Special Condition in Lease

M

MacGill

Guest
Hi!, I am renting the same property for the last 3 years (with 2 other people) and the following condition has appears on lease, under the heading "special conditions",

“tenant repairing the landlords domestic fittings & appliances, the ESB meter, the complete gas heating installations, the telephone installation, the piped television installation and the house to gate TV intercom system in the event of damage or breakdown being caused to any of the said installations, irrespective of the manner in which it shall be caused”

I would like to know if our Landlord is legally entitled to put this in a residential lease, and if any of the installations breakdown and are re-repairable are we as tenant liable?

Background to date

Our boiler leaked during the first year of the lease, and I wrote a polite letter to landlord stating that we did not except resposibility and stated tenant and landlord resposibilities under the recent Tenants Act.
The boiler was repaired, don't think it was expensive, (we may have contributed can't remember, as one of the tenants was a plumber). The issue was not duscussed any furhter with the landlord after the repair.

The 2nd year we got in a replacment tenant, so the lease was renewed, and the clause was included again, we though it would be better not to "rock the boat" and we let it go, assuming it was not legal under the Tenant & Landlords Act.

We are now in our 3rd year and again we have a replacement tenant, and the landlord has dropped in a new lease with the cause included.

Before renewing the lease the landlord inspected the house, to ensure everything was ok!, he found a leaking tap in a Ensuit toilet upstairs, He said he was going to get a plumber to fix it, but did not say who was to pay.

The heating system is also very old.

Can I assume we are not liable if it breaks down.

Thanks for your help in advance
 
Strikes me as a dodgy-ish clause alright.

It is quite possible that the landlord just downloaded a bog standard lease from the web and barely read it.

If the landlord is reasonable I am sure they will not charge the tenant for things like that.
 
The landlord is obliged under law to carry out all repairs relating to wear and tear. You would only have to pay if you caused damage beyond normal wear and tear.
 
The landlord is a retired solicitor and the lease appears to be part PRTB guided and the other part attached including the special condition and cover letters are marked as approved from The Bar council. I’m sure if it’s included he will try enforce it.

We try to have as little dealing with him as possible, so I don't want to highlight the issue if I can be sure we are not liable.

I think what I will do is see if he repairs the tap free of charge and that should set Precedents, I won't sign the lease until the tap is fixed.

Thanks for your help, I'll let you know how I get on.

 
If you raise the clause with them and they insist on retaining it, then it's safe to assume that they intend attempting to use it in some instance in the future.

Why not highlight the fact that rents have drop 2.9% in August and send him towards this CSO document.

[broken link removed]

Between the cost of advertising for new tenants and the potential lag between you leaving and others moving in, they might appreciate you a bit more.
 
Alternatively you could just query him on it and ask him to explain in more detail what it means.
Give him a few examples and see who is responsible for paying those repair bills.
 
Hello

I'll talk to him directly about it, and try get it removed.

Thanks
 
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