Tenant refusing access for gas safety check?

Reply to the comment left by Alison Clark at 01/11/2024 - 17:04
It may help if you need to issue a claim for cleaning. By having a dog in the property you can't just make a deduction for cleaning, you would need to demonstrate that it has been left in a condition which was worse than it was given to them, minus wear and tear. If the tenant has cleaned the property before leaving and you can't tell a difference between them moving in, then you can't deduct for cleaning. But if the property smells like dog, then you can certainly charge for having the carpets professionally cleaned but make sure to get evidence and use a known firm that gives an invoice. Landlords have been known to fraudulently create invoices for fake cleaning firms, and that won't go down well with the deposit scheme.

If the tenant has requested a pet and you have refused, you could serve an s8 for breach of lease.

Breach of lease is a discretionary ground, and by just having a pet a judge may not grant possession, especially for something small like a hamster. If the tenant didn't ask for permission, the pet has done damage to the property, the pet has been a nuisance to neighbours, or if it's a flat, and the lease says no pets, then these are all going to add weight to the discretionary ground, and more likely to lead to getting a possession order.

Reply to the comment left by Jonathan Willis at 01/11/2024 - 19:45
Thank you Jonathan. There has only been the one occasion when visiting, the tenant left horrendous fouling in the back garden, up to press it’s clean when we visit, but yes it does smell. I’ve noted your advice regards a company which will provide an invoice, if we should need to have the carpets cleaned.

The discretionary ground (no pets without permission) is definitely a ground we considered however, the reason why we have not pursued s8. It’s not a flat and no neighbours have complained other than to a friend of a friend. I’ve not intervened as I feel it needs to be an official complaint to ASB team without my instigation. Agent advised possession would unlikely be granted and it would be stressful and expensive. We have damages too but I know the tenant will defend this. Tenant has already defended a hole in the wall as being caused when he moved his bed into the property, failed to mention this until our first inspection - then agent received an anonymous phone call from a very distressed female wanting to inform the LL the true reason for the hole, she concurred the story he had given regarding the wall to cover up a DV incident in which he was going to court. Agent advised couldn’t pursue this as defamation of character and the caller wouldn’t leave her details.

There is more to share and the tenancy from start to finished has been a total nightmare. I won’t take up anymore of your day, but I really appreciate you responding to me and offering advice. You can probably understand why I am so conscientious in making sure my s21 in March (earlier if I can) is valid, within the timescale before RRB and I can move on from this and sell.

Reply to the comment left by Alison Clark at 02/11/2024 - 09:09
Just keep an eye on the law, you never know what's going to happen with the s21 route at the moment.

Reply to the comment left by Jonathan Willis at 02/11/2024 - 09:16
Thank you. I definitely will.

Reply to the comment left by Jonathan Willis at 11/10/2024 - 08:35
Hi Jonathan. Hope you are well. To save starting a new thread regarding gas certificates. Please can you advise…my queries is. I am hoping the s21 the agent issues is valid but I wish to ensure my agent is very diligent at this final hurdle.

This is a 18mth tenancy so I have 2 gas certs. The first certificate issued before the tenancy began stated NO CM detectors on the certificate. The agent advised us of this and we installed this immediately whilst unoccupied. A different gas engineer completed (again arranging by the agent) the 12mth cert but this certificate did not have any certification comments or headings quoting the CM were present. HSE have said this is normal, but if a judge looked over this, how can the agent ensure supporting evidence that we have complied with CM legislation please? Thank you

Reply to the comment left by Alison Clark at 14/12/2024 - 14:34
You'll be fine, the certificate just details what appliances were checked and issues were identified. It's unlikely to list the CO alarms. The key bit is having it done by a gas safe registered engineer. Further to this, if questioned you can refer the judge to the information from HSE to show it's normal and can provide evidence the missing CO alarms were fitted.

Reply to the comment left by Jonathan Willis at 14/12/2024 - 14:45
Thank you.

Reply to the comment left by Alison Clark at 14/12/2024 - 16:16
I hope Jonathan won't mind if I amplify his answer. If a case is going to court the essential preparatory work is to predict what challenges may be made and what evidence may be needed to refute them. That's what you've done here. The person taking the case needs what is often called a "bundle" of all the evidence. Nowadays a bundle can be electronic copies but personally I always prefer a physical bundle in the form of a meticulously indexed lever arch binder in which each piece of evidence is numbered. The aim is to be able to answer any challenge or question in court immediately, without hesitation, by producing the correct evidence. You can then say: 'The answer to that question Sir is given by item xx in my bundle, here is a copy' and you hand the judge one copy of the evidence and give another to your opponent. Specifically in your case it looks as though your bundle should include the original paperwork and anything you have which would be further evidence of what happened such as printouts of emails, text messages, or Whatsapps, copies of certificates, a print of the H&SE advice, hand-written notes of telephone conversations, invoices, photocopies of diary entries... anything evidential. Even if judges appear biased, or worse still prejudiced (I have seen signs of both these faults) they can't easily override evidence. Cases are decided on the evidence which is brought before the court. The more care you take with preparing your evidence the more likely you are to prevail.

Reply to the comment left by Michael Crofts at 14/12/2024 - 16:50
The more information the better. I agree with everything you say. Judges should, just follow the rules, it's up-to the tenant to provide defence(s) to an s21 notice. The landlord needs to be able to shoot down any defence raised. I come from an IT background and I would support an overhaul of s21 as it rarely needs a judge to review, it's paperwork excerise and everything could be validated on a portal in advance. S21 is unnecessarily stressful for both sides.

The only issues I've seen raised on gas safety certificates are, it wasn't done, it was done by someone not gas safe registered (so invalid), the certificate was forged. The last one, is more common than I thought it would be.

Reply to the comment left by Michael Crofts at 14/12/2024 - 16:50
Thank you Michael for this additional advice.

When the agent issues the tenant with the s21 with all documentation again (agent has confirm everything will be resent by both email and post, which I was pleased to hear) although I am going to double check all documents again myself. Does this go before a judge to approve? and providing this is all valid you would generally expect the tenant to leave at the end of the fixed term. Only if the tenant remains then a possession order is requested? If not valid I would need to start the process again. If so, how long does it generally take to be notified the s21 is valid or invalid please? Hope this makes sense. I wish to understand the process my agent is going to follow. Thank you.