No heating in a rented house
Discussion
It's not reasonable for it happen repeatedly, for days on end, in quick succession. Whilst it's not quite at that definition yet, it's heading that way and another breakdown in the next month or so would arguably put it there. Since the parts are apparently difficult to obtain - making fast repairs difficult - I would be getting close to demanding something more permanent be done. At this precise moment, it sounds as if the landlord IS fulfilling his obligations, but only just.
One thing to bear in mind is that sometimes 'the part will take several days' is a cover for 'the landlord won't authorise the cost of the repairs' and it is buying the letting agent some time to either get a better quote or persuade the landlord to cough up.
On the other side of the coin, be very sceptical of heating engineers who try to paint the 'vintage' boiler as difficult to source parts for / difficult to repair. They are often angling for the lucrative work to replace it at an inflated cost (especially if they have the contract for repairs with the letting agent). In the house I rented before the current one, I had this several times and I ended basically defending my landlord against getting ripped off by unscrupulous heating engineers!
My current rented house has a boiler that dates back to about 1995 (it's nearly as old as me!) and the various engineers that have attended for annual inspections and a couple of fairly minor repairs have said it's perfectly serviceable and parts are reasonably easy to obtain. The two repairs I've had done were sorted within 36 hours. Obviously this isn't always the case though.
One thing to bear in mind is that sometimes 'the part will take several days' is a cover for 'the landlord won't authorise the cost of the repairs' and it is buying the letting agent some time to either get a better quote or persuade the landlord to cough up.
On the other side of the coin, be very sceptical of heating engineers who try to paint the 'vintage' boiler as difficult to source parts for / difficult to repair. They are often angling for the lucrative work to replace it at an inflated cost (especially if they have the contract for repairs with the letting agent). In the house I rented before the current one, I had this several times and I ended basically defending my landlord against getting ripped off by unscrupulous heating engineers!
My current rented house has a boiler that dates back to about 1995 (it's nearly as old as me!) and the various engineers that have attended for annual inspections and a couple of fairly minor repairs have said it's perfectly serviceable and parts are reasonably easy to obtain. The two repairs I've had done were sorted within 36 hours. Obviously this isn't always the case though.
Coin Slot. said:
SlimRick said:
First time was a fan at the top of the boiler, not sure what has been ordered this time. No attempt at ignition when the boiler s turned on, and the radiator light flashes at a rate of approx 1 per second.
There's two versions of that boiler apparently, one is circa 10 years old, the Greenstar model and then there's an older version that's non condensing, circa 15+ years old.My local supplier has fans, pcb's, gas valves and heat exchangers in stock for both types.
Somebody is dragging their heels.
Sorry bit off topic but as we were mentioning Vintage....
zarjaz1991 said:
It's not reasonable for it happen repeatedly, for days on end, in quick succession. Whilst it's not quite at that definition yet, it's heading that way and another breakdown in the next month or so would arguably put it there. Since the parts are apparently difficult to obtain - making fast repairs difficult - I would be getting close to demanding something more permanent be done. At this precise moment, it sounds as if the landlord IS fulfilling his obligations, but only just.
One thing to bear in mind is that sometimes 'the part will take several days' is a cover for 'the landlord won't authorise the cost of the repairs' and it is buying the letting agent some time to either get a better quote or persuade the landlord to cough up.
On the other side of the coin, be very sceptical of heating engineers who try to paint the 'vintage' boiler as difficult to source parts for / difficult to repair. They are often angling for the lucrative work to replace it at an inflated cost (especially if they have the contract for repairs with the letting agent). In the house I rented before the current one, I had this several times and I ended basically defending my landlord against getting ripped off by unscrupulous heating engineers!
My current rented house has a boiler that dates back to about 1995 (it's nearly as old as me!) and the various engineers that have attended for annual inspections and a couple of fairly minor repairs have said it's perfectly serviceable and parts are reasonably easy to obtain. The two repairs I've had done were sorted within 36 hours. Obviously this isn't always the case though.
The problem is that when a boiler goes down, all concerned want it working again as quickly as possible. Generally, this means a repair rather than replacement. One thing to bear in mind is that sometimes 'the part will take several days' is a cover for 'the landlord won't authorise the cost of the repairs' and it is buying the letting agent some time to either get a better quote or persuade the landlord to cough up.
On the other side of the coin, be very sceptical of heating engineers who try to paint the 'vintage' boiler as difficult to source parts for / difficult to repair. They are often angling for the lucrative work to replace it at an inflated cost (especially if they have the contract for repairs with the letting agent). In the house I rented before the current one, I had this several times and I ended basically defending my landlord against getting ripped off by unscrupulous heating engineers!
My current rented house has a boiler that dates back to about 1995 (it's nearly as old as me!) and the various engineers that have attended for annual inspections and a couple of fairly minor repairs have said it's perfectly serviceable and parts are reasonably easy to obtain. The two repairs I've had done were sorted within 36 hours. Obviously this isn't always the case though.
For an agent to get a boiler replaced will usually involve getting three quotes and then scheduling in the installation. Some heating engineers will quote without seeing the job, most won't. Then they will need to prepare a quote and submit it. Then they will need to book it in - heating engineers (good ones anyway) cannot fit a new boiler at the drop of a hat. We run a lot of properties and if a boiler needs replacing it will on average take about a week to get installed - and we don't need to get multiple quotes.
When a boiler has been repaired and it working, generally speaking the tenant is happy and the landlord, having spent money on a boiler, doesn't want to scrap it. The boiler may then run for many years without problem, or it may break again in a week. The more it has been repaired, the less likely it is to break again, because more old parts have been replaced.
The landlord may decide to replace the boiler as part of routine maintenance. We'd do that if a boiler was genuinely old or had ceased to be on the service list. However, the boiler the OP has is a perfectly serviceable unit.
I'd say 4 days is normal for a repair on a boiler assuming readily available parts. A new boiler installation will take much longer.
Its pretty hard to get a plumber in immediately these days!
Mind you I do have a stock of fan heaters to drop in immediately if it does happen during winter.
If the landlord doesn't give more heaters, then you can buy cheap ones for £10 which will keep the chill off in the short term.
In comparison, our own boiler packed in and my own family was without heating and hot water for over 2 weeks, whilst I waited for spares and a plumber to fit. I tend to treat our tenants better than my own family...!
Its pretty hard to get a plumber in immediately these days!
Mind you I do have a stock of fan heaters to drop in immediately if it does happen during winter.
If the landlord doesn't give more heaters, then you can buy cheap ones for £10 which will keep the chill off in the short term.
In comparison, our own boiler packed in and my own family was without heating and hot water for over 2 weeks, whilst I waited for spares and a plumber to fit. I tend to treat our tenants better than my own family...!
SlimRick said:
WinstonWolf said:
I'd buy a house of your own, then you can replace the boiler at your own expense if the current situation is unacceptable.
Congratulations, you win "t
ttiest reply of the thread" award.Personally, if I were renting something, and not liking it, I'd stop renting it. That being the main advantage of renting vs buying ?
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