Landlord has left me with just gaffer tape to close ground floor window

[Elizabella]

My studio is ground floor, street facing in London. At around 1pm the spindle in the ancient double glazing handle broke. I immediately texted the LL who said her husband would be round in half an hour. He came at 1.45 and tried to break the handle lock off then said he was going to get more tools. Two hours later he took the entire window out and left me freezing, unable to leave my home and at risk of someone climbing in, saying he was taking the window to the shop to get a handle fixed. One and a half hours later, he turned up with a drug addict friend of his with some story about the shop being closed early due to Covid (despite earlier telling me he had spoken to the shop owner who told him he was open until 5.30pm. The fitted the window frame in minus the lock and handle and gave me a roll of gaffer tape to 'seal' the window. I am female living alone on the street facing ground floor. AIBU to have expected more than this to ensure my safety?

Thats terrible Op....im not sure what you can do but that is completely unacceptable.

I should add, the husband also concocts excuses to let himself into other people's studios without reason and turns up when he feels like it. We al have our own self contained facilities downstairs but two of the studios upstairs share a bathroom and kitchen and it took him 20 visits to sort out a drainage pipe under the sink (which even an amateur like me could have done in an hour!) I have told the LL that I expect him at my place tomorrow at 8.45 sharp to take the window to the shop to get the window fixed and if he can't do it then she must call a professional because it compromises my safety and security, negates my contents insurance and has caused me to lose an afternoon of work and possibly another morning tomorrow. My studio was absolutely freezing as I was left sitting in a window less room for 2.5 hours at the end of November. The LL has form and I am under notice to leave in March anyway so I don't feel I have anything to lose after intrusions, repairs not being done, no fire doors, no fire alarms, the electric box looks like spaghetti junction, being left with no hot water or heat for weeks on end etc (financial and MH issues have kept me here)

I should add that I am a good tenant and I always:
Pay rent on time
Keep the communal areas and my own lace clean
have great relations with my neighbours in the house
Don't complain unless there is a genuine reason to do so

BUT because she is what I would call a 'rogue LL', she thinks me calling her out on her legal obligations makes me a troublemaker. She rents the other flats to foreign people who don't know their rights etc so easier to exploit.

She is usually quite sharp and bitchy with me but this time when I complained about what has happened with the window, she just gave me some flannel about availability of parts because of Covid.

That's awful. Are you safe tonight? Have you something large/heavy you can wedge against the window?

He should have got it fixed I agree. I think you are being dramatic though about the cold. My kids are sitting next to wide open windows at school full time. They haven't died yet.

If they do not return to fix the window, I would immediately contact your local authority and explain, if you are ground floor with a window that does not lock, then possibly your safety would be at risk, local authorities who get a lot of bad press, if you do present with genuine safety issues they have a Duty of care, I have known many landlords who are not interested in anything other than money, and known some who take care of properties very well. In your case definitely sounds like the first one. You have notice to leave in March anyway, so is leaving any sooner not an option.
Sounds like you would be better off out of there sooner rather than later.

I don't think OP is being dramatic about the cold, some people feel it more than others and its miserable not being able to get warm. I'm hypermobile and at times I struggle to regulate my body temperature especially if I'm already cold as this makes it harder for me to warm back up, the best solution is to not get too cold in the first place.

OP, you can make a complaint about the landlord to your local council. They can force them to carry out repairs and can also take action about unfair trading practices and harassment (i.e., letting themselves in uninvited).

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/renting-privately/during-your-tenancy/complaining-about-your-landlord/

Exclamation not if you consider that the heating isn't working properly in my studio at the moment. Another 'job' that she will try to get her husband to do instead of a professional!

Hugged I have used the whole roll of gaffer tape and closed the curtains but put things that will make a noise if they are knocked by the curtain being moved. It is the best I can do tonight.

JLE38 Gancanny If they don't then I will definitely look into that.

Gancanny the whole house is full of damp. Paint peeling off the walls because of it in my studio and throughout the house and this is despite airing/heating etc. The house has no insulation and is a late Victorian villa so once it gets cold, it takes forever to warm up again.

Bear in mind too when they're repairing your heating that it is a legal requirement that gas repairs are carried out by a registered gas safe engineer and you can go to environmental health if they're not.

If he hasn’t fixed it by tomorrow morning I’d get it fixed my self and then send him the bill, or take it off next months rent. I’d warn him that’s what you will do so he’s aware of it.

Please don't deduct rent or bill him for repairs without getting professional advice first as there is a specific procedure you have to follow for this.

Have you thought about contacting environmental health to look at the damp and your general living conditions?

Speak to environmental health at your local council. They are the ones that can enforce repairs.

As Gancanny said, don’t deduct from rent, or withhold your rent.

Make a list of what happened today, so that it’s clear when you contact to local authority.

I hope it gets sorted PDQ.

If he couldn’t repair the window immediately, he should have boarded it up. Yes, the mail holes would need to get repaired afterward (though I doubt this landlord would bother), but at least you would have a sealed wall.

If this was me I would superglue the window tight shut if possible. Your safety is paramount regardless of any damage done to the window. I can't believe that idiot left you a roll of tape! Hope your ok op this must be really worrying for you

Have you got any documentation such as Gas safety certificates, PAT certificates, EPC? Landlords are legally obliged to provide you with these and several other documents. If not report them to the council - if you're worried about losing the place then wait until just before you move out.
With regards to the window contact your local council tomorrow and explain the situation if the LL fails to arrive.

Could posters link to the specific advice for the OP, regarding fixing the window herself please?

Gancanny, LizzieSiddal, Beetlebum1981, GlowingOrb, AdoraBell, Bettysnow, MrsMoastyToasty, Ferrari458, JLE38, Exclamationperfume, HuggedTheRedWoods, myusernamwastakenbyme Thank you all so much for your support and the words of advice. I spent a very disturbed night being barely able to sleep and being woken by the slightest noise. The LL's husband was supposed to be here at 8:45am to take the window off and take it to the shop for repair but no sign of him and no messages. I am especially interested in the reporting this to the council and the getting someone else to repair it and billing the LL so if you do have advice that would be brilliant. This is the latest in a very long line of shoddy repairs, unsafe repairs etc that are stretched out for days, damp, harrassment etc etc and I am under notice to leave the property as the LL wants to sell it but I am at my limits with them. They are not nice people at all. My big regret is that once I found out abou tthe damp within a week of moving in, I wanted to surrender the contract but got talked out of it by the (now I realize) dodgy estate agent who works in cahoots with them! I can't leave my house because it isn't safe and secure, I can't settle to do anything and I have absolutely no idea what time this guy is going to arrive - honestly this is like the straw that broke the camel's back with them and I feel like crying!

BeetleBum1981 No, I don't have any of those things and nor do I have any documentation about where my deposit is being kept.

I will keep paying my rent (I pay weekly) and just paid it this morning. I don't want to give them anything they can use against me.