How long is acceptable to be left without heating?

[lostandforgotten]

Living in a housing association property and the heating has broken down this morning. I am more annoyed as it was already leaking brown fluid all over my worktops when the engineer came out to look at it and the part was supposed to have been ordered and it turns out it hasn't although I'm not sure if this part is the reason it's broken down. The lady on the phone says it will be tomorrow when someone can come out and couldn't give me a time, they've got till 4 o'clock apparently. They are also refusing to provide any temporary heaters and told me to put some more blankets on . I also have no hot water either expect the shower. It's snowing a blizzard out there aibu that this isn't acceptable and they need to do something today?

Op is also accusing posters of being out of touch with the real world - while ignoring everyone telling her she is out of touch with the real world!

Please explain to me how I am expecting other taxpayers to fund my life? This thread is getting ridiculous. I claim no benefits whatsoever, I pay my own rent out of my wages and how exactly are housing associations funded by the taxpayer? I wish people would get their facts right before getting on their high horse and attacking me. It's almost like people are jealous that I have to live in social housing, it's bizarre

You can sit and complain and feel sorry for yourself because people aren’t jumping to attention and running around looking after you or you can deal with it yourself like other people do.

Mmn64321 please explain to me how I'm expecting tax payers to subsidise me, I would love to know !

I'm a tax payer myself 😂😂

Anyway it turns out they aren't coming today after all as suprise surprise the part they only ordered yesterday hasn't arrived yet even though they haven't even been out to look at it to know if that part is even the reason it has broken down

But you can't expect the HA to do something that isn't possible. No one, whether they rent, run a HA, or own, can magic up engineers and parts, and cold snaps like this are when plumbers are in most demand
This. It's the lack of understanding of how the industry works and self-entered attitude that because you rent, you should receive a service that even the much better off can't conjure with money.

We've been in this position and despite a good income and even working in the industry and knowing a number of heating engineers, it took 5 days for someone to come to us and another 3 days to get the part.

We would have felt very fortunate if they'd come in 48h. Why do.toubthink you are hard done by?

"@sqeaky Suppose you was one of them landlords who didn’t mind when you got your rent"

Or maybe that poster was one of them landlords who needs the rent money to pay their own bills and live and maintain /pay for the rental property.

All of us on this thread have had to wait for plumbers and repairs. It is what it is. Rent is what you pay to live in a property and house yourself, same as those with mortgages. Renting cannot magic up plumbers at one of their busiest times of the yr. The LL /HA is ultimately the home owner of the rental property and therefore in the same plumber queue as everyone else. No one likes being cold and if OP owned with a mortgage she would get the same responses. Its about being reasonable and patient and putting something in place for yourself for exactly this event before it happens - like heaters.

Being a renter does not "entitle" a person to priority over plumbers .

YWNBU expecting it fixed asap.

YABU expecting that to be within 24 hours when there's snow storms, blizzards, freezing temps across the country. There are only so many gas certified professionals out there. This would be the case if you were a home owner, council tenant, housing association tenant etc.

And to expect heaters to be delivered to you within an hour is very unrealistic.

I hope you managed to source a heater and you're warm enough. And I hope you're not waiting much longer for the boiler to be fixed.

@lostandforgotten

Anyway it turns out they aren't coming today after all as suprise surprise the part they only ordered yesterday hasn't arrived yet even though they haven't even been out to look at it to know if that part is even the reason it has broken down

What do you expect them to do? Pull it out their arse?

As long as they come back today it is fine, especially as you have hot water and now heaters. Are you or anyone in your household vulnerable op?

Dino no I want them to come out and identify the correct problem, the leak they never fixed weeks ago may not even be the reason it's broken down this time. This part may come and it might not even fix it as they haven't even looked at it so potentially more time wasted.

@lostandforgotten

Anyway it turns out they aren't coming today after all as suprise surprise the part they only ordered yesterday hasn't arrived yet even though they haven't even been out to look at it to know if that part is even the reason it has broken down

And? It has only been 24hrs since you reported the issue, what do you want them to do? It sucks, it's cold but there is nothing they can do any faster.

With covid they are trying to reduce the number of visits they need to make to properties so if they know that they are most likely going to need a specific part that has to be ordered then they will order and receive it before coming out to see you. Also, where I am at least, they are struggling to get parts quickly so they are ordering things as early as possible so that it cuts down waiting time. If they had to come out first and then order the parts you'd be complaining that you had to wait for that too.

But it wouldn't be the HA's fault, or even the engineer's fault if the part they've ordered doesn't fix the problem. They've assessed what they think the issue is and ordered the relevant part to attempt a repair.... what else are they meant to do?

Central heating systems are complex, and breakdowns can be caused by issues that are hard to identify immediately. An engineer might be trying their best to correctly diagnose and resolve the issue, but still take a few visits. They're not magicians.

My recent heating breakdown ended up being caused by 2 separate issues - one electrical fault (which had been occurring for a while without us noticing), and a blockage in a pipe. We had to get both diagnosed and fixed before the heating was working again, and the part replacement they tried initially did nothing. That wasn't the engineer's fault.

@lostandforgotten

After tomorrow morning it will be over 24 hours though. I think they should at least me providing temporary heaters. Apart from the fact that there is hardly anywhere to buy them from right now I'm not paying for them out of my own money, I can't afford it.

Why shouldn’t you be the one who buys the heaters? If my boiler broke and I had to wait for a part I doubt anyone is going to pay for heater in meantime apart from me!?

OP - I don't know how old you are, but your expectations of life are just unrealistic.

Heating engineers are a finite resource and in cold snaps they are in really high demand. It's not a case of 'shout loud enough and pay enough money and you'll get one quickly', it doesn't work like that.

Top tip though - if you ever want to retrain, heating engineers earn a very good living!

According to google leaving you without heating for more than two days can be interpreted as a serious breach in the tenancy agreement 🤷🏼‍♂️

@lostandforgotten

Dino no I want them to come out and identify the correct problem, the leak they never fixed weeks ago may not even be the reason it's broken down this time. This part may come and it might not even fix it as they haven't even looked at it so potentially more time wasted.

Yes I agree that’s what needs to be done. But can you not recognise the wider issues at play here? Cold weather, more demand, less availability? 24hours is not unreasonable, 48 hours isn’t. You’ve rang a magic number and now you’re sitting and waiting. That’s not a bad shout. You’re at complete liberty to arrange your own engineer.

Your £500 pcm does not pay for a dedicated engineer to be sat waiting for a phone call from you.

Get some bloody oil heaters.

@lostandforgotten

According to google leaving you without heating for more than two days can be interpreted as a serious breach in the tenancy agreement 🤷🏼‍♂️

They only have to make reasonable attempts to fix it. Nobody expects them to magic something up.

Thetenantsvoice also says that if the landlord can't provide you with temporary heaters then they should provide temporary accommodation. No idea If this is true or not though.

@lostandforgotten

I'm a tax payer myself 😂😂

I would be looking at tax refund then as from the info you provided that £500 is 41% total pay, you should not be paying tax due to personal allowance. If you do pay tax it should only be approx £200 a year?

I suppose the issue is what is considered to be reasonable time.

@lostandforgotten

I suppose the issue is what is considered to be reasonable time.

Less than 48hrs is more than reasonable and so far it's only been 24 ...

Bulldog you are being pedantic. I clear approximately 1200-1250 pound a month after tax and national insurance which is full time minimum wage. Stop trying to find faults with me.