To expect my home to be somewhat insulated?

[OnNaturesCourse]

Rented property. £650pcm which is average for the area and size of property. We have a ongoing issue with the roof which the landlord has been promising to fix for 4 years, it leaks and causes the loft hatch to bang. We have original double glazed windows that have broken seals so bad that there is water build up between the panels. Damp/mould in all the upstairs rooms.

With the issues we struggle to maintain heat in the home and its costing us a fortune.

Our heating is on for 2 hours in the morning/until it reaches 18°, if we are staying home ill boost this to stay on at 16° but if I don't it easily drops to 14° within a hour or so. In the evening the heating is on for 5 hours to 20°. From 11pm to 7am the next day our home drops to 9°.

Landlord seems to think this is pretty normal for a mid terrace, 6 room house.

What sort of heat does your home lose?
(landlord seems to think the roof etc is not urgent as the house is safe and habitable etc)

Why are you still living there? Move.

Money.

If you're paying the average for your area, then move to another property.

We are. But at present we don't have a deposit for another rented property. That would mean us effectively paying 3 months rent in one month (last rent for this property, double rent/deposit for new property)

We do have a deposit for a house - and are trying to start the ball rolling to move BUT that can take months/year. The deposit is gifted and therefore we can not/will not put it towards another rented property.

And regardless of my situation - are my costs ridiculous enough to really be kicking up more of a fuss to the landlord? I'm already complaining about the state of the house and repairs needed.

Similar property and ours stays very warm upstairs 18/19 even without heating overnight. Downstairs is around 17 in day of heating isn’t on.

Our house never gets to 20! So the temps sound fine to me. But a leaking, damp house does not. He has a DUTY to repair!

That sort of temperature drop is not normal. Our house is 1960's detached and we have no wall insulation. Some loft insulation but not up to modern standards. From 11 to 6.30 when heating comes on we drop from 19 to 14/15. It's never normally less then 13 even when heating has been off it we are away in winter.

Check the Epc on The uk
register

find-energy-certificate.service.gov.uk/find-a-certificate/search-by-postcode?lang=en&property_type=domestic

My EPC doesn't show on any of these.

Would that mean it's not been done? Or just not done recently.

I know our council tax band but I can't recall if we were given anything else when we moved in

That sort of temperature drop is not normal. Our house is 1960's detached and we have no wall insulation

Do you mean cavity wall? Because it’s been shown the cavity itself is a better insulator, than filling the gap with material which provides contact for cold and damp to cross.

That's not normal or acceptable. I'm in a mid-terrace and one of the advantages is that it stays pretty warm, especially upstairs.

Your LL should absolutely be making essential repairs and maintaining the property. I'd kick up a stink about the leaking roof and the windows.

If you stick your head through the loft hatch, is there any insulation there? My 1920s mid terrace was freezing in winter (and roasting in summer) until I twigged the painted over loft hatch hid zero insulation.
It got insulated for about £50 a long time ago, using a grant. Not sure if you could get it done as a tenant tho.

There is a minimum EPC of E for rental properties so LL will need to have one done to ensure the property is compliant. However, the EPC for some reason just assesses the measures that are in place and not whether they actually work so it would still be plus points for your double glazing.

All
Rental properties are required to have an EPC.
It is possible to opt out of the register but unlikely.
Can you find your neighbours EPC
sometimes it works better using postcode search rather than address search.

Legally your property must have an EPC to be rentable and it must have a rating of E or above.

From 2025 it will have to be C or above.

@MaizeAmaze

If you stick your head through the loft hatch, is there any insulation there? My 1920s mid terrace was freezing in winter (and roasting in summer) until I twigged the painted over loft hatch hid zero insulation. It got insulated for about £50 a long time ago, using a grant. Not sure if you could get it done as a tenant tho.

The last place I rented had the insulation done about 2 years ago by one of these schemes! I didn't pay a penny and didn't have to go through landlord. So you can definitely get this done as a tenant.

Please contact your agent or landlord (if no agent) and ask for a copy of the EPC. Its not just a "nice to have" its a legal requirement. If they cant or wont produce it you can report them

Fwiw OP I live in a mid terrace house as well, same number of rooms, even pay the same rent, it sounds like our houses are very similar. But we don't have central heating and electric heaters are expensive to run so we simply have to go without, especially with the rising energy prices. And our house doesn't get that frigid! Yet you have the heating on often and it still drops to 9. Our bedroom never gets cold. Downstairs can be quite cold and if I have to I will stick electric heater on for an hour in the living room just to take the edge off (but it doesn't drop to 9!), but tbh we are spending more time upstairs this winter so don't even need to do thag npw, and when I'm downstairs I'm cooking and doing laundry and pottering about, so I don't get cold. So it's really not normal for your house to be that cold!

@TeenTraumaTrials

That sort of temperature drop is not normal. Our house is 1960's detached and we have no wall insulation. Some loft insulation but not up to modern standards. From 11 to 6.30 when heating comes on we drop from 19 to 14/15. It's never normally less then 13 even when heating has been off it we are away in winter.

I live in a home with absolutely minimal insulation in the loft and no cavity walls.

Even if I ran the heating 247 it would never get to 20 degrees! We have on in the morning for 2-2.5 hours, and the temperature will get up to 17 degrees in that from anywhere down to single figures UNLESS I turned the heating to come on in the early hours so that the temperature doesn't drop quite so far.

If the property has damp I'd suggest, for your own health that you use some dehumidifiers, I have to do this and actually it's the best thing I ever did and as a result the house feels warmer.

So my landlord begrudgingly turned up to put insulation in the loft. I've never seen anything so ridiculous. Old insulation that had been ripped out of another one of their properties. It's laughable the effort made. But we do have a promise of getting the roof fixed by the end of next month so that's a bonus.

With the heating off the temps are now dropping to about 15/16 in the warmer rooms, 13 or so in the colder ones.

Does you landlord know he is legally obliged to provide you with an EPC?
Local authorities are fining landlords up to £2,000.

I'd definitely follow up on the EPC thing, he has to have done one. It sounds very unusual to me: I have a house with single skin walls, v minimal loft insulation, PVC double glazing and a drafty but double glazed back door.

My heating comes on 6:30-8am and gets the house to 18. It will be down to 15.5 by 4:30 when the heating comes back on for the evening - so your house sounds exceptionally cold given that my house has so little insulation.

Go on to the link provided by previous poster. Is property in UK click yes
Put in post code and just scroll down to your house number. What does it say? It must be E to be legally let to rent. If lower than E you can take LL to court.

It says nothing found.