Comdemed oven - Landlord/tennant rights

dominatrix1

dominatrix1

dominatrix1

Associate
Joined
10 Jan 2006
Posts
483
Our oven recently had a gas leak I had the national grid come over and turn off the gas supply and today I had a gas engineer over to come and fix the oven however he had one look at the oven and as it was a commercial oven in a residential property deemed it unsafe due to lack of ventilation for a oven that size.

This now means that our whole kitchen has been condemned and we now have no where to cook. what are your rights as tenants ? are the property company in any way liable ?

We have a really nice house and do not want to **** off the land lord but i have a feeling we might not have a choice ?

any advice?
thanks
 
You'll have to check there isn't anything special in your contact but I would be very suprised if it were not the Landlords responsibility to get it back into working order. Its pretty standard, might even be law for the Landlord to have maintaince responsibility for all the fixtures and appliances when notified of the issue.
 
maccapacca said:
Why does every one run for their rights? Have you spoken to the landlord? he may not know, National Grid may be wrong.
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You're right

benjii said:
With issues that may cause tension, I'd rather know my rights first so I know where I stand.
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But so is he.

Surely who is more right depends on both how you approach it and the landlords attitude. I think you can look up what to expect without approaching your landlord/boss/doctor in a way that offends them.
 
There should be a valid gas safety certificate for the building which would cover any gas appliance in the building which of course would include the cooker. I would imagine that if there is a valid one in place then everything is ok if not then the penatly for breeching the regulations can be fines and or prison for the landlord. Landlords dont really takes this seriously at all but could quite easily be facing a manslaughter charge should someone lose their life, but maccapacca could be right national grid could be wrong and everything might be ok, if it isnt I would imagine you would have a good case for getting some discount on your rent :)
 
Do you mean commercial oven or do you mean a range style gas oven with 6 burners on the top? If it's the latter then you need a pretty large kitchen if it doesn't have any ventilation to avoid using up all the oxygen in the room.

I have no idea what the minimum size is but the kitchen in our last house was only just big enough, and it was the largest kitchen I've ever had.
 
An oven doesn't fall under the statutory repairing obligations, so any rights would be contractual.

Usually a landlord would sort something like this - a furnished property without an oven isn't much use.

I think that with no means to cook, the house falls short of the "food safety" requirement in HHSRS. If LL won't fix, you could ask for the house to be assessed and they can put an enforcement notice on the LL.

Of course, if the landlord considers that you are a pain in the whoopsie then they are free to evict you at the earliest opportunity. Play nice.
 
zipp0r said:
got it cheap :confused:
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Reliability - if the oven is serving several tennants ie. centralised kitchen in a large house share or similar.

Then it makes sense to have an oven built for that volume.

Should be the landlords responsibility, if the appliances are included in the tenancy agreement then they must be in good working order.
 
grumpysculler said:
An oven doesn't fall under the statutory repairing obligations, so any rights would be contractual.
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Except that:

dominatrix1 said:
This now means that our whole kitchen has been condemned and we now have no where to cook.
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Pretty sure a house needs to have a kitchen to be classed as habitable (you're unlikely to get a mortgage on a property without one...) so if that's true then the landlord needs to get it sorted.

dominatrix1 said:
national grid come over and turn off the gas supply
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And if the gas is off, and they have gas CH, then this also means there is no provision for heating.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1985/70

About 1/5 of the way down, section 10:

Fitness for human habitation.

In determining for the purposes of this Act whether a house is unfit for human habitation, regard shall be had to its condition in respect of the following matters—

repair,
stability,
freedom from damp,
internal arrangement,
natural lighting,
ventilation,
water supply,
drainage and sanitary conveniences,
facilities for preparation and cooking of food and for the disposal of waste water;

and the house shall be regarded as unfit for human habitation if, and only if, it is so far defective in one or more of those matters that it is not reasonably suitable for occupation in that condition.

And section 11:

Repairing obligations in short leases.

(1)In a lease to which this section applies (as to which, see sections 13 and 14) there is implied a covenant by the lessor—
(a)to keep in repair the structure and exterior of the dwelling-house (including drains, gutters and external pipes),
(b)to keep in repair and proper working order the installations in the dwelling-house for the supply of water, gas and electricity and for sanitation (including basins, sinks, baths and sanitary conveniences, but not other fixtures, fittings and appliances for making use of the supply of water, gas or electricity), and
(c)to keep in repair and proper working order the installations in the dwelling-house for space heating and heating water.
 
Haggisman said:
And section 11:

Repairing obligations in short leases.

(1)In a lease to which this section applies (as to which, see sections 13 and 14) there is implied a covenant by the lessor—
(a)to keep in repair the structure and exterior of the dwelling-house (including drains, gutters and external pipes),
(b)to keep in repair and proper working order the installations in the dwelling-house for the supply of water, gas and electricity and for sanitation (including basins, sinks, baths and sanitary conveniences, but not other fixtures, fittings and appliances for making use of the supply of water, gas or electricity), and
(c)to keep in repair and proper working order the installations in the dwelling-house for space heating and heating water.
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^^ This is the statutory repairing oblgiations to which I was referring.
Fitness for human habitation.

In determining for the purposes of this Act whether a house is unfit for human habitation, regard shall be had to its condition in respect of the following matters—

repair,
stability,
freedom from damp,
internal arrangement,
natural lighting,
ventilation,
water supply,
drainage and sanitary conveniences,
facilities for preparation and cooking of food and for the disposal of waste water;

and the house shall be regarded as unfit for human habitation if, and only if, it is so far defective in one or more of those matters that it is not reasonably suitable for occupation in that condition.
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^^ This is the bit that drives the HHSRS assessment which I also mentioned. Couldn't find it when I looked, must be going blind.

Due regard is required to the fitness for habitation requirements. The S11 repairing obligations are more absolute.

If your boiler breaks, the LL must repair it under S11.

If your cooker breaks, the LL must ensure that you can cook (which may or may not involve repair/replace). It would be up to an HHSRS assessment as to whether the cooking facilities that the LL provided were satisfactory.

In the place of the OP, I would be going down the habitable route and getting the house assessed if the LL dragged their heels. But that is a longer and less clear-cut route than if the S11 obligations were breached.


I agree that if the gas is off at the main supply, S11 has potentially been breached. But a LL can remedy that by isolating the cooker and getting the gas back on...
 
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