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Original poster

To Ask about Tenant's Rights Re: 24 hours with no heating or hot water?

60 replies

PIPTribunalPanic · 25/01/2018 17:19

Posting for traffic as I can't seem to find any concrete answer from Google!

We're private tenants who have had boiler issues since 2nd Dec. We've had at least 6 engineers out from 3 different companies and still no resolution.

It's a long boring story but the current situation is we now haven't had heating or hot water for 24 hours and there is a part on order which should be fitted tomorrow afternoon. But with the recent history of it I can't say with confidence that this will remedy the issue (already had 3 new parts this week!)

Our landlady is a lovely lady but obviously this doesn't solve our issue!

We've got 3 DC whom we've just sent to GP's house overnight but DH and I are stuck here overnight with no facilities.

We've got one electric heater on loan but it's a big house and obviously we have no hot water for washing etc.

Does anyone know our legal rights regarding beubg put up in a hotel etc? How long before this may have to be an option etc? I'm disabled if that makes any difference and we do have a child under 5?

I don't want to cause any issues for our 'LL but my condition does require heat and hot water to be tolerable.

I'm in Wales if that matters?

Any advice gratefully received! Smile

Thank you

OP posts:
Original poster
PIPTribunalPanic · 25/01/2018 17:19

being

OP posts:
worridmum · 25/01/2018 17:24

They do not have to house you in a hotel, they do have to reasonable attempt to fix it ASAP but there are no strict guidelines saying this must not be longer then 24 hours etc, if its longer then a few days they are meant to provide you with heaters and good practice is to give you a goodwill gesture of a small discount on the rent to pay for extra energy costs but is not mandatory.

I hope its fixed ASAP and sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

Malbecfan · 25/01/2018 17:26

The landlady only has to act reasonably, and by what you have written, it would seem that she has. If you owned the house yourselves, what would you have done differently? It sounds like she has sent someone out quickly and with the best will in the world, parts take time to arrive.

2 years ago, our central heating pump failed. DH is more than capable of repairing it (as am I!), so he looked online and chose what he considered to be the most suitable. Screwfix tried every trick in the book to get him to buy a different pump but he is stubborn and refused. With the delays, the googling, the waiting for the correct pump and a free evening to fit it, we were left with no heating for a week. Annoying yes, but we coped and so did our kids.

You should ask your landlady for an alternative source of heat if you don't have one. Try Argos for oil filled radiators as they are cheap to run. Use the kettle for hot water and ask if you can use a friend's or relative's shower/bath until it is fixed.

HelenaDove · 25/01/2018 17:30

Malbec the difference is that was your choice. You chose to do that.

The OPS issues have been ongoing for nearly two months.

AHedgehogCanNeverBeBuggered · 25/01/2018 17:30

As worrid says. It's unfortunate but if you were home-owners you would be in the same situation, it's not fair to expect your '
LL to pay for a hotel. I hope it gets sorted soon - can you stay with friends or parents tonight?

Original poster
PIPTribunalPanic · 25/01/2018 17:43

Thanks everyone.

Just to be clear I'm not expecting a hotel I just wondered if anyone actually knew if we were "entitled" to it so to speak?

We're on excellent terms with her and don't want to risk the current relationship.

I could manage without the heating for now but the hygiene issues are my top concern at the moment as obviously we can't wash hands properly.

Yes we do have a hot water dispenser (as opposed to a kettle).

Originally the issue was being dealt with via an insurance company but as we've had no resolution a private company has taken over. I'm not sure why LL chose to do this tbh as surely that's what insurance is for? But I'm not really bothered who fixes it as long as it gets done!

The original issue was the hot water was only working via the eating system which meant we had to have the heating on 24 hours a day to guarabtee getting hot water as the time didn't always activate die to whatever the issue was. Our gas bill is phenomenal already and the heater we have isn't dry economical.

As for showering etc we have neighbours who have let us use their shower this morning.

I'm just trying to work out what we can do if the issue isn't fixed tomorrow and where we stand really.

Appreciate the help!

OP posts:
Original poster
PIPTribunalPanic · 25/01/2018 17:46

And best will in the world my main concern at the moment is the lack of hot water rather than the heating. Although that's a huge pain in the bum it's thankfully not as cold as it should be this time of year so we can manage for now at least.

If it was our home I'd have already been looking into replacing the boiler to be honest as it's at least 10 years old. But as we don't own the house it's not our choice to do it, though I fear it's going to end up costing her not far off all in Sad

OP posts:
Original poster
PIPTribunalPanic · 25/01/2018 17:47

And No, no one has space for us to stay hence why only DC have gone to GPs tonight Grin

OP posts:
sillywitch · 25/01/2018 17:52

We had a fire downstairs in our communal fuse cupboard which resulted in no electricity for four days - no heating, hot water, lights. The private letting agent couldn't care less and said there was no reason for us to leave the premises ( it typically was winter). Red cross turned up with torches - we ended up staying in a hotel for four days. We had a two and four year old.

FluffyWuffy100 · 25/01/2018 18:15

Ask the LL if she will bring round a kettle and two more heaters.

Then at least you can heat your bedroom as well and get some hot water to have a wash with.

BMW6 · 25/01/2018 18:38

Get a cheap electric kettle so you can strip wash and wash hair etc

clarrylove · 25/01/2018 18:46

Why can't you boil water for hand washing?

HelenaDove · 25/01/2018 19:04

Well with a user name that includes PIP some of these suggestions might be difficult for OP to do depending on the disability.

Glitterbabe69 · 25/01/2018 19:09

Try going without for almost 6 months, then come back and complain!
Boil water it's not difficult.

HelenaDove · 25/01/2018 19:13

Ooh top trumps Hmm

Twiceover · 25/01/2018 19:21

But boiling water to wash hands is a massive faff. I would find that pretty inconvenient let alone having no heating or hot water.

Hope it gets sorted soon, OP.

delilahbucket · 25/01/2018 19:31

Why is washing hands in cold water bad hygiene? I do it every day as I can't be bothered to wait for the hot to filter through the taps!

DrWhy · 25/01/2018 19:31

It is a massive faff but as other people have said that’s exactly what a homeowner would have to do. The LL sounds like she’s trying to move things along and I wouldn’t be buying a new boiler if it’s not much more than 10 years old, even if she did that would take even longer to turn up and fit I suspect.

Mumsymcmumface · 25/01/2018 19:38

I could manage without the heating for now but the hygiene issues are my top concern at the moment as obviously we can't wash hands properly.*

Oh grow up ffs. Half the people in the world don’t have hot water and an antibacterial gel is about 99p

Laiste · 25/01/2018 19:44

It is rotten when you're renting and you feel everything is a bit out of your control, but as pps have said as long as the LL is acting as quickly as poss (calling out plumbers who will come out same day ect) then waiting for parts is par for the course. It is more or less what you'd go through as a homeowner and getting a new boiler fitted would take a while too.

We had to do 3 days of kettle boiling for washing up/hand washing/hair washing a couple of years ago. With a 2 year old in the house. Get a massive saucepan and heat the water right through and put a lid on it. Keep warm for a good while for odd jobs which need warm water. Heat it back up when it cools down too far.

specialsubject · 25/01/2018 19:49

There cannot be a legal fix time as it is unenforcable - we are all at the mercy of trades. All the landlady can do is keep trying and provide backups . to be honest everyone should keep a couple of electric heaters and a kettle.

Ideally houses should have two inbuilt sources of heat and two of hot water. As does my rental and the place I live in.

Hope it gets sorted soon.

Dragongirl10 · 25/01/2018 20:10

OP l am a LL, if you were my tenant,
l would immediately give you a freestanding radiator for each room used, ie bedrooms and living room (l keep some in my loft for emergencies) So you had heat.

Then l would pay for a local gym membership so that you could use the shower until it was fixed.

Also l would put in a plug in constant hot water cylinder ( like a commercial hot wather for tea/coffee pot.) They hold about 9 litres, and can be constantly hot, so you can strip wash, have a very shallow bath etc.

Assuming you were accomodating to tradesmen coming and going , l would also give a daily inconvenience allowance off the rent. Amount depending on area/rent.

I have very occasionally had to do the above in boiler emergencies, but am not legally bound to do so.

Catcrazy008 · 25/01/2018 20:36

@Dragongirl10, if only all LL where as considerate as yourself.
Don’t have a free rental property in Hants do you ?

Dragongirl10 · 25/01/2018 20:51

CATCRAZY sadly only in SE!

HelenaDove · 25/01/2018 20:51

YY re Dragongirl You do a hell of a lot more than some housing associations do and they are big companies.