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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To expect landlord to fix boiler ASAP

38 replies

CJ2010 · 20/09/2011 07:12

Put the hot tap on yesterday in the kitchen in order to wash DS bottles and there ws no hot water. I went to have a look at the boiler and a red light was flashing which indicates flame failure.

So I phone the landlord and he says he will phone his builder, whose friend was the plumber who fitted the boiler and get him to come out and have a look. The builder is a lazy, PITA and if I am having to rely on him to contact his plumber mate then I'm screwed. You when you can foresee a saga developing? Well this is one if those times and I'm about to lose my rag already!

As a tenant what are my rights in getting something like this fixed? I have a 20 month old and a five week old baby. AIBU to demand the LL gets this fixed within the next couple of days. Need advice please!! TIA

OP posts:
Groovee · 20/09/2011 07:15

Is there not a button to press on the boiler to relight the pilot? There usually is and it would get the boiler working than calling out the lazy ones.

StuckUpTheFarawayTree · 20/09/2011 07:19

Sometimes there is just a reset button. Is your gas working elsewhere in the house, I.e. Hobs?

DaisyDaresYOU · 20/09/2011 07:27

Usually when the red light flashes nothing works Hot water,radiators etc.Had this prob many times.Was a pain up the arse.

Original poster
CJ2010 · 20/09/2011 07:28

Yes gas working everywhere else

OP posts:
DaisyDaresYOU · 20/09/2011 07:29

Are the numbers going down on it?

DaisyDaresYOU · 20/09/2011 07:32

Ours was faulty boiler.They come out a couple of times a year.Argh!

Atwaroverscrabble · 20/09/2011 08:29

We had this, it was an air flow problem and took 3 weeks to fix... Luckily we had electric showers but it was chilly a few weeks ago! Warm socks, jumpers and boil kettle for dishes... Keep asking the landlord daily, they may just sort it to stop you moaning!

GypsyMoth · 20/09/2011 08:32

Our landlord ( housing association) has previously said it's not an 'urgent' item as you can boil a kettle fir hit water and put in extra clothing If no heating!!

Up to a week us acceptable to them, more if parts/work is required

Original poster
CJ2010 · 20/09/2011 08:34

This is my first time renting and I just wondered of there's any legislation to protect tenants, ie. to get a problem like this fixed esp as there are two babies in the house, hot water is essential! LL is a tight arse and I know he will drag it out getting it sorted.

OP posts:
nocake · 20/09/2011 08:37

When our boiler broke we managed to get someone out within two days so that would be a reasonable timescale at least to have it looked at.

Be a pain in the arse to your landlord. Phone him frequently to ask when it will be done. Quote section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 which says that he has to fix it within a reasonable amount of time. If that doesn't get him moving you could threaten to refer the matter to the local authority's housing standards team or the environmental health team.

Original poster
CJ2010 · 20/09/2011 08:51

I'm renting privately, dealing with LL directly.

OP posts:
southeastastra · 20/09/2011 08:54

waiting more than a day would drive me demented and i would expect any landlord worth his salt to sort out there and then. he should have people to hand not mates of mates.

our plumber comes usually on the same day when we have no hot water. a day later at the best.

keep calling.

GaramMasalaGirl · 20/09/2011 08:57

CJ your local council should have a Tenancy Relations Officer within its housing department. They can intervene/mediate on your behalf. Especially where there is a young baby involved.

I'm not sure how long the process takes but they can definitely give the landlord a kick up the bum to ensure he carries out his legal obligations.

NinkyNonker · 20/09/2011 09:05

I think you can give him a day or so to sort it without getting grumpy, it is always worth using someone reliable in terms of skills to fix stuff instead of an unknown quantity, sometimes things can't be dropped in an instant.

I think you could prob use the kettle for boiling water at the mo.

slavetofilofax · 20/09/2011 09:09

You have the right to have it sorted within a 'reasonable time'. when it comes to hot water, I would say that a couple of days is reasonable.

If the last time you called was yesterday, I would phone again and politey ask if the plumber is expected round today so that you can make sure you are in when he comes.

Be nice about it, and it might guilt him into sorting it quicker than he ususally would.

If plumber doesn't fix it today, then you make the same phone call tonight, saying that you have plans tomorrow and you need to know if you will have to change them to fit in plumber man. Keep hassling him!

TheOriginalNutcracker · 20/09/2011 09:16

This once happened when we were in a private rental. It was a new boiler but broke not long after we moved in and needed a new part that meant we were without hot water for 3 weeks.

I witheld £100 of the rent. The LL was not impressed but then neither was I at having two small children and no hot water.

NinkyNonker · 20/09/2011 09:20

Def phone again, but things do sometimes take a day or so to fix. They would do if you were trying to sort it in your own privately owned home too. We have a brill gas man/plumber etc that we use, he is sometimes busy. But we will wait a day or ao for him cause he does good work and we trust him.

LRDTheFeministDragon · 20/09/2011 09:51

Check your contract - it may specify what's a 'reasonable time' and what counts as an emergency. That said, we rent privately and ours says that if we lost hot water, it must be fixed within two weeks. Sad But I've had contracts that count loss of hot water as an emergency to be fixed asap, so you may be in luck.

Get a written letter to them if you think they are rubbish, always best to have things in writing.

CherylWillBounceBack · 20/09/2011 09:54

TheOriginalNutcracker has it spot on.

If it's not sorted out sharpish, penalise him on rent.

Consider it you duty on behalf of all renters to show Amateur buy to let landlords what's what. Dhow them that if they are going to buy up properties, force up prices using their cheap credit terms and make families rent, we expect them to offer a bloody good service.

Atwaroverscrabble · 20/09/2011 09:56

Oh and dont let anyone TOUCH the boiler unless they can show you their gas safe registration card which by law they have to carry and it has their photo on... Also make sure you have an annual safety certifcate for the boiler, again must be done by someone with a gas safe certificate... Carbon monoxide poisioning is a risk in rented properties....

NinkyNonker · 20/09/2011 09:57

I'd check your contract before following any advice to withold rent. In my experience most landlords are fundamentally half decent, but sometimes getting a decent job done needs arranging and good workmen don't tend to be sat twiddling their thumbs waiting for the phone to ring. A couple of days is reasonable, but remind him you expect him to get it done pronto!

Aitcherella · 20/09/2011 10:02

There is the Landlord and Tenant Act which will outline the landlord's responsibilities. They get a 'reasonable' amount of time to repair things and with private landlords it's normally a civil matter. You can contact Environmental Health at your local council. There is also the Housing Standards officers, again at your local council offices.

I had no end of trouble when I moved into my house, the boiler was 35 years old and regularly left me with no heating or hot water, on average every 10 days.

In the first instance phone your landlord and ask that the fix the boiler. Give them a time to have restored your hot water by, if it's not done by that time, advise them you will call out an emergency plumber yourself and deduct any costs incurred from next months rent. Keep a log of the problems you.

happyland · 20/09/2011 10:02

Has the boiler been in for less than a year (poss 2 depending on make) if so it will still be under guarantee and the manufacturers should send an engineer out.

I run a plumbing and heating company and we do a lot of work for landlords, we always have to attend with in 24hrs plus parts ordering time. We would try our best to do it quicker particularly if there are young children in the home.

CherylWillBounceBack · 20/09/2011 10:14

NickyNonker - Anyone who buys up property these days for the sole purpose of renting it out is not 'half decent'. It's a different thing if you've inherited a property or whatever, and temporarily need to let it, or bought years ago when it was fundamentally a sound proposition.

These days, all the surge in Buy to let (and the loose lending that has funded it) has done is helped force up prices and create a swathe of amateur idiots who wouldn't even be making a profit if their gain's were not being distorted by the low interest rates they are now being bailed out by.

Sod 'em I say. Make them earn that yield.

NinkyNonker · 20/09/2011 10:16

We'll have to agree to differ in that case.