WIBU to ask for a rent reduction?

[Dialsmavis]

I am just canvassing opinions at the moment. The heating and hot water has been broken in my rented house since Sunday. My letting agent has been great and the heating engineer has been there everyday this week trying to fix the problem. The lovely lady I have been dealing with has even sent the Little heater from her office round. It helps a tiny bit and I am grateful for the gesture. The boiler is no nearer to bring fixed at present. I have 2 young children and this is the 2nd time the boiler since we moved in Sept. we pay £1650 PCM for the house and have a great relationship with the agents who are quick to fix the fair few problems we have had, except the fact the previous tenants took all the window keys when they left! So, would you ask the letting agent if the LL would consider a rent reduction and how long would you wait to do so?

dialsmavis Talk to Enviromental Health at the local council, they're responsible for this sort of thing, the LA are not motivated to tell you the truth. Although as they've admitted it's not okay to leave you without heat, you're in a pretty strong position with the landlord given that you have no heat...

Uh, it's completely unacceptable to be without heating and hot water for 4 days in the UK in November. One of your children is ill already, by the sound of it. I think you should be less thinking about a rent reduction and more that you have the right to move somewhere with adequate facilities for your children without giving notice or paying any more rent. It simply does not take 4 days to fix a boiler- if it took more than one it obviously needs replacing and your landlord is just being a cheapskate (also haha to the idea that this'll be expensive for them- most landlords just ask in random people they know to do repairs, not proper professionals, it's probably his mate joe the plumber who's doing it for no VAT or something).

1Catherine1, where the fuck are you living? It is winter- it's november and it's been below freezing out several nights the last month!

most landlords just ask in random people they know to do repairs, not proper professionals, it's probably his mate joe the plumber who's doing it for no VAT or something)

Rubbish!!! I always get the professional in but sometimes if parts have to be ordered then you need to wait. $ days is not completely unacceptable, annoying as it is. It's the UK wibble not Siberia

4 days!

Betty 4 days is not unacceptable, as long as the out of pocket expensese are covered (e.g. payment for trips to the swimming baths to enable a shower, additional heating costs.), and compensation for the extra hassle - ie a rent holiday for whilst the house is not habitable (no hot water).

Once the delay is in the unacceptable time we'd be talking about the full cost of alternative accomodation until repairs are completed.

Sure it's crap for the landlord, it's why the landlord should ensure they have very well maintained boilers (replaced this one the first time it failed and not waited) and ensure that they choose examples where the parts are very easily available to avoid the long delays.

So many different opinions, thank you for them all . I think the varying thoughts show my problem with wanting neither take the piss or have it taken out of me

Fred....sadly I have found with past experience that the words plumbers and avoid the long delays just do not go together! :)

I have phoned the (lovely) letting agent Again and received an update, someone else is coming to look on Saturday . She asked if we have anywhere else to stay but the only people we know on our new area have a tiny house and 2 children. She is ringing me back when she figured out how to help us. it is just bad timing that I have a poorly baby because it's just instinctive to keep them as cosy as possible.

Buy four more electric heaters (or however many you need) and ask LL to pay. Wash/shower at local gym and keep receipts and ask LL to pay. Apart from that, which seems reasonable and costable, YABU to want a rent reduction - your LL is not a magician and is doing his best to fix the problem. People with mortgages have to wait for repairs too. It's not nice but it's the RW. Just because you pay rent (in return for which you have the house) does not mean that you live in some fairyland where nothing ever goes wrong. Sadly.

Hope it's fixed soon!

yes, keep the baby warm! Buy some heaters. Nobody could complain about that. Buy a thermometer and keep the baby's room (minimum) at a suitable temperature.

I have just given my 5 year tenant a free month's rent (against the advice of the agent) because he has paid his rent, never asked for anything because he would rather be "messy" and has allowed unlimited access when we have been having things fixed. Good tenants should be rewarded when they are loyal and compensated when they are inconvenienced in my opinion, if my guy left we would lose at least £1000 when trying to replace him but more than that, this is HIS home and I want him to feel that.

It gets the landlords backs up, when tenants ask for reduction, especially when they have been trying to fix the problem

Your card will be marked. (speaking as someone who used to work as a letting agent).

Sorry.

We have had no heat yet this year. freezing!

Sorry to hear you have a poorly baby. Surely they can get someone out before then, I used to jump up and down with plumbers, and threated to change plumbers, if they did not go out to an emergency.

The landlord is (grudgingly I think) going to pay for 2 small heaters with a thermostat on for the children's rooms. I am happy enough with this for the moment. A

I am just hoping the specialist from the company who make The boiler can fix it On saturday.Apparently it has been a nightmare since it was fitted but was the only one That would go in the hole that would be big enough to heat the house. If anyone is going boiler shopping this weekend: give the Keston c36 combo a miss

They have sent people all week, but nobody knows how to fix it. DD was well enough for nursery today so have collected her warm but covered in green paint

To be honest you will probably find out the LL doesn't even know as the LA will be dealing with it. Our tenant was without heat last Christmas for a week, the first we knew about it was when we got the repair bill (LA has authority to fix emergencies) we assumed it was fixed straight away asked LA about the bill and were told it took a week over Christmas to fix but that our lovely lady and her 4 children had gone to relatives whilst it was cold. I would have given her a rebate but the LA said not to as she is still in arrears where her A hole ex DH moved out on her with a weeks notice to go live with his girlfriend and 4 DCs from their relationship that had been going on for years without her knowing

You sound like nice LL her ex sounds like a shit. Thanks everyone

YANBU to ask but landlords/letting agents frequently are unreasonable.

I think 5 days when they have been trying to fix it and it is not below freezing is within the bounds of not kicking up a fuss - but if it looks like it's going to drag on, to a couple of weeks with no heating or hot water, say, thwn yes, I would demand a rent reduction. £1650 is a shitload of cash per month - you're not getting a very basic and essential service you're paying for. To the idiot ex-letting agent saying they'd 'mark your card' - you seem to have forgotten these people are paying the letting agents' wages. Frankly at that kind of rent, you should be able to find somewhere with working heating.

This happened to us as a tenant twice - on one occasion the nice landlord brought round portable heaters the same day and fixed it within a couple of days (no complaints). On another occasion, the (different) crap landlord did bugger all for ages - we asked for and got free portable heaters off freecycle until the problem was fixed.

If it went on for a longer period of time then you would not be unreasonable but its not been lng and it isnt that cold yet so it may be a little unreasonable just yet.

We had no heating or hot water for three weeks last winter (in the snow) because our landlord said he couldnt afford to fix it.The agency were great and provided us with electroc heaters for the bedrooms and living room within 24 hours of our orginial phonecall after 3 weeks fixed it at thier own cost and were claiming the money back from mthe landlord or they told us the landlord had a garuantour they could go after if he didnt pay.