UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi
I've purchased a flat that has faulty wiring.
We discovered this after we started using a letting agent that required a Electrical certificate.
We have owned the flat for less than a year. But the flat was previously owned for 10 years from new by one owner.

We have had the work carried out, and the electrics fixed (£600) as there was a big chance of fire some of the wiring was burning through the ceiling joists above spot lights and another circuit was burning through the wiring in other areas of the lighting circuit. We viewed a number of flats in the same block and noted that the same electrical work was fitted. With this suspicion we contacted the management company and asked for them to check that this was the original electrical work which must have been in all flats from the time they were build 10 years ago.

At first they denied this stating that it must have been the previous owner who fitted the lights hence the problem. However under advice from the letting agent we asked the management company to check this due to the probability of a fire breaking out in another flat and them being liable after we had informed them of the issue. They have investigated and discovered that the same problem exists in the other flats, and have written a letter asking all owners to get the repair work carried out within 20 days.

My question is that after we have carried out this work at are expense, to my mind there should be some responsibility from the original builders and electricians is there anything to peruse here....

Or is it just a case of buyer beware and we have no come back?   

You'd usually get an electrical certificate, for the original installation, as part of your conveyancing pack, even if slightly out of date. It remains a useful document. There is no requirement to have such a certificate for letting out property. Your Letting Agent's requirement is their own requirement... not law, I suspect you know that, I mention it for others reading. Some Letting Agents can lead their Landlords to mistakenly believe it's a requirement and then use it as an opportunity to punt 'value-add' services. All that said, the Management Company's position seems a strange one, indeed.

So do you think I need to take it up with them? And if so is there advice on the wording of my letter ?

I would - in the first case - be asking the Management Company what the point of the leaseholders paying an insurance premium, via them, is for. I would then be asking what they'd intend to do about an admittedly faulty installation throughout the building, regardless of time passed, and how the company responsible (if still in existence) wants to rectify. These, I think, are all sensible questions which you may have already asked. The electrical installation, even if dedicated to an apartment within a block, is still part of the fabric of the building (in my opinion) so I think it's reasonable to expect insurance to play a part... that said, I've never experienced the same myself and what I think is common sense probably isn't. In the final instance - if insurance is a no-go, and the company who installed can't be found to rectify, or refuses... then I'd be enquiring about what state your Sinking Fund is in and, then, if this is a suitable use for it.

Thank you very much for your advice. I will write a letter and update here when I get a reply.

HI Just an update to the issue.

I wrote an email to the Management company. After a few phone calls. I kept it concise as a few of my points and concerns were answered during the phone calls. Its taken a while to get a reply......

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

We are the owners who identified the issue with the electrics. Please find our confirmation that the works have been carried out and that we now have a valid electrical certificate.

Could you advise whether in such a situation, the builders for the property should be pursued and how this would normally be initiated?

Also, as property owners pay into a reserve fund via the service charge every month, is there any provision to fund such repairs?

Regards

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

They replied.

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Unfortunately, the time period from the initial build to pursue the builders for any defects found at this stage has lapsed. And with regards to the service charge reserves; with the issue being within the demised premises it falls on the leaseholders to rectify the any faults.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards

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So we seem to be at a stand still. As the insurance will not cover this as too much time has passed !

Thank you for your feedback again.