I moved into a 12 month AST in August 2021. I immediately asked for TDS documents after moving in, after 2 weeks had gone by with no documents, myself and my flatmates became alarmed. I have now asked for TDS documents over email every 2 weeks since moving in. Our property management agency either ignores it or says ‘[someone in accounts will send them over’.
We have had repeated issues with the upstairs flat’s bathroom, which they also manage, leaking into our flat’s bathroom through the light openings which seems incredibly dangerous. They refuse to come out and look at it.
Since we have moved in, the oven seems very dangerous with the hot wire from the grill slightly bent outwards towards the door. This had even burned the rubber seal around the over off in that area. At the weekend I was cooking and have severely burnt my arm after touching the hot wire. I have 2nd degree burns that are are found 3" x 1" on my forearm. I had never complained about the oven as as you can tell - nothing ever gets done about my complaints. Are the property management liable for not checking for health and safety hazards before we moved in? Or as I didn’t complain, its my own fault?
As you can tell, they’re a bit of a nightmare and any help would be appreciated! I’m planning on taking action regarding the TDS documents at the end of my tenancy as I don’t want things to sour now but should I be pushing regarding the burns and ignored complaints?
The property sounds dangerous. Why didn’t you complain earlier about the oven? Yes, it should have been checked, but it might have been missed and you should have alerted them to such a dangerous fault immediately. You need to deal with this urgently. If you want, you can speak to a solicitor about whether you would have a compensation claim. Did you get a copy of the Electrical Inspection Condition Report for the property when you moved in? If not, then the landlord/agent has broken the law. It sounds as though they’ve also broken the law in regard to properly protecting the deposit as part of that process is to serve each tenant with a copy of the Deposit Prescribed Information. Honestly, I am not sure you should stay in this property. If its as bad as you say, I would call in the Environmental Health department and negotiate to end your tenancy without penalty.
Thanks for your response. We didn’t complain about the oven as we were regularly emailing about so many other faults that just went unrepaired that at this point it just seemed futile. I really regret not sending the email about it now after being burned by it.
I will check the documentation but I’m pretty sure we didn’t receive the Electrical inspection condition report. In previous experiences renting, I’ve only prioritised Gas certification and the TDS which now I realise there was more to double check. Regarding the compensation claim, should I act on that immediately regardless of still having 6 months of tenancy left?
I do feel like we should leave but with the rental market being as bad as it is right now, I fear we wouldn’t be able to find anywhere else to live within budget.
If you don’t complain now, you will have problems complaining later as the obvious question will arise, why didn’t you raise this earlier? You are dealing with an agent, they also have responsibilities and a reputation, so push this back on them by sending them a “Letter before Claim” notice telling them you intend to take them to the small claims court. On the health and safety issues, you should report these to the local council as a breach of the “Housing Health and Safety Rating System”, they should be able to come out and do an assessment. Did you get the EICR report and gas safety certificates?
I’m just nervous with our 6 months left and the housing market being as tough as it is, I may get served with a section 21 or something. I have complained consistently about the lack of TDS docs and I have a paper trail of that. I’m not sure with the oven that they will just say, why didn’t you complain? I have a list of 4 things I’m complaining about at any given time so it just seemed futile to add another.
He has just came back and said they’re looking at the oven tomorrow but that doesn’t change the fact that it has been dangerous for the past 6 months. Looking through my emails - I can’t see gas certificate or EICR documents ever emailed to me which is concerning
Yes, you must complain in writing about these faults to the landlord now. I don’t know whether you would be eligible for compensation as you didn’t report the fault to the landlord, but I would suggest you start looking for something else to rent immediately.
Yes, all complaints have been logged since Monday. Are you eligible for compensation for not receiving gas and EICR certs or is that just illegal for the landlord?
It is a criminal offence not to have done a gas safety certificate before you move in. Again, you should report this to the local council. The gas safety issue does not require you to have raised it as a complaint as this is a specific responsibility solely of the landlord, either they have complied or they haven’t. But you better check all your documents carefully first. When they do gas safety they should have also checked the gas appliances , although from what I can see it seems your oven is electric, so the oven would be a separate thing. You need to do one letter reporting ALL these problems to the council, don’t be half hearted.
You can certainly get compensation for not properly managing the deposit.
Not sure about the rest.
Have you contacted your upstairs neighbor about the leak? Not sure if you have to, but I personally would want to know in their position and having two people complaining can help.
