Landlord Gas Safety Check - Access

[rinefitz]

Hi, just a quick fill in of my current situation, Landlord is selling property so we have given one months notice and will be moving to another property at the end of the month. Within the period of 1.5 weeks I received a letter from agent asking if a valuation could be carried out, a gas safety check, a prospective buyer could look round, a energy efficiency survey carried out and agent come round to measure and take pictures etc. Breath......!

Anyway that was fine except I forgot to be in for the gas safety inspection as it was in the evening and I got mixed up with that and the energy efficiency one. He left a note and as we were arranging move etc I did not ring back as 101 things on mind. The other night at 8.15 the gas man turns up unannounced! I am pregnant so in bed knackered,my 2 children are in bed and my husband (who works earlys) is just about to get into bed! So begrudgingly my husband goes down to answer the door to the gas man who then tries to presuade my husband to let him in, my husband says its not convenient, heres phone no, please can we arrange something more suitable. ie: not in middle of evening!! He left but took a while of my husband saying no! before he got the message. Had crabby letter from agent today charging us �30 as we didnt let gas man in 1st time round and that they are going to rearrange appt and if its not convenient to us then they will give him a key to let himself in. My question is this guy only works for agents between 6-8 as he works in the day. I have always been happy for inspections/checks etc and have always given access I am just annoyed by this incident and is there any thing protecting me as a tenant so I can say - you can come in the early evening but not at night to inspect gas??! Sorry for long story!!

[Twenty20]

Yes, there are things you can do to prevent this.

Firstly, youre not obliged to let anyone into your home whether its an agent on a visit, prospective purchasers or the gas safety person. It would obviously be in your own interest to allow the person doing the gas safety check in and the LL has a legal responsibility to get it done annually.

Secondly, I'd write to the LL or agent telling them that youre not accepting a fine for not letting someone into your home. Legally they cant do this. You can smooth this over a bit by saying your willing to let essential visits to your home at a time to suit you. If the LL or agent has any sense they'll accept this compromise.

Next, the agent cannot give keys to anyone else to enter your home. This is definitely a no-no and you should tell the agent this quite firmly. Any decent agent or LL should know this already. The only time they could enter would be for an emergency e.g. gas leak etc.

Be firm with these people - too many agents etc think they have a right to enter your home, they dont. I would also stress being reasonable and if you can accommodate a certain number of visits then I'm sure it would be appreciated but dont let them bully you into it. If you want to give access it should be on your terms and at a time that suits you.

[flyciderman]

Twenty20 Are you sure about your statment "Not obliged to let anyone in ...... or the gas safety persont "

If tenant refused acces the landord would not be able to deal with his legal obligations.

Do not most aggrements allow for access given resonable notice, also make mention of access in an emergancy?

I do agree that a landlord can not just walk in at will

[gasman]

And what about the poor gasman who has tried twice now to get in and wasted his time, petrol and lost his pay because you forgot !!! He will have billed the letting agent for this time and sombody has to pay for it. When people make appointments and do not keep them I always charge for a failed entry unless there is a genuine reason for the missed appointment such as an unexpected hospital visit or death in the family etc... If you got to work and then did not get paid just because someone forgot to meet you. You would not be happy would you.

[Twenty20]

Yes flyciderman I'm sure, though a lot of LLs ignore it and pressure the tenant to give them access.

If the tenant refuses to allow a gas safety check all the LL can do to protect himself is to be able to show that he made every reasonable effort to gain legal access. The gas safety check, although a legal requirement for the LL, isnt an emergency and therefore you cannot force entry. There would have to be a complete breakdown in tenant/LL relationship for the tenant to refuse access for a gas safety check though, so in most cases the tenant will sensibly allow access at a convenient time.

There have been a few discussions on the LL forum about how LLs should protect themselves from prosecution for failing to provide a safety certificate in cases such as this here.... http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/forums/forumdisp lay.php?f=3

There is also much advice on that forum about unfair charges, gaining access etc.