Thanks for replying. Nobody else bothered, so I do appreciate it. But I think you will see that I do NOT intend to lose my deposit and will not be doing so. From what I have read on here, it is very common for UK landlords to steal the deposit. If you tried that one in Autralia, you would be fed to the crocks - literally!

Thanks all., Great forum! Obviously I just typed all that for your entertainment.

Nobody????

I remember something else that has bothered me. The house has partial double glazing. The front door, side windows and back door are NOT double glazed, which to my mind is pointless doing any at all. The ones that are done are not done well. They are UPVC and you can hear traffic through them, so leaking or not sealed/fitted properly is my guess. The outcome of this is that the central heating is on 24/7 virtually. If the heating is on timer, you can feel the cold within 10 minutes of the heating going off. Last week during the snow it was cold even with the heating on full blast all day. We measured the hallway downstairs at 11 celcius and my bedroom at 14 celcius.

Hi I have a concern or two about my tenancy and wanted to get some pointers if possible please. I have been living in a rented 3 bed house in Peterborough since 2003. I have paid the rent on time every month without fail and the house is always kept clean and tidy. I do have some issues I need some advise on. Firstly, my deposit was not protected as I moved in in 2003, but should it be protected now? Secondly, the landlord makes an annual appearance if we are lucky. Some would be pleased at that, but the ONLY time we have seen the landlord in 7 years is when he comes around with his cowboy plumber to do the annual gas safety certificate. It is now done just on time, but for the first 5 years it was done a month late each time. The house has GCH, gas hob and gas fire. The last safety check took 7 minutes. (I timed them). The boiler was not opened at all, the flue was not even looked at from outside and the test of the cooker involved turning on a single ring and then turning it off again. The landlord does NO maintenance at all. In the 7 years we have been here, he had to be called out 3 times. The first time was the electric element in the oven. He turned up on his own and put a used one in. This lasted 3 weeks. I then bought a brand new one and fitted it myself. The other two times have been when the GCH packed in. On both occasions the landlord came out to fix them himself. I knew this was wrong, but I do not like confrontation. He did fix it, but the boiler made a horrible noise after that. When it broke the next time I had the courage to insist that a Corgi man came to do it properly. He had 4 different engineers who came and each one said the boiler needed replaced until he finally got one who bodged it up to work again. The house has several tiles slid off the roof and hanging over the gutters. As a result the gutters now drip whenever it rains. I cannot use the back door as the door is so hard to shut that i just leave it shut. It has expanded due to all the water running down from the gutters I think. In the 7 years I have been here, the landlord has done effectively nothing. I have paid him over £50,000 in rent. I will be leaving in the summer as I will be going back to Australia with my wife and 2 kids. I want to make sure I get my deposit back, but also feel very aggrieved that the landlord has treated us as a free ride through life. I will not pay the last months rent to recover my deposit, as I have seen advised on here a few times. But what about the boiler/gas checks. Is there anything i can do about that without getting myself evicted? Is there a minimum the landlord is supposed to do? I am worried about tiles falling off one day and hitting one of us. Any advise will be great. Thanks.