No Gas and No gas certificate?

If there is no gas going to the boiler I presume that the supplier has disconnected the supply, therefore there’s no gas supply at the property and no need for a gas safety certificate I would have thought.

More important would be to contact the supplier tell them of your concern and request notification when they reconnect the supply

We had a similar situation but our tenant had actually disconnected the gas meter as they didn’t want the standing charges. The tenant was hen relying on an electric blow heater. I could instantly see this was causing condensation problems, let alone the increased costs of heating the property. Luckily for us we had a guarantor and I discussed this with them and they spoke to the tenant and highlighted the issues of all this, they hen agreed to reinstate the meter at their expense. I did flag this with the local council and they advised I should remind the tenant we could evict them for breach of the tenancy, but I pointed out the problem of evicting without a valid gas safety etc. They admitted they had not thought about this potential problem arising.

If there is gas anywhere on the property, even if a capped supply then I believe a gas certificate is needed.

I assume from what you have said that there is no credit on the gas account and the tenant has failed to top it up when the heating engineer arrives?

I would suggest firstly telling your tenant that it is a legal requirement for there to be a valid certificate and it needs to be checked and they are liable for the two previous call outs.

I am not sure if you can just purchase a top up card with a minimal £5 on for instance but it would make more sense to ‘bite the bullet’ and provide one for the engineer on the next visit as it’s worth every penny for your peace of mind.

Then get rid!

You have some protections. Just need to log some proof.
If the property is ‘off supply’, check the meter and get pics of any utilities disconnect or notice.
Get the plumber to send you a notice on his headed paper that gas supply disconnected on both visits.
If possible, get from tenant or utility their notice that the supply is disconnected.
Disconnect gas on your side of the meter, take pic, notify tenant they are not allowed to tamper with the gas until they contact you about the supply and you want proof of re-connection.

You have some cover, the tenant is intentionally restricting you from essential maintenance.

Is it possible for the gas certificate to be drawn up stating that the property has been disconnected? Ie you have a certificate that states ‘safe because disconnected’?
As well
as the usual testable things like presence of CO alarm duly noted?

Just trying to imagine a judge asking the tenant why the cert says what it does and the tenant having to answer that it’s because they haven’t paid the bill. Ie it puts the tenant on the back foot.

I think you have to arrange with the energy supplier for you to pay for a small amount of gas to be supplied, enough for the engineer to do the check and then when you have the certificate, evict the tenant.

Must be seriously in arrears for supply to have been disconnected. Supplier has an obligation to offer all manner of options (card meter as final measure) before disconnecting so think I’d contact supplier and see if they’ll speak to you to get an angle. Next I’d be having a serious chat with tenant as this not good for your property (or tenancy/landlord relationship). Not suggesting you evict but if you go down that route the debt is the tenant’s (not yours) and supply has to be automatically reconnected for new tenant/owner. Not sure about your certification. Think you got bigger issues here to deal with first!

Reply to the comment left by Nikki Palmer at 10/10/2023 – 10:24
not possible if there are in debt on the meter – the £5 will just get eaten up and still no gas…

Reply to the comment left by Reluctant Landlord at 10/10/2023 – 11:28
Totally agree. If it is a card meter there will be debt and meter calibrated accordingly to recoup debt.