Love the bit about it being 'just a case of screwing one in and one out' There speaks one who simply has never done this in his life... Oh - and they are available with built in switching for those like you who can't do electrics.
I'm probably seeing a skewed picture round here where a lot of property is available to rent. It's about 50:50 in agents window between lettings and sales.
Have two typical energy hungry houses together in similar condition and spec. One all electric one gas CH and DHW. See which one has the higher price and sells quicker.
Many landlords will look for an all electric house to avoid gas certificate hassles.
And, as I have just discovered, you get much less choice in any given area to select your rental property from. Probably because, if it is any good, it gets snapped up PDQ, whereas many houses are on sale for weeks.
When I was looking, I had a must have of town centre with off street parking (at a premium here).
I got to choose from 4 (fortunately one of them had almost all of the nice to haves) but I certainly wasn't going to turn down house with a garage if it had of come with storage rads (it didn't).
(Having said that, the landlord doesn't have a gas cert. I'm not sure how I should address this)
The landlord is breaking the law. Tell him you want a CORGI round as a matter of emergency or you will report him to the HSE Gas Safety Line and to the local council (Environmental Health unless your council has a specialised private housing support team).
It's the landlord's responsibility to arrange access at a reasonable time for you. You don't have to be there. CORGI collects keys from landlord, does job, locks up after him and returns keys to landlord.
Or landlord comes and sits in your lounge for the morning waiting for CORGI to turn up.
Admittedly you might not want either of these, and prefer to be present yourself (I would).
It is normal practice to ask the tenant if the Landlord's agent (i.e the gas fitter) may do the necessary safety tests. The Landlord gives the fitter his set of keys and the work is done at a civilised hour, you do not have to stay in unless you are a paranoid control freak.
OTOH, if the Landlord is letting the property illegally it might be as well to meet the "gas fitter" and ask to see his CORGI card and check it with the CORGI website/phoneline ...
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