Tenant refusing access for gas safety check?

Reply to the comment left by Alison Clark at 14/12/2024 – 17:33
A quick way to check most of an s21 is to answer this as if you were the tenant – https://england.shelter.org.uk/professional_resources/legal/possession_and_eviction/section_21_validity_checker

So for anything where they say they didn’t get X, you can show they it was sent, i.e. proof of postage. As it’s assumed to arrive. Check things like the minimum 2 month notice is slightly more to make sure you aren’t under by 1-2 days etc.

An s21 is just a notice the landlord intends to seek possession. A tenant can ignore it, as leaving would be considered volentarily. A tenant is required to give their own notice to quit, they can’t just up and leave (unless it’s a fixed term, which doesn’t mention a contractual periodic tenancy is formed, in that case, they can just leave and return possession (keys) on the last day).

Once the 2 notice date is reached, you can then apply for a court date. Depends on local backlogs but it’s around 4 months. If you win, and a possession order is granted, the tenancy ends and the tenant has 2 weeks to leave. If they don’t, you can ask the court to send baliffs with an eviction notice, this is again depending on backlogs 2-16 weeks. It’s not uncommon for London evictions to take over 12 months, and that’s assuming you got all your paperwork in order and win every stage, that’s just the sheer backlogs at the moment.

If a tenant wants any council help, they will not leave, but the council will tell them they won’t help unless baliffs evict them. You can however get possession with costs, if you win at court so you can get your legal costs back if the tenant can afford to pay them.

Reply to the comment left by Jonathan Willis at 14/12/2024 – 17:44
Thank you.

The HSE (Health and Safety Executive) has been mentioned on this thread.

Can anyone point me to the jurisdiction where they (HSE) have authority in this matter?

The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 deals with health and safety at work (note at work) and other related matters. I cannot see where there is any relevance to private landlords unless they have now been captured as “at work”.

Environmental Health yes – but HSE ??????

Carchester.

Reply to the comment left by Carchester at 15/12/2024 – 09:59
The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) (Amendment) Regulations 2018 came into force on 6 April 2018.

These are what require landlords to do gas saftey checks.

https://www.hse.gov.uk/gas/landlords/safetycheckswho.htm

Thanks Jonathan.

Reply to the comment left by Carchester at 15/12/2024 – 10:14
There is also The Deregulation Act 2015, but this is only adding the requirement that has safety checks are served on the tenant if they want to issue an s21. So not one for HSE.

I have 2 different properties in the same area in London but the same gas engineer. one I manage directly and the other through an agent. The agent adds £30 to the cost of the boiler service and charged me £150. I always pay £120 direct. Each time this happens I am told it is an admin error and the agents refunds the difference.
In Southampton I pay £90 direct and the agents I use quote me £150 to use their engineer so I arrange the boiler services directly and forward the agent a copy of the Landlords certificate when completed.
It seems agents add a margin to cost of mainteneance

Reply to the comment left by Manish Bhatia at 10/10/2024 – 02:00
I would speak To tenant Eviction Specialist I’ve dealt with Holly very knowledgeable to see where you stand

Hi Jonathan. Hope you are well.

Here I am again having access issues. Gas Cert was completed but this was a fiasco yet again with the agent! Thankfully all sorted.

My final inspection is due and the agent made contact just before new year, no response. Agent booked a day and time by (email and posting a letter through the letter box) and also offered to reschedule this if it was not convenient, no response. Agent and myself arrived for the visit, no response at the property. Tenant called agent saying he wasn’t aware we were coming and out of the blue, stated the landlord was not welcome. I am hopeful he will engage with agent, but she is now struggling to make contact. This has been the pattern from the beginning of a stressful 14months, 3 mths remaining. I am serving s21 next month to sell.

Is there anything else we can do and what if the tenant stops engaging with the agent? There was no animosity during a maintenance repair visit in August, in fact the tenant apologised for not allowing access the week before. AST states to give landlord or agent permission for inspections. This is making me suspicious and concerned. Is it normal for tenants to become twitchy (my agents description) towards the end of their tenancy ? Thank you.

Reply to the comment left by Alison Clark at 06/02/2025 – 15:01
There are 14 pages of post, so apologies if I’ve missed something as I’ve not reread previous messages.

The tenant has a right to quiet enjoyment. This means to not be interfered with by the landlord or their agents (estate agent, maintainence, etc). As such the tenant is under no obligation to respond, or to let you in. They can change the locks and deny you access. Do not attempt to break in unless you have just cause such as a reported leak, or you risk committing potentially multiple offences, and if the tenant is vindictive they’ll follow up every one of them.

You say final inspection, do you mean for the tenant to leave. Has the tenant given their notice? If not, then the tenancy isn’t coming to an end unless the tenancy agreement has no mention of a contractual periodic tenancy being formed at the end, and, the tenant returns possession (namely keys) on or before the last day of the tenancy.

I ask this because you mentioned using s21. If you haven’t served an s21, the eviction timeline is around 6 months at best, much longer in London with court backlogs.