Boiler repair - private landlord

[Claireabella1809]

Hi everyone,

Sorry if this is long winded, I will try and keep it as brief as I can and not confuse you all with my story.

I currently live in a privately rented property. I am ‘friends’ with the landlord - not close friends but friendly enough that I would stop and talk to them if I saw them in public. However, the house I’m renting was let through an estate/letting agent.

Last Sunday, my boiler broke. I reported it to the landlord direct as I know letting agent charges them for any call outs or repairs. No one turned up to look at the boiler as I was promised.

Monday I went to the letting agent. They said as I had gone direct to the landlord they would wait and see what happens throughout the day before they intervene but brought me two electric heaters to use in the meantime.

I explained to them that I’m currently 14 weeks pregnant, I have mental health illness, as well as cardiac failure and my DD (age 13) living in the property. We are unable to bath as we also don’t have hot water since the boiler broke. This i feel is unacceptable as DD has menstrual periods and for obvious reasons it is important for her more than anything to be able to maintain personal hygiene.

To try and help the repair situation I said I would see if I was eligible for assistance under the replacement boiler scheme. Turns out I am and the letting agent advised me I am now just waiting on the company to contact me to arrange an inspection and installation of new boiler. On Thursday, I hadn’t heard anything so I rang the boiler company and they told me different information. Basically been given different information from one or the other but they clearly just passing the buck. Meanwhile it’s now Saturday and 6 days since the boiler broke. I have two electric heaters I am using but no hot water. I’m now pulling my hair out as all this time has passed and we are no further along repair wise.

Does anyone have any advice please? Or anyone know what my rights are? Or am I being unreasonable?

Tbh you’ve also delayed the process, you went to the landlord instead of dealing with the EA, EA then waited for the landlord to reply, however you then advised you were getting a new boiler installed and are now advising they are not... however as of yet no one knows this.

If you’d followed normal procedure more than likely you’d at least have some update.

Hi Claireabella1809, sad to hear your story about the broken boiler. A word of caution, do not try to help the landlord to replace the boiler. The landlord is responsible for ensuring that there is a working boiler in the property. I had a similar situation where the landlord was trying to get me to use my child tax credit as a means for him to get a new boiler. I refused and he got angry. He finally replaced it and increased the rent as payment for the boiler he replaced. If you are paying your rent he should get it replaced. Do not give up. You are pregnant and you should be stress free and in a warm environment.

I stand corrected! Maybe not the right use of words but the way I understood it is as u said and that it has to be assessed in that time and if the LL cannot repair or fix then they must tell you that and/or provide an alternative like temporary accommodation.

Can’t remember where I read it exactly as i was only skimming over not to be consumed by it all but I definitely understood it as u said and seems as they are not able to repair it anytime soon then they should offer an alternative like temporary accommodation or source the work myself and bill them for it xx

I have to agree that it probably hasn’t helped that both the LL and Letting agent are involved. It has probably confused things and now too many involved.

I told my LL out of courtesy on sunday* as they are a friend and I didn’t want to letting agent to bill them for emergency call outs and repairs. I know this is work the LL’s partner can do himself as he is qualified to do so.

I then rang the Letting agent on Monday morning at 9am just because I had waited all day Sunday for someone to come out and nothing not even a txt to say sorry we can’t make it.

They had documentation by 10am to prove my eligibility to the boiler scheme so I was told an engineer is calling to come to do a survey to get the boiler put in. Still nothing so two days later I ring the boiler company and they say they are waiting on documentation from the landlord and no survey until they get this so it’s misleading telling me that I’m waiting on an engineer.

Fail to see what I’ve really done wrong in this situation. I feel like I’ve been sympathetic to everyone’s situation and have waited long enough so now I want to take it to the next step whatever that was to be xx

Thank you for the advice. Will live and learn from this experience that’s for sure xxx

Indeed, quite some wrong advice here. Do not ever withdraw rent, you are still liable to pay it. You've been given heaters and that is considered a subsitute. If you have a kettle, you can boil water and wash.

Although this is clearly far from ideal, it would be considered acceptable within 6 days. Many home owners go without it for this length of time because heating engineers are in high demand and ordering a new boiler can take time.

Starting that you would get one yourself through the scheme was the wrong thing to say as clearly, they have now passed on the responsibility on to you as clearly they are not going to buy a new boiler if you are getting one.

You need to inform the agency ASAP that you were wrong and ask what the landlord's plan is to get a new one. Call then every day until you get a response, and a date by which a new one will be fixed.

Thank you that makes sense xx

I can boil a kettle for hot water, granted. A 13 year old who has periods cannot bath in that though and I can’t carry buckets of water upstairs to the bath due to my physical health. My heart would pack in by the time I’ve got up the stairs to the bathroom 😂

I accept that I have some fault in this though and have probably delayed things in saying I’d go thru the scheme as this has just put the responsibility on me, as you said. In future I will not try to be helpful or considerate and keep my mouth shut before offering to do anything repair wise again xx

I applied for a boiler end of January on the scheme and got it replaced end of February I was originally quoted three months but the assessor adviced me to ring up and tell them I'd accept a cancellation and also tell them about mine and dcs health issues. I did hence 5 weeks from applying it was installed. It won't help your current situation however might speed up the process of a new boiler and give you longer term peace of mind.

Thank you for the advice xx I was told I’d be priority due to my health and circumstances. I know there are so many others before me, I can wait my turn. Just the waiting with no concrete answer or plan for going forward is frustrating xx

Don't want to be pedantic, but you can plug a kettle upstairs. You can fill a bath, although it might take some time.

The bottom line is that your situation is without a doubt an inconvenience, but it isn't rendering the property inhabitable and you can still keep warm and wash.

If it goes on for weeks after you make it clear that you will not replace the boiler, then it would be absolutely reasonable to discuss with the landlord some reduction in your rent, but it would need to be agreed, and that would depend how reasonable they are. They won't legally have to do so unless they can't justify the wait with reasonable explanations.

You can boil the kettle upstairs and if you have a camping stove then that will also help you boil water in the interim.

Of course a 13 year old can manage to bath herself on little hot water, I grew up on a farm and had no central heating, we regularly had sink washes.

I’m confused OP you advise you cannot do anything physical but then work as a nurse?

I understood it is as u said and that it has to be assessed in that time and if the LL cannot repair or fix then they must tell you that and/or provide an alternative like temporary accommodation.

This is also incorrect your hone isn’t inhabitable, and you have heating and do have access to bathing facilities and hot water, it’s just not readily convenient.

It’s been 2/3 days without heating and a week without hot water, boiler has been assessed, you’ve been ill and it wasn’t a priority for you to chase up, you’ve then advised your EA that your getting a new boiler... however that hasn’t materialised for whatever reason which they are not even aware about.

A lot has been established/said and done in a week.

Not even going to dignify that last sentence with a response! I didn’t say i couldn’t do anything physical at all! Just that going up and down the stairs at 14 weeks pregnant and cardiac failure is a massive strain on me physically.

Not that I have to justify the work I do to anyone online and it is also irrelevant and nothing to do with the point Of my post but I have reasonable adjustments in place to allow me to work with my health conditions.

That is a valid point about boiling the kettle upstairs and one I hadn’t thought of. Thank you xx

Also taken on board the last paragraph, thank you xx I definitely won’t be withholding rent as I wouldn’t sleep at night worrying about eviction instead.

@HaudYerWheeshtYaWeeBellend being a nurse she may due to health issues be placed on light duties. Not all nurses even not on light duties have patients that require moving and handling or physical interventions. The op never stated what area of specialty they are.

I’m sorry you’ve felt offended I commented because you said this * I can’t carry buckets of water upstairs to the bath due to my physical health

Thank you for clarifying that on my behalf @scoobybang xx massively insulted by that judgey and rather personal comment to be honest but I guess it easy for people to make assumptions I suppose and I guess I have made this post is rather long winded and whiney xx

And that is right. Carrying buckets up and down the stairs is hard physically but I have to clarify it would’ve probably been kettle runs up and down the stairs. Going up the stairs is physically demanding for anyone though without doing it multiple times and definitely without the strain that would put on the heart and without carrying a baby. I am going to try taking the kettle upstairs though that will definitely help and I hadn’t thought of xx

If you bring it to a public forum people are going to question you, it is AIBU.

Saying I can’t do X,Y and Z, the state your working as a nurse it’s not unreasonable for posters to question this.

Light duties or not, I’d personally say if your unable to lift kettles to fill a bath then you’re not fit to be at work.

No fair comment but I had all ready done at 10am and was told they don’t have an update for me and hope they will have an update on Monday so I emailed back and said that a bit of communication to say that would’ve been helpful rather than me thinking they weren’t doing anything xx

What I was wondering is what I would do on Monday if there’s no update as they said ‘hope to have an update’ which I feel may be a way of not committing to giving me a definite answer still xx

Frankly, this mostly sounds like bad luck. I find it amazing how people (not having a go at you here, OP) think landlords can somehow magic up new boilers any faster than a home owner could if their own boiler packed up. Yes, it is grim to be without heating and hot water. I had a rental property once and I went to the trouble of having an immersion heater installed in the tank (plus had heaters I could lend) so tenants would not be stuck in the event of a boiler problem. They still whinged about the cost of using an immersion heater when the gas had to be cut off through no fault of mine or theirs. And for all I know your property does not have a tank - but if it does then you could try asking them to fit an immersion ASAP. It's not that expensive to get done.

Who said anything about lifting kettles the issue is going up and down the stairs. The physical strain involved there with cardiac issues not carrying a kettle. I can carry a kettle for god sake xx