No heating in a rented house
Discussion
We rent ( I know, very un-PH) a four bedroom house with a fairly old combi boiler. Parts for this boiler are rarely held in stock so when it develops a fault, it can be several days before a repair can be made.
First issue was the week before Christmas - 4 days without heating or hot water. Replacement part arrives and we have heat and hot water again 2 days before Christmas eve.
On Tuesday, the boiler failed again. No heating or hot water. Engineer has ordered the part but delivery is likely to be Monday.
Letting agent has delivered two oil filled radiators to heat a four bedroom house, with four occupants (two adults, one ten year old and one 18 month old). Last night the temperature in the rooms with the heaters was adequate but the rest of the house was bloody cold.
I've complained the the LA and their response is to deliver one more heater this evening. They have spoken to the owner of the property and he has stated that he cannot afford to replace the boiler.
Have they fulfilled their obligations?
First issue was the week before Christmas - 4 days without heating or hot water. Replacement part arrives and we have heat and hot water again 2 days before Christmas eve.
On Tuesday, the boiler failed again. No heating or hot water. Engineer has ordered the part but delivery is likely to be Monday.
Letting agent has delivered two oil filled radiators to heat a four bedroom house, with four occupants (two adults, one ten year old and one 18 month old). Last night the temperature in the rooms with the heaters was adequate but the rest of the house was bloody cold.
I've complained the the LA and their response is to deliver one more heater this evening. They have spoken to the owner of the property and he has stated that he cannot afford to replace the boiler.
Have they fulfilled their obligations?
SlimRick said:
We rent ( I know, very un-PH) a four bedroom house with a fairly old combi boiler. Parts for this boiler are rarely held in stock so when it develops a fault, it can be several days before a repair can be made.
First issue was the week before Christmas - 4 days without heating or hot water. Replacement part arrives and we have heat and hot water again 2 days before Christmas eve.
On Tuesday, the boiler failed again. No heating or hot water. Engineer has ordered the part but delivery is likely to be Monday.
Letting agent has delivered two oil filled radiators to heat a four bedroom house, with four occupants (two adults, one ten year old and one 18 month old). Last night the temperature in the rooms with the heaters was adequate but the rest of the house was bloody cold.
I've complained the the LA and their response is to deliver one more heater this evening. They have spoken to the owner of the property and he has stated that he cannot afford to replace the boiler.
Have they fulfilled their obligations?
Yes.First issue was the week before Christmas - 4 days without heating or hot water. Replacement part arrives and we have heat and hot water again 2 days before Christmas eve.
On Tuesday, the boiler failed again. No heating or hot water. Engineer has ordered the part but delivery is likely to be Monday.
Letting agent has delivered two oil filled radiators to heat a four bedroom house, with four occupants (two adults, one ten year old and one 18 month old). Last night the temperature in the rooms with the heaters was adequate but the rest of the house was bloody cold.
I've complained the the LA and their response is to deliver one more heater this evening. They have spoken to the owner of the property and he has stated that he cannot afford to replace the boiler.
Have they fulfilled their obligations?
SlimRick said:
Have they fulfilled their obligations?
Not really. You rented the property with central heating and hot water. Dropping a few heaters off would be reasonable if the repair was going to be long-lasting but from what you say it seems likely that the situation will be repeated regularly, and what are you supposed to do without hot water in the meantime?So said:
SlimRick said:
So said:
Yes.
Concise. civicduty said:
You must have been reading a different document to me. It stays that no effort to repair for more than a few days is not acceptable. Here, there was an almost immediate effort to repair and the repair completed in a few days. The landlord not being able to replace the boiler isn't your problem. He has a legal responsibility to provide you with heating and hot water.
Boilers do break down, I'm a landlord myself and they always break down at the worst possible time.
My local authority insist we attend to a boiler fault within 24 hours and must have it fixed within a reasonable period of time, we are talking a few days, not weeks.
I'd go back to your local private sector housing and put in another complaint, that gives the landlord 21 days to resolve the issue or they will give him a request for improvement and beyond that a statuary notice. You may get the council to further prioritise this if you have young children or are elderly.
Boilers do break down, I'm a landlord myself and they always break down at the worst possible time.
My local authority insist we attend to a boiler fault within 24 hours and must have it fixed within a reasonable period of time, we are talking a few days, not weeks.
I'd go back to your local private sector housing and put in another complaint, that gives the landlord 21 days to resolve the issue or they will give him a request for improvement and beyond that a statuary notice. You may get the council to further prioritise this if you have young children or are elderly.
I guessing the rent is not cheap. So how the landlord figures he cannot afford to replace the boiler is a little absurd.
He's not fulfilling his obligations if the boiler repeatedly breaks down. However, you could have been unlucky in that twice in two months was just how it fell.
How long have you been living there?
Is it likely the landlord would be unable to rent out the property again if you moved out?
He's not fulfilling his obligations if the boiler repeatedly breaks down. However, you could have been unlucky in that twice in two months was just how it fell.
How long have you been living there?
Is it likely the landlord would be unable to rent out the property again if you moved out?
Coin Slot. said:
The landlord not being able to replace the boiler isn't your problem. He has a legal responsibility to provide you with heating and hot water.
Boilers do break down, I'm a landlord myself and they always break down at the worst possible time.
My local authority insist we attend to a boiler fault within 24 hours and must have it fixed within a reasonable period of time, we are talking a few days, not weeks.
I'd go back to your local private sector housing and put in another complaint, that gives the landlord 21 days to resolve the issue or they will give him a request for improvement and beyond that a statuary notice. You may get the council to further prioritise this if you have young children or are elderly.
What on earth are you talking about?Boilers do break down, I'm a landlord myself and they always break down at the worst possible time.
My local authority insist we attend to a boiler fault within 24 hours and must have it fixed within a reasonable period of time, we are talking a few days, not weeks.
I'd go back to your local private sector housing and put in another complaint, that gives the landlord 21 days to resolve the issue or they will give him a request for improvement and beyond that a statuary notice. You may get the council to further prioritise this if you have young children or are elderly.
Coin Slot. said:
My local authority insist we attend to a boiler fault within 24 hours and must have it fixed within a reasonable period of time, we are talking a few days, not weeks.
It is being fixed within a few days, not weeks. Stuff breaks down in all dwellings, included rented ones. When it breaks, it gets fixed. When it breaks, it does not mean it immediately needs to be replaced. 
DurianIceCream said:
Coin Slot. said:
My local authority insist we attend to a boiler fault within 24 hours and must have it fixed within a reasonable period of time, we are talking a few days, not weeks.
It is being fixed within a few days, not weeks. Stuff breaks down in all dwellings, included rented ones. When it breaks, it gets fixed. When it breaks, it does not mean it immediately needs to be replaced. We manage a lot of properties and when a boiler goes down some tenants are very understanding. Others jump up and down saying it's not good enough, more should be done, it's illegal etc. etc. so generally we offer them the opportunity to remedy the situation more quickly and we will pay the bill. In the past 25 years we've not had a tenant get a boiler repaired....
stuarthat said:
Our local authority and letting agent insist that we have boiler rads hot water insurance ,doesn't help you ,but may help in the future if you ask is the heating / boiler covered ,hope they fix it soon.
That may be a local authority regulation for them to put public housing tenants in private accommodation, but there is no legal basis for them to require a private landlord renting to a private tenant to have boiler insurance. It's also irrelevant, because a repair of the boiler was arranged immediately.
DurianIceCream said:
It is being fixed within a few days, not weeks. Stuff breaks down in all dwellings, included rented ones. When it breaks, it gets fixed. When it breaks, it does not mean it immediately needs to be replaced.
Where did I say the landlord has to replace it?A continuous cycle of breaking/fixing over the course of a few weeks isn't acceptable, one or two breakdowns a year is.
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