Landlord wants me to cover charge for the blocked sink. Can I refuse?
I moved into my property in November of last year,y my flatmate has at that point been living at the property for over a year. She lived with another girl who I replaced. In Jan of this year I noticed that the sink has a foul smell and keeps constantly getting blocked. When the dishwasher is on the dirty drain water flows up to the sink and leaves the place smelling awful. My current flatmate and I have bought everything to try and fix the issue.
My flatmate told me this has been an ongoing issue since before I moved into the flat and they have informed the landlord about it multiple times and each time he messages back saying “I’m happy to cover a a callout for a plumber however, if it turns out to be grease/food blockage the tenants are liable for the charge” I challenged it and told him “since this has been an ongoing issue since before I moved in I won’t be covering the plumber call out” my flatmate has interactions with him from last year discussing this issue so there’s proof this has been ongoing. He messaged me saying he’ll check with the building manager to see if this has been an ongoing issue and will get back to me. Am I in the wrong for not wanting to cover the charge for the call out?
Just to preface, my flatmate and I I don’t put grease or food down the sink. We have a food catcher. So it definitely isn’t blocked due to food/grease.