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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask for rent reduction

200 replies

GnomeDePlume · 22/08/2016 20:55

Sorry, posting here for traffic.

DD has just moved into a flat. Boiler doesnt work and the bloke sent by the landlord reckons it will take a week at least to fix.

DD has just started a new job 2 hours from home so needs to be able to shower daily.

WIBU to insist that DD gets a rent discount sufficient to allow her to join a gym for a month to get access to showers?

OP posts:
shiteattheseaside · 23/08/2016 08:37

Sorry just read that its in a rural area and shes v busy with work, so can see where your coming from.

IzzyIsBusy · 23/08/2016 08:42

I dont think ot is a blase attitude but more of a this stuff happens in life you just need to get on with it, its only a week.

She has running water and the ability to heat it up therefore adequate washing facilities are available. Not being able to manage such a minor inconvenience seems precious to me.
Obviously longer than a week then yes demand rent reduction but you have to allow reasonable time for it to be fixed.

AnnaT45 · 23/08/2016 08:46

I can totally understand where you're coming from OP. You sound like a lovely mum, sometimes we all need a bit of support and that's exactly what you're doing. I suggest speaking to the LL to find out how long it's going on for. Maybe say a week is fine but any longer you'll need a reduction in rent to pay for shower at a gym. If she had no hot water she'll then have to boil the kettle loads too which will cost her money. I don't think it's unreasonable.

HermioneJeanGranger · 23/08/2016 08:50

It's not a blasé attitude, more that it's one of those things that happens and it's not always possible to fix boilers in 24 hours no matter what lease agreements might say. People aren't saying to suck it up to sound harsh, they're saying it because unless the electrician has the parts to fix the boiler there's not much else to do except wait!

OP I hope your DD gets her boiler fixed soon. It's miserable being stuck with no hot water and when you're young and on your own in a new place it can make things pretty tough and overwhelming.

pasturesgreen · 23/08/2016 09:01

Yes, it's annoying, but as has been said, not everything can possibly be fixed in 24 hours, no matter how much we'd love it to.

Nobody's going to come to harm for having to do with a strip wash for a week. Annoying, yes, but surely not a life and death matter. Can't see what a gym membership has to do with it...at a push, she could ask a friend or neighbour, but a gym membership? Seriously? Confused

HarryElephante · 23/08/2016 09:24

Izzyisbusy, I think you are being extremely harsh calling OPs daughter precious. I think we all parent differently and you obviously wouldn't help your children in this situation, where others would.

I don't think it makes the child precious.

Original poster
GnomeDePlume · 23/08/2016 09:37

pasturesgreen she has been in the flat and the town for now 5 days. Next door flat is empty, she is new to the town and knows no one there. The gym membership was to do with being able to access showers. Local leisure centre charges £8/day. Gone are the days when you could get a swim and a shower for a couple of quid. It is a fairly wealthy town in a rural area. The one month gym membership would be cheaper than a week's worth of leisure centre access.

OP posts:
scaryteacher · 23/08/2016 09:47

Advicepls780 I don't know if these suggestions are people taking the piss or not 'wet wipes' and washes in the sink FOR A WEEK!

Not taking the piss at all. Many of us can probably remember outside loos and grandparents not having a bathroom (and this was in the late 70s), so a strip wash was the norm when we went to stay. Shock, horror, gasp!

If my boiler in my own house broke it might well be a week until it was fixed (but I am sensible enough to have an electric immersion, so alternatives are there for the tenants), due to sourcing parts. We rent abroad, the boiler stopped working, and it was 4 days before they could come out to fix it. I boiled the kettle and used that to wash, and used wet wipes. No big deal. The world didn't end, and we had to pay for the repair, as that is what Belgian leases require!

If it was your own place and it would take time to sort, I don't really understand why people expect l/ls to be able to fix it within 24 hours.

Advicepls7080 · 23/08/2016 09:53

No one said 24hrs though did they? I certainly didn't.

Original poster
GnomeDePlume · 23/08/2016 09:56

At no point have I suggested that the boiler should be fixed within 24 hours. DD would just like to know when it will be fixed. If the repair time will be open ended then she would like a bit of a reduction on her rent to cover the cost of showering elsewhere.

Of course in the past DD would consider herself lucky to be able to wash once a week at the village pump. One of the nice things about the past is that it is the past (and you cant smell it!). DD is paying rent for a flat which includes a working boiler. Is she unreasonable to want a discount on the rent if one of the things she is paying for doesnt work?

OP posts:
HarryElephante · 23/08/2016 09:59

I am quite certain in the past we didn't pay £500 a month to wash weekly at the village pump.

I am genuinely surprised at people's attitudes in this thread. Mother helps daughter; mother gets vilified. The world's going mad.

KoalaDownUnder · 23/08/2016 09:59

scary, if that's what your local tenant/landlord laws allow, then so be it.

Here, it is illegal for a landlord to leave a tenant without hot water for a week. They would either have to pay more to get the boiler repaired earlier (as 'can't' usually means 'won't pay the extra'), or give the tenant a rent reduction.

TheGruffaloMother · 23/08/2016 10:02

As mentioned in previous posts, DD is in the first days of a new job so not able to spend time on the phone chasing the LL.

In the nicest possible way, unless her placements are 24 hours and she's not allowed access to her phone in that time, she does have the time to call the landlord. I'd not normally press a minor point like this but regardless of whether she's 6, 16 or 60, it's inappropriate for you to be calling the landlord to discuss both issues with the tenancy and rent reductions. Because you're not the tenant. Do help your DD but really, that phone call needs to be from her. And if she has the time to call or text you, she has time to call or email the landlord.

KoalaDownUnder · 23/08/2016 10:04

Exactly; I've lived in a developing country yes where a bucket of cold tap water was the best you ever got.

Funnily, I wasn't paying $500 per week in rent, plus bond/letting fees, which was reflected in local laws (or lack thereof) to protect tenants' rights.

It's not that nobody can live without hot water, fgs; it's a matter of getting what you've paid for.

HarryElephante · 23/08/2016 10:04

Why is it inappropriate, TGM? I do things on behalf of my family members all the time.

specialsubject · 23/08/2016 10:05

In the real world, as anyone who has run a house knows, it can take a week to get a boiler fixed. Which is why my rental also has an electric shower, choice of hot water sources. I also have home emergency cover for it - dont know how long it would take in practice.

I would keep the tenant ( not her mum) informed and be chasing progress daily. Ignored people get fed up.

But i would also have checked the place thoroughly before a new tenant moved in. To find the boiler not working on moving in is not good enough.

TheGruffaloMother · 23/08/2016 10:12

I do things for my family all the time too. But while a tenant is in good mental and physical health, any discussion about the terms of a tenancy, rent reductions, issues, etc, should be between those who've entered into the tenancy agreement.

kirinm · 23/08/2016 10:18

If my LL told me to strip wash for a week, I'd tell him to fuck off and get the problem sorted. I've already said this but I don't think your daughter is being precious.

I hope her LL is decent. I've been pretty lucky with mine as they've all offered rent reductions when I've been inconvenienced which, given the amount they receive, is fair I think.

My post is just another one trying to be supportive because I find the 'in my day we washed outside ' posts totally ridiculous!

RB68 · 23/08/2016 10:26

She has been told a week so she knows how long for. A flannel wash every day and a trip to the local pool won't hurt her - or just go for a couple of trial sessions at local gym at a push.

Of course its lovely we all have central heating and hot water on tap these days but sometimes you have to put up to get stuff sorted. I suggest if she wants rolls royce LL service she pays those sorts of rents. A week is not unreasonable if waiting for parts. Its unreasonable to expect landlord to foot gym bills unless it is openended and we are talking months in which case he should be looking at other accom for her

HarryElephante · 23/08/2016 10:28

Why, TGM? Why is it inappropriate for her mother to speak on her behalf?

Original poster
GnomeDePlume · 23/08/2016 10:29

She has been told a week so she knows how long for. plumber said he thought it could take a week but given that he was a gas plumber and the boiler is electric he was quite honest that he didnt in fact know and was only guessing.

OP posts:
scaryteacher · 23/08/2016 10:32

A boiler breaking down is part of life...and we all have had to deal with it, both in our own homes and our rentals.

I find the 'the boiler has stopped working, it's the end of the world and I must be compensated' posts ridiculous, quite frankly. There are alternative means of washing available in the short term to the OP's daughter until the boiler is fixed.

Incidentally, has she checked that the shower isn't an all electric affair that isn't boiler dependant and heats the water itself as it isn't always obvious what type of shower is in place?

AnUtterIdiot · 23/08/2016 10:33

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

kirinm · 23/08/2016 10:34

But she is paying 'those sorts of rent'! £500 for a studio flat not in London seems pretty high.

AnUtterIdiot · 23/08/2016 10:34

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

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