at the sale.You cannot force a tenant to buy or accept such goods as a gift and if they are not part of the tenant agreement they can ask you to remove them in a reasonable after they occupy the flat.and if you don’t do so they can sell them and keep the proceeds.
What you can’t do is leave them in the flat as a “bonus” the tenants have to accept - puts you in the wrong legally.
I personally provide a fridge, freezer, cooker in the flats I let and I maintain them (but expect a tenant to pay f they damage them by misuse) . These I treat as fixtures. But I do not include anything else in the inventory, carpets curtains etc) belonging to me - I gift them (as they are) unconditionally to the tenants if they want them and remove them if they don’t want them I remove them.
So far this has worked OK.
Hello I am interesting ,but my bugget is 1,300 pounds,I have an appointment
I agree that on a moral level landlords should take responsibility for the maintenance of goods they provide. However, the OP asked whether they must repair them, and the answer is no, provided they are left in a safe condition and its clear from the contract that this will be the case.
ideally stay away from white goods entirely.
if its fitted appliances you are kind of stuck, even then I stay away from wash/c and dishwasher usually saying they are yours to use but if they break we will not support them. fitted ovens and hobs are easy to change out
even then I do often put a free standing cooker in a flat as it saves the vinyl inevitably being ripped when they change out.
incidentally PAT tests dont apply to the big appliances they are considered fixtures