How long to wait before chasing landlord for repairs

[PLbee29]

Hi everyone
My electric shower broke on Monday. I text my landlord and he arranged for an electrician to come and take a look at it on Wednesday, the electrician said that it was a job for a plumber and that he would tell my landlord this and for my landlord to get in touch with me. I haven't heard anything since the plumber left on Wednesday and I'm unsure whether I should text my landlord again to see what is going on? I don't want to seem a pest as it has only been 2 days but I normally shower every morning so it is a bit of a pain in the bum! First time living on my own and not sure of appropriate time scales etc :) thank you!

Yes, text now. A useable shower is a necessity.

Thank you!

Definitely text now! And if he hemmms and hawws ask what sort of rent reduction can you look forward to if he's not upkeeping the property! (i did that when my dishwasher wasn't working and the landlord was dallying, it was advertised along with the flat and i got a response that afternoon!)

Actually a shower is not considered an essential repair so long as you still have a means to access hot water to wash with. I know it doesn’t seem right but that is how the law looks at it.

It sounds like your landlord acted speedily to get it looked at originally so don’t give up hope that they are not trying to sort out a plumber.

I doubt that a plumber will be rushing to fix a faulty shower during CV though.

Give your landlord a call but also you need to report repairs in actual writing, by letter, so make sure you do that also.

Pre covid I would have said to keep on his case daily. Because of covid I would send him a text every couple of days for an update on any progress but generally give him a bit more wriggle room. It may not be him delaying things but the plumber not being able to prioritise it. The quick call out of the electrician bodes well for it getting fixed in a relatively timely manner.

Thanks everyone. I think I'm going to give him a text first thing Monday if I haven't heard from him over the weekend

I'm landlord from overseas and would expect immediate notification from the agents, that I would act on straight away.

Look at joining ACORN. We had an ongoing repair problem that the property management company was ignoring. ACORN sent them a letter on our behalf last week, and the repair is scheduled for Monday.

Going from experience, a "good" landlord should get that kind of thing fixed within 2 weeks. I would send a polite message asking for an update though. It's a good sign that they have sent an electrician out so quickly. It may take a week to get a plumber out , this would not be classed as an emergency.

It may be that the message has not been passed on properly. Just say as you haven't got a shower you needed to follow up

You don’t need to wait until Monday morning, renting isn’t like a business with office hours. It’s fine for you to send the text today, especially considering that you’ve already been kept waiting.

Hi everyone. I ended up texting my landlord over the weekend. He said he has contacted a plumber and that she has my number and will be in touch to arrange a time to sort it. It's now the end of Monday and I still haven't heard anything. I'm trying to be more patient given the current situation but it's really annoying not having a shower. When should I contact my landlord again?

Yes, text now. A useable shower is a necessity

No it isn’t, so you have a bath OP?

Also I’d say 28 days for a non essential repair, however with Covid, I’d say longer.

Just ask the landlord can you have the plumber's number then so you can contact them rather than wait for them to contact you.

That's a good idea, thank you. I must sound clueless. I suppose I am