No heat or hot water in rented flat with children

He is tackling the issue. Yes he should be providing a couple of heaters but beyond that you just have to wait a few days for the part.

Plenty of people, myself included have examples of having to wait for parts in their own homes.

Sometimes, thats just the way it is, if the boiler can't be fixed there and then, then there may be a wait.

I don't think the time scale is unreasonable or unrealistic

I do think the landlord should be providing plug in heaters for warmth though.

Unless you're really broke, lots of good deals on heaters in Black Friday. Order a couple, they are always good to have anyway. Oil filled portable rads are economical.

As someone whose own boiler has been playing up for the last two weeks I can confirm that parts need ordering in, apparently there are so many variables on parts that look pretty much the same that even plumbers' merchants don't hold much stock any more. It's not nice to have to wait days for parts but that's how it is.

Make it an adventure. Boil kettles and have sponge baths rather than full soaks. Cook hot meals and leave the oven door open after you’ve finished. Hot water bottles, extra blankets and lots of hot drinks. Family jumping jacks to get the circulation going. People have survived much worse, I promise you.

Totally unrealistic expectations for the landlord on this thread. Is he a plumber himself? No. He should have got someone qualified that same day. Not on to wait days for parts. I doubt all of you landlords would think it's fine if you had no heating or hot water in your own home for a week. This is the responsibility you take when you rent out a property. If there's a major issue, you have to sort it fast or offer people alternative accommodation.

Get some electric heaters, keep at least one room warm, you can boil the kettle for washes. But if the parts need ordering there really is nothing else your landlord can do

Christ, no need to escalate to talking about calling the press (and indeed boiler broke down and landlord can’t magically arrange for parts to come sooner is NOT a story). If you say that to your landlord in the situation you have described where it sounds like he is genuinely trying to resolve the situation, he would rightly consider you to be a bit bonkers and unreasonable.

Absolutely fine to do what others have suggested though - explain you and the children can’t manage with heating or hot water until things are fixed and ask him how he plans to deal with this. He should be buying heaters, at the very least, and offering to pay the cost of running them.

I’m sorry you are all cold, OP. Our boiler broke last winter and it took a couple of weeks to be fixed. It’s pretty miserable, especially with kids. Hope you find a solution soon.

@madaboutpurple. Not helpful, the landlord has called the plumber who can’t get the needed part until Monday/Tuesday. That’s all you can do, calling the media is a non story which any editor or producer would realise (if this was 3 weeks on quite different). Even to fully replace the system takes days as you need to order the boiler (only the small ones are usually in stock, mine took 10 days to arrive) and they take more than a day to install

If you lived in your owned property you wouldn’t do anything like move to a hotel for two or three days

That is ridiculous
the landlord has called someone immediately - parts can’t be magicked up
mayne the tenant can ask for heaters whilst they’re waiting

Last Christmas we spent 10 days with out heating and hot water. Our landlord provided us with electric heaters. For baths we bolied water in massive pots we had to make it work.

Ditto above, if the landlord has come out within 24 hours, organised a plumber immediately who has assessed and will return with parts as soon as he can get hold of them then yes you need to wait, just like I had to when my owned boiler broke (was over 2 weeks to get the parts) it’s not nice but just one of those things.

if your landlord hadn’t acted at all that would be different but he seems on the ball

I’m not sure your landlord could make it happen faster - if it was his own house it would be the same.

Ask him for some electric heaters?

I used to email my landlord with the message that he could either sort out the boiler or book us into any nearby hotel. Once there was a knock on the door shortly after my email ,a plumber had been found. Tell him you will be letting the local news for BBC and ITV as it will be the sad story at the end. No landlord would want the adverse publicity. It is not unreasonable to expect he either deals with the issue or books you in somewhere.

The thing is, if this was your house it would be the same. It happened to us last Christmas-except we’d been away a week so the house was brassic. Blankets on beds, showered at neighbours. It’s shit but noones fault.

Ask your landkort for electric heaters and him to pay for the use. They are pretty expensive.

Can't you stay with friends or family?

If you have outdoor friends borrow some winter sleepingbags? We have been sleeping in -10C in ours.

Has the landlord provided electric heaters for you to use?