As Mr T has said, write to them, say this ‘one off gesture payment of good will’ will not be repeated. Refer them to the AST which they were in violation of.
Remind them they broke the bleed valve and breakages and any damages are the tenant’s responsibility.
Additional any non authorised call out and resulting costs are their total responsibility and the landlord under no circumstances will pay this.
If you don’t you will regret it.
I suspect they had a go, broke it and wanted you to take the can.
In future if able pop over yourself to view the problem. As Colin has said a bleed vavle is easy to replce
Thank you @Mr_T@Brian7@Colin3. But changing the air vent myself wouldn’t make the radiator work again. The air vent wasn’t the cause of this problem I believe.
You absolutely need to put into writing that what they did was a breach of contract and that you were under no obligation whatsoever to pay them anything. Is bloody outrageous what they did. It’s not even that cold. Was it just one radiator? Or the radiators? I don’t have to use gas. An emergency electrical heater would’ve done it. Maybe you should supply them with an emergency electrical heater in case anything ever happens again. But this is a really big red flag of what you’ve got ahead of you, and you need to make it clear to them that they can’t just go hire people. Of course, if it was a gas safety issue, that’s different.
Ah just saw it was 2 radiators. How many did they have in total? I’m just flabbergasted at this. Who do they think they are? I always provide an emergency electric heater which I store in loft (for some reason I have lofts in all my properties) I don’t tell them it’s there but in an emergency let them know they can “use” it. Or tell them they can go buy one up to £60 & you will reimburse. Tenants are not entitled to central heating. They are entitled to some kind of fixed heating the electric or gas. And it’s very vague it doesn’t have to be a radiator in every single room. There is a flat above where I live where there is a rogue landlord who has absolutely no heating whatsoever in a maisonette with an 86-year-old man living there!! I’ve reported it over and over and over again to the council and no one will do anything about it. They are not entitled to that central heating. Get them out
One more thing. Perhaps you should change the means of communication with you. If you don’t want them to call you, you can tell them that the only way that they can contact you is in writing Unless it’s an emergency & spell out what an emergency is. These would be the same things that you as a landlord woujd be able go in without 24 hours notice. They have to be very serious. A fire, gas leak, a significant leak that can’t be shut off or coming from above etc that is actually detrimental to their safety or the structure of the building . (Again I’mNot a solicitor so seek advice) let them know you Do not want them calling you unless it’s an absolute emergency. Let them know you do not have to provide your email & if this privilege gets abused, they will have to write snail mail which will cost them a bob. Obviously, those are good ways to be in touch, but if they are abusing it, you can put your foot down. Obviously you have to be sure they have an address where they can contact you, obviously you probably don’t want to be your home address! Saying that, I’ve always given my home address. Use a mail direct company. They are set up for businesses to accept mail on your behalf. Again check the law on this. But you are boss on this (within the law) they are not!! Cheeky buggers!
These tenants sound awful. I think you need to use a section 21 whilst it is still available and get shot of them. In the current rental situation there are many decent tenants crying out for a good property and a fair landlord.
@Amy8 The heating system in my property is powered by electricity. We don’t have gas. They have 5 radiators in total. Can we actually not provide them central heating at all and maybe provide them a few electric heaters? Regarding an address that they can contact you by post, what address could you use if you don’t want to give them your home address?
How could you identify one? I am desperate to find a decent tenant. I have had several tenants before but they were all awful. The tenants before this current one stole and replaced my furniture with faulty ones. They have yet to agree to compensate me.
This is very confusing as all the discussions were based on bleeding radiators so I was under the impression they were gas fuelled. What kind of system do you have? In any event, a couple radiators not working out of 5 is no Emergency!!! The problem you have now is that you let the flat wity system that’s in place therefore have to maintain that but in an emergency you can replace with other heaters as long as you are being proactive getting tge problems fixed. This should be common sense to you. I’m not a solicitor so don’t take what I say as legal advice. You need to actually start reading and understanding your obligations as a landlord. I’m surprised how much you don’t know. If you supply tenants with the flat with certain items such as washing machine, fridge, central heating, obviously, you can’t just take that away from them
Maybe you need to look at your flat if it’s attracting awful tenants.
Issue also that you have now is that you’ve paid which means you’ve accepted liability. You never ever should’ve paid that.
Again, you need to get some advice legally or you need to do a hell of a lot of research about your Obligations as a landlord. It’s not for me to be taking my time telling you. You should’ve already investigated how your tenants can contact you. you can buy a business postal contact which you use as your legal point of contact.
I am very sympathetic to you concerning how your tenants have treated you and what they’ve done. By the way you do absolutely have to have some kind of fixed heating on the walls, again, not for me to be telling you this you should know it as a landlord. But you don’t have to have fixed heaters in every single room. And of course you’re allowed to supply standalone space heaters to compensate for any there or not fixed to the wall, but you have to have all of this Pat tested. I hope you have an EICR certification, And have landlord Gas Safety certification and done all of the correct things at the beginning of your contract serving them with the how to rent docs, EPC etc. If you haven’t, then you’re fucked. If you haven’t, you better get them immediately. Though since they’ve moved in already they could get you on gas safety certificate and EICR.
I get very frustrated with landlords who don’t actually know the most basic things. This is a really serious business. Your tenants have tons of rights.
If you don’t have those things in place, you haven’t got a keg ti stand on.
landlords are responsible for the maintenance and proper working order of all water, gas, electricity and sanitation installations as well as the space heating and water heating installations in a rental property.
However, there’s sometimes confusion when it comes to understanding liability, whenever a fault is found.
Heating
Simply put, tenants are entitled to central heating or other equipment for space heating (radiators, etc) in every occupied room of a property, and landlords are obligated to provide this. It’s worth noting there are legally required temperatures associated with this as well; when the temperature drops below minus 1°C, any rooms designated as bedrooms should have the facilities to be heated to a minimum of 18°C whilst any living rooms should be able to be heated to at least 21°C.
Thank you for your reply. The heating system is gas fuelled at the energy centre. My Heat network supplies my home with heat and hot water through a network of over and underground insulated pipes. What is in my property is a Heat Interface Unit which is about the same size as a gas boiler but it is just a unit to fetch energy in and out, no gas or whatsoever. I have all the required documents, EPC, EICR etc.
I would write a very strong letter to tenants letting them know that you had absolutely no obligation to pay that & wont be doing it in the future that it’s your property & it’s up to you to look after it & to hire contractors.
Get them to sign something saying they agree to it. If they refuse, serve notice on them. Tell them it was a very serious offence.
Yes, this is true (thanks for pointing out that it’s not mandatory) but with his tenants who are complete idiots, I would not supply them without it. If it’s straight from the shop then that should suffice?
And I would definitely write to them ASAP so they know you mean business & to head off anymore of this. They’ve just got away with it! Gees. Put a jumper on. Sorry if I sound harsh but I haven’t even turned my heating on this year yet!! The boiler is switched off at the wall except when I need a bath or washing dishes by hand.
No, I believe. The most relevant clause is the one below:
‘9.21. To notify the Landlord immediately regarding, and confirm in writing as soon as practical thereafter, any defect in the Premises which comes to the Tenant’s attention and which is the responsibility of the Landlord to repair. Failure to do so will result in the tenant having to pay the Landlord all liabilities which may be incurred by the Landlord as a result of any such defect not having been so notified.’
Break clause can be activated after 10 months written on the AST. Does that mean I can notify them after 8 months and end the tenancy after 10 months?