Boilers fucked and landlord is being an arse AIBU?

[saturdayhelpme]

For the record my DP is so not the confrontational type (he wants the landlord to keep liking us!).

I however, am pissed. Our boiler has been messed up for a while now- we keep having to turn the pressure up to use hot water & it's never consistent. This evening though, the hot water has stopped altogether.

Our neighbour below us had a similar issue recently and the landlord left her for an entire MONTH without hot water, she had to call CAB out as she couldn't afford to pay a private plumber to look at the boiler and the landlord refused to replace it. Apparently the boilers we have are so old that they don't have parts to repair them anymore so I'm assuming the LL must have replaced hers eventually?

Apparently the LL's plumber can get to us on Monday, that means 2 full days at least without any hot water & heating, our flat is freezing anyway as we only have single glazing so we need the heating on regularly to stay warm!

AIBU to be pissed or is this a normal waiting period for repair?

I work for a plumbers firm. Anyone calling us out today would have to wait until Monday for a visit unless was an emergency (Gas leak etc).

Two days over a weekend is pretty reasonable unless you have a health condition or a tiny baby, it's pretty warm out, we haven't had our heating on and our thermostat is at 20. Can you use a shower elsewhere , gym, friends, family? If not shallow bath after boiling some water

@ZippyBungleandGeorge that's annoying then :( I can go to my parents to shower & DP can use the gym. We have no children. It's bloody freezing in here though!

@Comefromaway Okay, thanks for letting me know, it's so inconvenient!
I'm mad mainly at the LL as he knows we've had issues with it for months and he hasn't bothered to try and resolve them.

The previous poster is correct in that Monday is very good for what is really non-essential repair ie not leaking gas.

If you were a homeowner organising your own plumber you would have to wait.

Once a LL is informed of the repair then they have a reasonable time to fix it. The law does not state what a reasonable time is.

The way to the law would determine what is reasonable is by asking the question - if this was your property, would you be able to get a plumber to look at and fix it before Monday and how much would you be prepared to pay?

No heating and hot water is classed as emergency repair and the landlord should repair it or make other provisions (e.g., temporary plug-in heaters) within 24hrs.

@Oldraver Thankfully no gas so at least that's a silver lining!

@Sargass0 honestly if we had the money we'd call an emergency plumber and get it fixed, but it's sounding like it'll be a full replacement job if downstairs neighbours experience is anything to go by.

@DoomOnTheBroom can guarantee he won't be doing that! Looks like we will be wrapping up for the weekend. Can't wait to move out of here eventually.

This is the problem with having a combi. No stored hot water/immersion heater backup.

"If you were a homeowner organising your own plumber you would have to wait."

Although it may depend on location - in London there are large plumbing firms who will send people out at the weekends (and Bank Hols) - obviously not as cheap as normal rates (though as its tax deductible for the landlord, it may quite possibly be not much more than a 'normal hours' plumber for a homeowner). That could be the case in other big cities as well - maybe harder if you're rural.

Monday sounds reasonable for a plumber but your landlord should be supplying you with a temporary form of heating (oil filled radiator or two fe).

I’m a landlady and when my tenants had no heat I was around there within hours with space heaters. They had an electric shower so had hot water there. Then I got plumber in on the Monday (these things always happen on a weekend!). You need a gas inspection every year which should flag up the boiler is not in good working order. I would never treat a tenant the way you have been treated.

@Pipandmum You sound lovely! I wish you were our landlady. Can guarantee ours won't be round with heaters, he's so out of touch, owns a lot of property & is very confrontational and aggressive towards his tenants!

He was in the Dominican Republic for 2 weeks last month whilst our neighbour had no hot water, heat or help with her boiler.

Normal call out would be £70 plus VAT covering the first hour for us & £35 per hour thereafter.

Saturday morning would be roughly £130 call out fee for the first hour and £105 plus vat per hour afterwards

Sunday would be £165 for the first hour & £140 per hour thereafter.

Update: still no hot water or heating, LL hasn't got back to us but we rang the buildings plumber and he's coming to see us tomorrow.

I've ended up ill with a sore throat and chill as it's been freezing here!

Do you have a current gas safety certificate?

Where do you live?! I got sunburnt in the garden yesterday. ..

I've ended up ill with a sore throat and chill as it's been freezing here!

You may have a sore throat and a chill but it isn't linked to being cold.

@WeBuiltCisCityOnSexistRoles no idea!

@BlackcurrantJamontoast It can be!

@ZippyBungleandGeorge South East, it's sunny today and around 13 but I'm still freezing for some reason 😂

Put a coat on, LL sounds like they're sorting it in a timely manner. I know it's inconvenient but things break, you're making a heck of a fuss...

It’s 18’c where I am in the SE today?

Perhaps you need to go to the GP if you're struggling to keep warm on such a pleasant day? It can be a sign of an underlying condition such as hypothyroidism.

And colds are caused by viruses. Not cold.