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Tenant in RAS accomadation

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  • 06-05-2012 9:49pm
    #1
    Egan2012
    Registered Users Posts: 249 ✭✭


    Hi my name is Tom,
    I'm a tenant in a RAS house. I have had a few issues with the house since I moved in during the Christmas.
    First of all I thought the house had to meet all the standards of the council. I have heard they test the boiler and all that for health and safety issues. We were in the house only a couple of months when we start getting fumes in the house from the boiler. When I said it to the landlord he said it wasn't long serviced but the plumber said by the looks of it, it was never serviced. All the seals were gone on it and it needed to be sorted. Does this mean the council signed off on a job that wasn't done or did the landlord give a brown envelope to someone in the council.
    The second thing is that out our back garden there is decking built in. Our neighbor came out only today and said she saw rats going in and out of under the decking from her side of the fence. She said they had that problem before and she contacted the owner of the house but looks like what ever he done didn't work or did he choose to ignore it? who do I contact about this now? Is it the landlord or the council because its a RAS house? Or is it just me that has to deal with it?
    I wouldn't be making a big deal about this only I have kids playing out there every day.
    Are my right in saying the Council are not testing these houses before they are excepted on the RAS scheme?
    I would be grateful if I could get some advice on this.
    Thanks ,


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    #2
    Thoie
    Registered Users Posts: 6,344 ✭✭✭Thoie


    Egan2012 wrote: »
    Hi my name is Tom,
    I'm a tenant in a RAS house. I have had a few issues with the house since I moved in during the Christmas.
    First of all I thought the house had to meet all the standards of the council. I have heard they test the boiler and all that for health and safety issues. We were in the house only a couple of months when we start getting fumes in the house from the boiler. When I said it to the landlord he said it wasn't long serviced but the plumber said by the looks of it, it was never serviced. All the seals were gone on it and it needed to be sorted. Does this mean the council signed off on a job that wasn't done or did the landlord give a brown envelope to someone in the council.
    The second thing is that out our back garden there is decking built in. Our neighbor came out only today and said she saw rats going in and out of under the decking from her side of the fence. She said they had that problem before and she contacted the owner of the house but looks like what ever he done didn't work or did he choose to ignore it? who do I contact about this now? Is it the landlord or the council because its a RAS house? Or is it just me that has to deal with it?
    I wouldn't be making a big deal about this only I have kids playing out there every day.
    Are my right in saying the Council are not testing these houses before they are excepted on the RAS scheme?
    I would be grateful if I could get some advice on this.
    Thanks ,

    The council checks that there are visible signs of things like ventilation (do the windows open) and that there isn't mould growing on the walls and that there is, for example, a bathroom and a kitchen. It may be slightly more involved than that, but not much. I don't think they go around testing appliances or central heating systems.

    No idea who's supposed to look after rats, but I'd be letting both the landlord and the council know asap, and first thing tomorrow morning I'd go down to my nearest hardware store to buy a big box of rat poison, a poison box or two and fecking it under the decking, and asking the neighbour if she could put a bait box down on her side of the fence on their "run".


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    #3
    Egan2012
    Registered Users Posts: 249 ✭✭Egan2012


    Thoie wrote: »
    Egan2012 wrote: »
    Hi my name is Tom,
    I'm a tenant in a RAS house. I have had a few issues with the house since I moved in during the Christmas.
    First of all I thought the house had to meet all the standards of the council. I have heard they test the boiler and all that for health and safety issues. We were in the house only a couple of months when we start getting fumes in the house from the boiler. When I said it to the landlord he said it wasn't long serviced but the plumber said by the looks of it, it was never serviced. All the seals were gone on it and it needed to be sorted. Does this mean the council signed off on a job that wasn't done or did the landlord give a brown envelope to someone in the council.
    The second thing is that out our back garden there is decking built in. Our neighbor came out only today and said she saw rats going in and out of under the decking from her side of the fence. She said they had that problem before and she contacted the owner of the house but looks like what ever he done didn't work or did he choose to ignore it? who do I contact about this now? Is it the landlord or the council because its a RAS house? Or is it just me that has to deal with it?
    I wouldn't be making a big deal about this only I have kids playing out there every day.
    Are my right in saying the Council are not testing these houses before they are excepted on the RAS scheme?
    I would be grateful if I could get some advice on this.
    Thanks ,

    The council checks that there are visible signs of things like ventilation (do the windows open) and that there isn't mould growing on the walls and that there is, for example, a bathroom and a kitchen. It may be slightly more involved than that, but not much. I don't think they go around testing appliances or central heating systems.

    No idea who's supposed to look after rats, but I'd be letting both the landlord and the council know asap, and first thing tomorrow morning I'd go down to my nearest hardware store to buy a big box of rat poison, a poison box or two and fecking it under the decking, and asking the neighbour if she could put a bait box down on her side of the fence on their "run".
    Hi Thoie
    Thanks for the reply. I'm going to have to get on to the council. I was under the impression that the house went under some sort of report so it could be passed as fit to go on the scheme. I know a guy that had to submit service reports on his boiler so the house could be excepted and then he had to do a building energy rating on the house. It actually failed that and it wasn't going to be excepted until it met them standards.


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    #4
    riclad
    Registered Users Posts: 8,184 ✭✭✭riclad


    No need to bribe anyone,i dont think the council have staff to test things like boilers in all the ras houses.They probably test ,does the heating ,come on, do doors ,windows open,is the house up to spec,re ventilation, storage space ,rooms big enough , basic things like that.
    ITS like when houses were built, very few were inspected,in the boom they did,nt have the staff to inspect every new house,apartment.
    The landlord,fills in form,applies for the ras scheme,different councils may have different testing procedures.
    IF theres was serious problems, with houses in an estate ,the council will find out,at some point ,cos the residents will complain about it.
    Some landlords may not know, gas boilers need regular service ,maintenance,
    or they can be DEADLY , they can emit lethal fumes.
    OF never heard of council staff taking bribes,
    apart from county councillers , re granting planning permits to builders,developers.


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    #5
    Thoie
    Registered Users Posts: 6,344 ✭✭✭Thoie


    Egan2012 wrote: »
    Hi Thoie
    Thanks for the reply. I'm going to have to get on to the council. I was under the impression that the house went under some sort of report so it could be passed as fit to go on the scheme. I know a guy that had to submit service reports on his boiler so the house could be excepted and then he had to do a building energy rating on the house. It actually failed that and it wasn't going to be excepted until it met them standards.

    BER and other paperwork would be submitted by the landlord to the council - I doubt the council actually does the BER tests themselves. Council obviously won't be around till Tuesday, but don't wait for them, go get the rat poison and bait boxes first thing in the morning :)


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    #6
    playmasterone
    Registered Users Posts: 21 ✭playmasterone


    info i am on the list in wicklow ras now i am homeless now and not getting ra can i still look for a ras house


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    #7
    riclad
    Registered Users Posts: 8,184 ✭✭✭riclad


    go back to the welfare officer,its her job to help you get accomodation.
    ASK the council have they got list on landlords on ras scheme.?
    GET advice from threshold or citizens advice center,
    see threshold.ie


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    #8
    Pkiernan
    Registered Users Posts: 4,310 ✭✭✭Pkiernan


    Boiler - get the LL to resolve this. This is certainly his responsibility.

    Rats - put some traps out FFS, or do you need the LL to wipe your hole for you too?


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    #9
    The_Conductor
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 32,285 Mod ✭✭✭✭The_Conductor


    OP-

    1. The landlord will have supplied a BER cert for the property to the council (as they would to any renter).

    2. Just because the seals are broken etc- does not mean the gas boiler was or was not serviced. Different service engineers do different things in different ways- and some are a lot more indepth than others. It is not valid to presume the landlord did not get the boiler serviced. Servicing a boiler would not normally include replacing the seals btw.

    3. Rodents under decking- perennial problem. It may well have been treated previously- however its an ongoing process. The only way to get rid of this issue for once and for all- is to remove the decking. Normally poison would be laid periodically in the late autumn and early spring (it doesn't tend to be an issue later spring/summer). A box of poison and a few bait boxes can be picked up handily from Woodies or any hardware store. If reporting it to the council- you need talk to the local Environmental Health Officer (its the person who deals with littering etc- they also deal with rodents).

    4. I'm not certain if you're talking about exemptions from some rules when you mention the council excepting property under the RAS scheme. There are no exemptions granted- the property has to comply with general standards.

    5. A council employee does not go around and test everything- a tenant would at the commencement of a tenancy- and if there are any issues- they report them and the landlord is given an opportunity to remedy them.

    You have responsibilities, as does the landlord. Part of your responsibilities are to maintain the property in a reasonable manner- this would not however extend to going on rodent patrol- however, given our climate and the nature of the exterior (with decking etc)- rodents are prolific- its not rocket science- take reasonable precautions- and if a problem arises- report it in a prompt manner to the relevant person.

    Vis-a-vis the plumber going on about the seals needing replacing on the boiler etc- very little bearing on whether or not the boiler was serviced tbh


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