We have to go two weeks without heating and hot water in rented accommodation

[MINEareCRAFTy]

Not sure what I'm looking for really. Advice, a space to rant maybe, sympathy?

By the time our boiler is due to be replaced on Tuesday, we will have gone two weeks without heating and hot water. I'm fuming. The landlord is in Australia (the irony), and the agent is beyond useless. Apparently the landlord has taken his time over quotes, wanting to get the best for us. How kind of him. However the plumber told us that he's just been messing around and it seems the agent have been covering for him somewhat. Looking online it seems we don't have a legal leg to stand on in terms of compensation, not paying full rent etc.

They have given us 4 fan heaters to use.

It was on it's way out for a while so my argument is, on top of how long it's taking to be fixed, why on earth didn't they plan for this when it was playing up?!

There's only so many times you feel able to impose on relatives for a shower and we have 4 children here 50% of the time 😢

When we were renting we had to wait 8 days for our boiler to be replaced and it was bloody awful. We were a house hold of 2 adults 2 late teens and a baby.

You have my total sympathy.

What exactly do people propose reporting the landlord for? It’s not an offence...

We fitted a mixture of appliances for this reason - gas CH & hot water but an electric fire and showers.

When our boiler failed we provided extra heaters (Argos same day delivery) whilst we waited for the plumber attend.

We'd have wanted several quotes for a replacement though.

We own so not exactly the same but we just waited 4 whole weeks for our good plumber to fit us a new boiler. It was done yesterday. Cost us a fortune too. 3 kids here too. Lots of plug in radiators, sink bath for the youngest and been at my mum's a lot. 2 weeks isn't too bad

You were very lucky Bernadette getting your boiler repaired over Christmas week
A lot of builders merchants close down for Christmas

@dontalltalkatonce

Agreed! Two weeks is appalling. And sounds like it might be longer than that now.

Your LL ought to be offering a reduction in the rent in line with the amount of time you've gone without. No doubt you've had extra costs running the additional heaters, travelling to friends houses for a bath etc.

isn't the hot water thing classed as an emergency? i'm sure i read that somewhere.

No emersion heater

Thanks guys, most of you can feel my pain!

Yeah getting 4 children washed by boiling pans? I'll just leave them mucky...

"This is why social housing is miles better than private and something we should be investing and promoting.

A social housing landlord would have properly government regulated timelines for repair. And failing repair within a matter of days would provide heaters/cash for increased electric/decanting to a hotel/and alternative vacant property on their books for a temp period"

lol lol lol

If it has been on the way out, it shouldn’t have been left to break down completely, LL should have arranged for a new one in the summer when it’s easier and quicker to get boilers done not left it to break down completely.

It’s not like you were told to make your own bonfire in the garden to boil water, plugging in a kettle to warm a bowl of water isn’t that hard core surely. I’m a child of the 70s sorry if the worlds all gone soft since then.

10 working days sound reasonable to me.

Akire...................thats the equivilent of someone telling you back in the 70s that "hey im a child of the 1930s so suck it up"

Maybe, who’d have thought that grand age of 44 boiling a kettle had become something so old fashioned. Oh well least next zombie attack I shall have a head start in the survival stakes.

We own our house and it’s still going to take 2 weeks to get a new boiler fitted. This is having called a plumber I trust immediately.

We had the exact same issue when our boiler packed in a few years ago at this time of year. The gas engineer who condemned our old boiler left us with fan heaters and a ton of sympathy. We just had to get on with it.

Grr. We’re on our third winter of only 3 out of 4 rads working up stairs it’s so cold!
Totally empathise with you it’s not fun at all

I’m a child of the 70s sorry if the worlds all gone soft since then.

Oh, please, what next, calling people 'snowflakes'? I'm a child of the 70s, too. We don't live there anymore, thank fuck. This thing called progress makes it so much easier and more efficient to actually get clean and wash yourself properly every day besides boiling a kettle for hot water. God, it was grim AF all that outdoor toilets and no shower. It's also expensive AF to boil a kettle dozens of times to bathe your kids and yourself.

The difference between being a home owner and a renter is you get to choose who does the work in your home when you own.

Legally the landlord has to maintain a supply of hot water for the property and its classes as an emergency repair, as it is winter the heating repair is also classed as an emergency. It doesn't appear to be a question of obtaining parts or no plumbers being available, the plumber himself has told the OP that the delay is down to the landlord messing around.

Just goes to show how many have been brain washed by the race to the bottom mentality in this second world country

They've now said Wednesday so actually it's about 16 days

Fuck that for a game of soldiers, OP. I would seriously consider emailing the agent tomorrow and reminding them that they have a legal responsibility to provide hot water and heat, that hot water is always classed as emergency repair and it is reasonable to expect it to be reinstated within 24hrs and that during the winter months heating is an emergency repair also. I would tell them that Tuesday-except-now-it-is-Wednesday is not acceptable and that if a firm plan for the repair, including a confirmed date, is not in place by close of business tomorrow then you will be contacting the private renting team at your local council.

I know it leaves you vulnerable to a revenge eviction so it is your choice however what's to stop them bumping you from Wednesday to Thursday and then Friday and then to the following week? They've had 16 days and they've used it to fanny about. Fair enough if they'd kept you updated, apologised, worked with you to make the best of the situation and assured you that any delay would be minimal.

In rented, I would expect better, however, I came back off holiday last month to a broken pump on my boiler and that took 4 days to get sorted due to plumbers being busy etc, so it’s not outlandish that a new boiler might take a couple of weeks. It’s bloody frustrating though.

I’m not in rented accommodation but I think if we had a similar issue I would not be pleased about it taking two weeks but could see why it may take that long.

YANBU. No heating or hot water should be fixed within 24 hours. Many times despite the best efforts that's not possible, but it's evident your LL and their agent aren't making their best efforts. They should be seeking who can get the fix done quickly, not cheaply.

As I see it, if you were an owner, it's in your power to choose your boiler, decide whether you want a second source of water heating, do preventive maintenance, and so on. As a tenant, that choice is with the landlord. If they choose a cheap crap boiler that nobody can get spares for, it's the tenant who ends up suffering the consequences. That's why landlords should be held to a high standard.

(Heating is generally easier if it's a gas boiler problem, just plug in some electric heaters. It's a serious issue if it's the electrics that are out though.)

You can't unilaterally withhold rent. You can take action to get compensated for the time period without hot water - but if you do so a "revenge eviction" is quite likely.

Hopefully you've got good documents and such. Things like a previous service that recommended replacing the boiler, or records of you reporting its previous faults, should put you in a better position if it comes to a dispute. Conversely if there were seemingly-minor faults and issues you didn't report then that counts against you.