SHARING RESPONSIBILITY FOR MAKING RENTED HOMES WINTER-PROOF

As Christmas approaches, the mercury heads south, and storms Claudia and Bram dump inches of rain on our region, the attention of both landlords and tenants turns to making sure that their properties are winter-proof, writes Daisy Egmore.  Boilers need servicing, guttering needs clearing and repairing, chimneys need sweeping – the list goes on.

But whose responsibility are all these tasks?  Is it down to the landlord alone to ensure a home is ready for challenging weather, or does the tenant have a role to play?

As ever, these things work best when landlord and tenant act collaboratively, recognising that there is a shared benefit to getting these things right: for the landlord, protecting the value of their property and preventing expensive long-term damage; and for the tenant, knowing that they are living in a home which will be warm, dry and safe.

In fact, responsibility for these various tasks is indeed shared between landlords and tenants, and it’s important to know where the obligations fall.

Boilers first: regular servicing is a clear responsibility of the landlord, both to ensure the tenant’s home is warm, but more importantly to comply with strict gas safety regulations.  Landlords who neglect gas safety risk fines and, in severe cases, imprisonment.

For open fires and wood-burning stoves, there is a shared responsibility.  The landlord must ensure that the chimney is swept before the start of the tenancy, but thereafter it is down to the tenant to get this done annually.  Any chimney repairs identified by the chimney sweep fall to the landlord to carry out.  Servicing of wood-burning stoves and their flues is also the landlord’s responsibility. 

Tenants must ensure that they are complying with smoke-free laws by only burning permitted fuels, and they should only be using fully-seasoned wood.

Recent biblical rainfall has highlighted the importance of ensuring guttering is both clear of obstructions and in good repair.  The former is the responsibility of the tenant (if you are hanging Christmas lights on the guttering, it’s the ideal opportunity to undertake this task); any repairs needed are down to the landlord.

Finally, the winter is often when condensation and mould problems can occur, mainly because tenants tend to keep windows tightly shut to keep the heat in.  Landlords may like to remind their tenants that when they are steaming their Christmas puddings for five hours, they really need to open some windows to provide some ventilation.