Rented House, No Heating - Legal Advice Please

[wilz1234]

Hi Everyone,

Me and my partner are currently renting a property. We deal with a letting agency and have no direct contact with the landlady.

Last thursday (21st Nov) the boiler broke and dumped all of the water. We contacted the letting agency, and they sent out a plumber that day. It has now been over a week (29th Nov) and the plumber is still waiting on the part. He has now said he expects it to arrive on monday (2nd Dec) 12 days after it broke.

We have an electric fan heater, but cannot afford to run it all day.

Where do we stand legally in terms of asking for compensation to cover the cost of running the electric heater? I understand that the letting agency have done 'all they can' to help, and have even offered us another electric heater, but this still doesn't change the fact that the house has been uninhabitable for over a week.

On top of this, my partner works from home as an artist, and finds it difficult to work because her hands are too cold.

At what point does it become unreasonable to be without heating in winter?


Thanks in advance,
Will
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[P.addy]

My letting agency wouldn't let me have slightly cheaper rent and we lost our boiler, shower and heating for 3 fucking weeks

It was well cold. I never pursued it, so I'm also interested what can be done regarding this..

[wilz1234]

You have my sympathy Paddy

Good point, surely we are paying our monthly rent for a house that is inhabitable and could claim back some of our rent...
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[DrDonnyBrago]

https://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/housing_e/housing_renting_a_home_e/getting_repairs_done_while_renting.htm

[Rogerborg]

[andym]

What is this hee-ting thing anyway?

I have storage heaters where I live (which use about £2 per night each), so I have to wrap up warm, rely on a halogen heater and electric blanket... oh and a dehumidifier to try cutting down on some of the dampness (which is useless anyway).

Mind you... this is a converted house (split into 2 flats), and the lady downstairs managed to have a gas line fitted and central heating installed.

[wilz1234]

Cheers for the replies guys,

Rogerborg, unfortunately we can't afford to have our own plumber come out and inspect the boiler, so this throws a bit of a spanner in the works. I would like to get in touch with the letting agency's chosen plumber, to find out what the part is, and where he is getting it from, so we could phone around and see if we could get it sooner; however we don't have direct contact with him.

We have been in touch with them this afternoon, and they have surprisingly agreed to give us a 'good will gesture' to help cover the cost of heating with electric heaters. So case closed I believe
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[Quornholio]

Do they not have plumbers who do free callouts and estimates where you live?

[wilz1234]

[Quornholio]

I would have done it, and asked the plumber to send landlord the bill.

[Al]

I guess a good will gesture is reasonable, I'd have thought you could get most modern boiler parts within a week. Maybe somebody messed up and ordered the wrong part or something

Surely running a 2kw fan heater with a thermostat is going to be cheaper then running the boiler that you now can't use
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[-Matt-]

I'm not sure if its a general thing, but in our current rented place as an example the boiler/oven and other fitted 'appliances' are all the responsbility of the landlord and this is indicated in the contract - and i would expect usually is with anyone half decent agency .. uh hmm..

Have a good scan through your contract if you have it around [hope you do ], you may find it clearly sets out how and who is responsible for it and what the response should be if something fails etc.

[MattEMulsion]

Maybe the part for the boiler is almost obsolete and it really is going to take 12 days for the right part to arrive? Why would the plumber deliberately drag his feet? As far as I can see the letting agency have done all they could, got the plumber straight round, he has the job in hand, why would he dawdle?

Maybe its just one of those things...
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[Ichy]

The few times with have had a gas boiler repaired we have always had to wait for a part. I think there is such a wide and diverse range that you can pretty much guarantee that there will be some delay.

Oh yeah, wear more layers or do what all poor/old people do this time of year, walk around the shops for hours on end.
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[arry]

Read your lease. Generally speaking a hindrance to the use of the property or loss of facilities will allow a reduction in rent

[The Shaggy D.A.]

I thought artists were meant to suffer. Get her some gloves.
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[Al]

When we order parts most are in within a few days, some even 24 hours. We've had occasions where parts have been unavailable or have a long delay because of manufacturing or importing problems.
We once had to wait nearly 2 months for a fan, but it would have been the same for anybody unless they found old stock.
Lots of plumbers won't want to book the job in until the new part has arrived in case it doesn't as you then have an empty slot with no work booked, although that might not be such a problem for a large company with lots of ongoing contracts.
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