Advice needed please

[Dydie]

Hello

 

My current tenancy is due for renewal, I have spoken to my Landlord who is happy to renew for another year but he is currently paying Beals Estate Agents for a fully managed property service.

 

Basically they drive me nuts coming round wasting my time every 3 months for "inspections" and the landlord says they charge him a fortune for doing nothing so neither of us wants/needs their involvement.

 

Beals have made it very complicated and expensive for the LL to get out of their service so he's agreed to carry on with them.

 

Is there a way we can get out of the Beals grip?

 

They have NEVER sorted any of the property issues I have told them about, they have not provided me with a gas safety cert and the boiler has not been checked for over a year, there are no working smoke alarms in the property ... Can I use any of this against them?

[Nonguru]

Dear Dydie,

 

If the managing agents are members of RICS then make a complaint to them, they are the governing body.

 

If you have evidence of failure to provide a Landlords Gas Safety Certificate or an annual electrical test and report certificate they and the landlord will be open to criticism or worse if any accident were to occur.

 

Just go on RICS website and check if they are members then complain to RICS directly.

 

There you go

[mariner51]

If this ia a residential non-HMO T then smoke/CO alarms not required. If there are smoke alarms present it is Ts resp to keep them functional ie change batteries when reqd, occ test alarm by using test button. There is no requirement for annual NICEEC electrical wiring safety (any Cert is valid for 10 yrs) unlike ann GSC inspection which is a stat requirement for all rented properties. Are you saying GSC has not been carried out in last 12 months or MA failed to show you copy of valid GSC? GSC inspector produces 3 copies, 1 for LL/agent, 1 for inspector's file and one to be left in property.

GSC does not include boiler servicing.

 

LL will have management contract with MA, which he is entitled to cancel after due Notice or payment of contract termination fees. He may take a short term hit but poss cheaper in the long term if he is willing to manage property himself. T has no contract with MA.

[Steve__M]

It is not that difficult to get out of an agency contract.

 

It is possible your landlord does not want to manage the property and is deflecting issues onto the agency.

 

Your LL is responsible for providing a Gas Safety Certificate, and if your agency doesn't do it, he should arrange it himself (a ten minute phone call to a gassafe man or woman would get it sorted).

 

Inspections every three months are not out of the ordinary. You should insist on it being a two-way process where you present your list of problems to the checking agent and follow it up with a letter (particularly if your agent is one of those agents who writes to you after an inspection complaining because you haven't dusted the lampshades).