Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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:
Iliketeabagging · 25/01/2018 20:54

Hotel? Dream on. It's only in recent times that households have enjoyed (and thus expected) central heating and readily available hot water.

Tin bath in front of the fire? Very common 50 years ago.

Original poster
PIPTribunalPanic · 25/01/2018 20:54

Thanks everyone for your helpful replies.

Though I am baffled at some of the somewhat unpleasant ones! I don't think I've done anything to warrant that at all.

I've at no point said that I am owed anything nor have I blamed my LL at all. In fact just the opposite!

I was merely asking for some advice.

@dragon I think that's way above and beyond and you must be a very lovely landlady.

I hope that it does get fixed tomorrow. On visit number 9! Fingers crossed Smile

OP posts:
TrinitySquirrel · 25/01/2018 20:57

Do you have an electric shower? They generate their own hot water. Do you have a kettle? Get a sink bath if not.

We just had to do this for 2 weeks.

If you have no electric fire (source of heat) and a child under 2 you can reasonably expect an emergency call out within 24 hrs.

If not, then sorry. It would be within 3-7 days.

hiphopchick · 25/01/2018 21:02

Is @dragonlady being serious?! Or taking the piss? Confused She would take out a gym membership for her tenant so they could have a shower? WTF?

OP I do understand why you are pissed, but as long as the LL is doing all she can, you cannot ask much more.

Sounds like you may need a new boiler though.

I am fucked off with the 'if you were a homeowner' you would not get it done any faster' bollocks. She ISN'T a homeowner is she?! Hmm

Anyway, as I said the LL is doing what she can at the moment, but she really needs to overhaul the whole heating system by the sound of it.

Many LL's will not spend anything they don't have to spend though. They are in it for the money/profit, not for the care of the tenants. And they will only do what they HAVE to do.

Dragongirl10 · 25/01/2018 21:09

ERRR..no l am not taking the piss....Most gyms will give a weeks trial membership quite cheaply...

I expect my tenants to pay their rent on time and in full and reasonably look after the property,

but l also expect to provide the services and if they cannot be provided ie boiler breakdown them l will mitigate the discomfort...it costs relatively little to do what l said and means my tenants are happier and we have a good relationship which benefits both of us hugely.

All the LL l know would do similar.

blankets4ever · 25/01/2018 21:15

I admit I don't understand why you can't fill a bowl with hot water and wash your hands that way unless your disability makes that difficult.

HaudYerWheeshtBawbag · 25/01/2018 21:28

You do have access to hot water, you just need to boil kettles and pans, irk they did in the good old days.

Your landlord needs to take reasonable steps to repair the boiler and id say they have pretty much done this and it’s just unfortunate that it hasn’t been successful.

As much as it’s inconvenient, you need to think outside the box in the short interim.

Madcatter · 25/01/2018 21:38

Every time there's one of these threads a bunch of people turn up saying "if you were a homeowner blah blah blah". Thing is if you were a homeowner you'd have the option of replacing the whole boiler rather than the cheaper patch-it-up-to-and-wait-for-it-to-break-again option that many LLs will take.

Also, it's all very well saying people survived 50 years ago but life in general was pretty different 50 years ago - we have longer working hours, longer commutes, more demands on our time and energy, better standards of hygiene that we're expected to keep (I presume everyone's witnessed a 'how often do you shower' thread?). It was also pretty shitty to be disabled 50 years ago.

FrancisCrawford · 25/01/2018 21:52

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Mumsymcmumface · 25/01/2018 22:25

Every time there's one of these threads a bunch of people turn up saying "if you were a homeowner blah blah blah". Thing is if you were a homeowner you'd have the option of replacing the whole boiler rather than the cheaper

Not if every penny every month went on mortgage, council tax, gas, electric, insurance etc. you wouldn’t.

There always seem to be loads of people who assume home owners have loads of money. An awful lot don’t, and an awful lot would have to go for weeks or months saving up for any heat or hot water at all of their boiler packed up.

Toddlerteaplease · 25/01/2018 22:30

I had ongoing issues with my boiler that my lovely landlady kept patching up. It finally packed up for good just before Christmas 3 years ago. I got done electric heaters and boiled the kettle to have a strip wash in, or had a shower at work. I didn't complain and didn't expect anything else. She offered heaters that I already had. It was awkward. But not a big deal.

nancy75 · 25/01/2018 22:33

Even if you did decide to change the boiler it can’t be dine in 24 hours, over the winter you would struggle to get a new boiler installed within a month

BMW6 · 25/01/2018 22:36

50 years ago wasn't the Dark Age ffs!
The OP has access to hot water for washing. ..... Well she will have if she forks out a tenner for an electric kettle which she can ask the LL to reimburse if she must.

BMW6 · 25/01/2018 22:38

And it takes no longer to boil a kettle and have a strip wash than it takes to have a shower. Washing hair would take perhaps 10 minutes longer.

mermaidsandunicorns · 25/01/2018 23:21

OP just out of interest what have they said the fault is?

I work for a heating firm and we deal with situations like this a lot. It's awful being caught between LL and tenants sometimes.

HateTheDF · 25/01/2018 23:48

I've got sympathies OP - been there done that except our flat had no hot water or heating for 2 months during November/December. We weren't entitled to anything and the landlord didn't give us anything off the rent.

It's a pain but we survived on lots of blankets and lot of boiling water in the kettle and on the hob.

I know you said your DC are with the GP, could you go there and have a shower?

hiphopchick · 25/01/2018 23:59

@bmw6

And it takes no longer to boil a kettle and have a strip wash than it takes to have a shower.

I can't believe anyone actually believes that.

safariboot · 26/01/2018 00:11

A property without running hot water would be considered uninhabitable and if the situation goes on your landlord is then obliged to provide alternative accommodation. If they won't, you may be able to sue them for the expenses of such accommodation. The law doesn't specify particular timescales though.

Boiling kettles isn't an acceptable substitute, though an electric shower would be. Plug-in electric heaters are fine on that front.

I would say your landlord has been reasonable. It broke down on Wednesday evening and you're expecting a fix on Friday afternoon. Hopefully that works. If that doesn't fix it, then I'd start asking about alternative accommodation. Considering the longer-term situation, although there is a problem your landlord is making a good effort to resolve it. Sometimes faults are just hard to diagnose and fix.

Ariela · 26/01/2018 01:27

We get regular power cuts (rural). We have boiled kettles on our log burner and filled those big thermos jugs (the ones you get coffee in at conferences, where you press the button on top to dispense, takes a couple of litres or so).
Can you do something like that for hot water?

Dragongirl10 · 26/01/2018 08:29

OP lf this is not resolved today, then it is perfectly reasonable to buy the heaters you need
( please get oil radiators as they are much safer)

Buy a large hot water heater that plugs in like l mentioned in an earlier post.

Ask her to refund you the cost or to take them away at the end of the issue. She should be perfectly happy to do so.

Ask her if there is an immersion back up that can be switched on, or easily connected ( l suspect if there was she would have already done this, but worth asking)

specialsubject · 26/01/2018 10:28

Or just buy heaters and keep them. Same as you should have a corded phone.

HelenaDove · 26/01/2018 13:19

hiphopchick ...............thats a moderate comment for BMW6 On a previous thread she said a tenant with long thick hair facing this type of problem should just get her hair cut short if she couldnt wash and rinse it properly under these circumstances

Some people really see tenants as sub human.

Original poster
PIPTribunalPanic · 26/01/2018 19:13

Just an update:

I'm not ignoring any if you PPs but there's been a lot of replies and I'm on my phone so I'm not as quick to read and update.

Apologies if I don't reply but I'll answer what I can remember.

We don't have an electric shower or an immersion so both of those ideas are out the window.

We literally don't have access to any cash to go and purchase a tea urn otherwise that would be an excellent suggestion. Thank you!

No joy today. Apparently the part hasn't been delivered. Hopefully it will be "tomorrow" So we'll see but I don't hold out much hope given the recent history! Though I sincerely hope I am wrong. I'd love to be!

As for the fault itself it's been the water pump/sensor diaphragm and now it's one of the inlet pipes or something. Tbh we've been told so many different things we're utterly lost! We've had at least 7 different visits.

The LL has today sent delivery of a single electric heater via Argos same day delivery which came 10 mins ago which prompted me to update you all.

DC are staying away again overnight. DH showered at his parents this morning and I used a friends yesterday. I'll do the same tomorrow.

The house is absolutely freezing and the back isn't well insulated at all so I've been in bed most of the afternoon to help with the aches and pains.

I really hope it gets resolved this weekend. Fingers crossed eh!

Thanks for everyone who has shown support Flowers

OP posts:
Dragongirl10 · 26/01/2018 21:18

Oh op thats no fun,

Call your landlady and ask firmly for more heaters, and a hot water cylinder, she has an obligation to provides services and in the middle of January and the time this has taken she should be willing to do more.

Jarstastic · 26/01/2018 23:37

What kind of boiler is it? If it’s a Vaillant, they have their own repairs arm which is a fixed price and they have parts on the van. Much quicker than getting an independent plumbers who have to keep ordering parts.