My House appears Lethal - Any advise?

[tracy3108]

Hi All,

I'm new to the forum so please be nice

I am currently renting a house, it has an old style consumer unit with 4 fuses of a plastic cartridge type with replaceable wire. They house is not earth bonded to radiators e.t.c. or not what I can see.

The first is a 32a replacment mcb for the shower, when you use the shower it trips after about 3 minutes usually just when the shampoos in ARRGGHH think it should be 40a.

The second runs ALL the sockets in the house including one socket which has a plug with internal extension wire running out a hole in the wall across the outside of the house (the wire is decaying and a brown colour now - it was white) to the garage where it goes into a 1970 period juntion box and runs 6 plugs and two lights using lots of electric tape ALL OFF ONE PLUG!!

The third is for all the lights in the house, most of which have wooden back boxes with wood screws holding the switches to them, behing them some have 2 Black wires one line, one neutral with two red just twisted together none have earth.

The fourth is for the combi boiler.

The single oven is connected to a socket which is black melted effect, and sparks and pieces currently fall off it.
The oven is not screwed into place.
I replaced the socket today and the wires were that short you couldn't even get the socket off, there is about 2cm inside the backbox makes it imposoble to replace the socket.

Seems kinda lethal to me,

All this for £700 per month!!! LOL

Would be greatfull of advice of which points I have good reason to complain to my landlord about, what should I expect.

Cheers

Phil

 

[industryspark]

if what you've told us is true then you have more than got grounds to take this up with your landlord!

sounds a nightmare!

try getting him to get a PIR done so you've got some official evidence. can you get your worries in writing and get him to sign he's recieved them or something?

personally i wouldnt live in this house, sounds like a fire/electricution waiting to happen!

you must act on this now from what you have told us

 

[Maxxy]

Ask your landlord for a copy of the Periodic Inspection and Test of the properties electrics that should have been undertaken before you moved in.

When he looks confused, you can tell him its a legal requirement, and therefore he needs to do it asap.

From the conditions you've described, the house would fail, and your landlord would then have no choice but to get the problems fixed. If he refuses, then your options are to go to the council, and they will force him to get it sorted or face fines. And until he does, they may even force him to lower your rent

 

[tracy3108]

Do they need to have this done? they have got a gas certificate, didn't think it was law yet?

 

[tracy3108]

Can I rewire myself and get the council to inspect it and give me a certificate?

Thanks for the quick replys

Phil

 

[Maxxy]

Yeah as a landlord, everytime you have a change of tenant or every 10 years {unless the previous tester states sooner than that} which ever is sooner, you need to get a PIR done

 

[JohnD]

Can I rewire myself and get the council to inspect it and give me a certificate?

Thanks for the quick replys

Phil

It is possible, but the cost of the training courses and test gear you will need will be substantial. The council will charge probably £60 to £150 to inspect (ask them).

The landlord would probably prefer a professional job (apart from the cost)

 

[Taylortwocities]

AFAIK there is no LEGAL requirement for the electrical installation of rented premises to be inspected. BS7671:2001 as amended is the UK Standard for electrical installations and requires that all electrical installations be periodically inspected and in the case of Rented Dwellings be inspected upon change of occupier (Regulation 732-01-01).
Note that BS7671 is not a statutory document (not law)
The PIR every 10 years/chenge of tenant is GUIDANCE from IEE and not law (unlike gas certs) pity

However:
The Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 states that a Landlord is responsible .... "to keep in repair and proper working order the installations in the dwelling house for the supply of water, gas and electricity...."

Additionally The Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994 require that equipment be safe and in conformity with the principle elements of the safety objectives for electrical equipment set out in section 3 of the Regulations.

A Landlord has a duty of care and may have an implied covenant with the tenant, therefore you are within your rights to insist that a dedicated and efficient expert carries out all the necessary checks and issues an appropriate certificate.

I am sure that the rental agreement you have will forbid you to restructure the electrical installation and I will also bet it says that (when you leave) the premises must be the same as when you moved in so he would be legally entitled for you to remove the rewire and put the old sh*t back.

I suggest you look at your tenancy agreement and see what you can insist on. If its thru a letting agent, take it up with them or have a brief talk with a solicitor.

If its that bad, I'd be looking for another place to rent - you'd have to move out while it was being rewired in any case!

 

[Maxxy]

AFAIK there is no LEGAL requirement for the electrical installation of rented premises to be inspected. BS7671:2001 as amended is the UK Standard for electrical installations and requires that all electrical installations be periodically inspected and in the case of Rented Dwellings be inspected upon change of occupier (Regulation 732-01-01).
Note that BS7671 is not a statutory document (not law)

Sorry, my mistake. I knew i had read it a few times somewhere.

 

[Steve]

tracy, most of what you have written would make me want to flip the mainswitch to off and move out! its bad. real bad. if the landlord wont accept its all wrong, get your solicitors onto him

 

[2scoops0406]

Crafty is right. Of course there are the practical considerations of living, but as we are not yet into winter, I would act now. It most certainly sounds that this place is not fit for safe habitation, regardless of any specific laws, the landlord has a general duty of care which includes not frying you with a dodgy electrical installation.

How you approach the problem is a matter for debate, perhaps play dumb, get a sparky in to "fix" your shower tripping problem (BTW, does it trip, or does the fuse blow??), then get the sparky to condemn the whole installation, then act surprised and weepy to your landlord !!

 

[viewer]

Tracy,
Go to your local environmental health department and ask for an environmental health practitioner to call and inspect the house. The comments above about legislation are all correct, but why worry about sorting it out yourself if there is a professional employed to look after your interests - that's what you pay council tax for.
HTH

 

[tracy3108]

Thankyou all for your help, I will write to my landlord straight away and get this sorted, I have re-wired in the past a few times and the landlord who is a women and hasn't even given us a garage key quite often just gets me to sort out and she pays.

Thanks Again

Phil

 

[tracy3108]

ps fuse for shower has been removed and was replaced before I moved in with a plug in MCB/RCD, which sits inside where the fuse was.

 

[Steve]

ps fuse for shower has been removed and was replaced before I moved in with a plug in MCB/RCD, which sits inside where the fuse was.

they got fed up with changing the fuse then eh.