QUESTION
We are a management company. Can you please tell me if there is a Summons that we can use when a private Leaseholder is late, sometimes months, in not getting their annual gas boiler serviced by a Gas Safety registered Engineer? It is so frustrating to keep chasing wayward leaseholders who are in the minority. 90% of residents provide without any prompting.
ANSWER
In answering your question, it's assumed that the leaseholder is renting out the property so, as a landlord, they are responsible for the safety of their tenants. The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 deals with landlords’ duties to make sure gas appliances, fittings and flues provided for tenants are safe. Appliances, fittings and flues in a communal area but which may be used by tenants are also included. The leaseholder landlord is responsible for the maintenance and repair of flues, appliances and pipework provided for their tenants use. There is no prescribed timeframe for these duties. The Health and Safety Executive suggests that good practice would be the demonstration of regular, annual maintenance checks and subsequent repairs. The leaseholder landlord is also responsible for ensuring an annual gas safety check is carried out within 12 months of the installation of a new appliance or flue which they provide. There is also an obligation to annually certify the Gas by a Gas Safe Registered engineer. The landlord must keep a record of the safety check for 2 years and issue a copy to each existing tenant within 28 days of the check being completed and issue a copy to any new tenants before they move in. If the leaseholder is not renting out the property, there is no obligation to have the Gas checked annually. Of course, we have not had site of your lease. Generally speaking, leases require leaseholders to keep their Property in a good and tenantable state of repair and condition.
Cassandra Zanelli, Partner and Head of Property Management at Taylor&Emmet LLP and Alexandra Byard, Litigation Executive at Taylor&Emmet LLP
