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Water dripping

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alex123

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« on: December 27, 2020, 07:26:17 PM »
My tenant is doing something in my apartment, and there is water coming from my neighbour’s ceiling (neighbour below my flat). The tenant is not letting anyone in the apartment to inspect what is going on. Does anyone know what to do in this situation, and how can I/Porter get in? If so, is there a paragraph from an Act that talks about this urgent matter?

I appreciate your help.

heavykarma

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« Reply #1 on: December 28, 2020, 10:52:48 AM »
In anyone's terms this requires action.I would say both of you should phone/text tenant,give an hours notice,ring the bell,if they don't answer,let yourselves in.Common sense matters more than any legal clauses.If trouble arises,call the police for advice.

alex123

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« Reply #2 on: December 28, 2020, 11:02:09 AM »
Quote from: heavykarma on December 28, 2020, 10:52:48 AM
In anyone's terms this requires action.I would say both of you should phone/text tenant,give an hours notice,ring the bell,if they don't answer,let yourselves in.Common sense matters more than any legal clauses.If trouble arises,call the police for advice.

The Porter has already knocked on the door and called the tenant, they said that they will not allow anyone in. With this tenant, it’s all about legal clauses.

heavykarma

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« Reply #3 on: December 28, 2020, 02:36:21 PM »
If it is still leaking,you have a responsibility to the people living below.I would get a plumber in to shut off the water to your place,if he can isolate it.Tell the tenants first,saying you have no choice.You can Google to get the relevant sections of the law if you feel you need to cover yourself.I would be issuing s21 at the first opportunity,it sounds like they have you well under their control.

alex123

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« Reply #4 on: December 29, 2020, 06:32:55 PM »
Quote from: heavykarma on December 28, 2020, 02:36:21 PM
If it is still leaking,you have a responsibility to the people living below.I would get a plumber in to shut off the water to your place,if he can isolate it.Tell the tenants first,saying you have no choice.You can Google to get the relevant sections of the law if you feel you need to cover yourself.I would be issuing s21 at the first opportunity,it sounds like they have you well under their control.

There’s an update... The tenant finally responded to my email after 1 day asking me to send a plumber to have a look (they’ve sent me a polite message, usually they’re very angry and rude). My plumber visited the property along with the Porter. The result was that all pipes are fine, and the shower’s drain was blocked with lots and lots of hair. My plumber believes that the tenant turned the shower on and went away (to let the water run and warm up), and this caused it to flood. This sounds very likely as the tenant didn’t allow anyone in when the neighbour’s ceiling was leaking (I believe they were trying to clean everything up). If it was a broken pipe, it would leak all the time but it stopped straight after I’ve sent the tenant a message.

In this case, I believe I will have to demand a refund (as I’ve already paid my plumber) as it’s the tenant’s responsibility to keep the drains clean. Additionally, the property was given to the tenant with no problems, and everything was working perfectly + the check-in report doesn’t mention blocked drains.

what do you think?

thanks in advance!

Hippogriff

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« Reply #5 on: December 29, 2020, 08:17:52 PM »
Hard to prove the shower waste wasn't blocked at the time this particular tenancy commenced... if you were to claim that was checked and forms part of the Check-In report... well, I wouldn't believe you. It is perfectly reasonable for you to request the Tenant pays... it's a reasonable assumption... and more likely the longer they have lived there... but it might be a nice olive branch if you were to offer to go halves (especially if you get kickback) and if the Tenant (other than being somewhat rude) is acceptable to you... pays rent... in these uncertain times there's a case for better the devil you know.

That said... what about the person living downstairs? Do they intend to take further action?
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