Expected to go 2 weeks without heating or hot water

[parmohotshot]

Hi

Private tenant here, the boiler in the property is 20 years old, I know this because the woman who used to own this house lives across the street and she had said boiler installed in the early 2000's!

Over the course of the last year and a half various things on the boiler have failed and there has been at least 10 visits by a heating engineer. The engineers say the boiler needs to be replaced but the landlord is insistent on replacing parts and keeping it limping along.

However on fri 27th Jan the boiler went kaput completely, the pressure gauge had gone to 4 bar and there was water leaking out of it. The engineer came out on the Monday, did a repair then less than 10 minutes after them leaving it failed again, went into lockout.

This resulted in the engineer saying the boiler needs to be replaced and they have sent the landlord a quote.

Managing estate agent said the landlord was blaming the engineer for a poor repair and wouldn't authorise a new boiler.

I kicked off, boiler now authorised but apparently because the landlord didn't pay for the boiler in time I now have to wait until Friday for them to come out and do the job as there's apparently no other availability, meaning I will have gone for 2 whole weeks without heating and hot water!!

Worse still, the estate agents want to come out and inspect this week!!! I can't wash clothes, have a bath (shower works but it's not very nice as the air in the bathroom is freezing), I can't do dishes or anything !!!

I have gone my ends but I've just been told tough titty essentially.

I feel like I'm in the twilight zone, am I being unreasonable to expect a rent reduction or the job to be brought forward???

Having had a similar leak needing a replacement boiler due to uneconomic repair we were without for roughly 10 days. OK I have an advantage because I have a log burner and open fires but not an electric shower. We ended up with ice on the inside of windows and still now 3 weeks later I'm still getting an issue with condensation because the house hasn't dried out properly yet. You need electric heaters provided by your landlord and a payment to cover the increase in electric costs. Boil a pan of water for washing up and dry clothes near the electric heaters your landlord provides.

And send out washing to laundry servicd and charge it to landlord or ask them to provide heated airer or buy heated airer and send invoice. Inspection turn to your advantage. You canmot be evicted for being untidy

New carpets etc or make any silly demands - but I really do expect to be able to be comfortable. No one has even offered to help out with heaters etc I've just been expected to suck it up. Which I'm paying for the pleasure of.

Only on Mumsnet

When you have your inspection point out that any mould that is created from you having to dry clothes is entirely down to the landlord

You would be reasonable to ask for space heaters and a contribution towards the energy they will use, and the launderette for drying clothes. But that’s not the same as a rent reduction. The speed of the replacement is also something you can’t otherwise be compensated for, because it’s not the landlord’s fault. You shouldn’t be worse off for this issue, but that’s not the same as having an actual rent reduction.

No one has even offered to help out with heaters etc

Ask. If the LL doesn't know you don't have or can't afford to purchase/run supplementary electric heaters already then you need to ask.

Op you are in the situation you are and I do sympathise however you aren't going to get the boiler fitted any sooner, we went with the company we did because they could do it the quickest but we still had a wait. All anyone can do is make recommendations to help make the situation you are in more comfortable.

Most posters have commented on their actual experiences v your expectations, given advice about how to manage until the boiler's fixed, and noted that you should have been given heaters. I don't think anyone has said you shouldn't get a rent reduction if you ask for one.

If there's no availability, there's no availability. I'm not sure what else you expect them to do.

I’m in my own home, my boiler has been limping along since December, we are having a new one installed but the earliest date is in April, so I don’t think it’s all your landlord being difficult, it’s the getting a corgi registered persom to install it!

Some of these snotty replies are ridiculous.

Your landlord has a legal obligation to provide heating and hot water. The law doesn't specify timeframes but generally in winter, 24 hours is considered a reasonable timeframe to have repairs done. Have a look here for what you can do: england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/repairs/what_to_do_if_your_private_landlord_wont_do_repairs

Really feel for you. I hope it soon sorted. I own my house and had 2.5 years with no boiler as I had to.save to afford it.

I'd do some calculations on the cost of a kettle, a fan heater or two (unless you can borrow one), extra electricity costs (electric heating and water boiling is still more expensive than using gas), and four loads in the tumble dryer at the local laundrette. Then add fifty quid for general inconvenience and send in a firm letter saying that these are your incurred costs: you're happy to accept either a bank transfer or a discount off next month's rent.

Tbf I'm not paying a lot of money formy place, so shouldn't expect comparable service levels.

I did have to buy all my carpets myself though.

Those trying to catch the OP out, can you imagine how miserable and unsuccessful it is trying to air dry mounds of wet clothes in a freezing house with no heating?

The boiler should have been replaced ages ago - it would have been cheaper than endless call-outs, apart from anything else. You should have been given plug in heaters too.

But you do sound ridiculous saying you can't shower for 2 weeks, even though you have an electric shower and hot water, because the air in the bathroom is cold. And of course you can wash the dishes.

Been there done that and suggested alternatives,@JessicaFletcherscrewnecksweater

I think you should definitely get some sort of reduction or support to get you some heat (heaters, support to electricity bill etc).

Unfortunately, the wait sometimes can’t be helped. Our boiler went just before Xmas and we had no heating and hot water. I’m just grateful the cold snap had just passed. We borrowed a couple of heaters off friends and hunkered down as best as possible. We were very unlucky that our washing machine also had a fault so we were hand washing everything. Bit of a nightmare situation, the clothes were obviously wetter than they would have been after spinning in the machine and then we struggled to dry them, we don’t have.a laundrette anywhere near our town. Trying to book repair jobs over Xmas was really difficult, added to the fact most boiler repairs happen during cold weather (just like most air cons in cars get repaired in hot weather)

The weather has brightened up a little so perhaps you could dry outside for a couple of days. I know it’s not ideal as the temp is still low but might give you a better chance of drying things a little quicker. Make sure you keep curtains closed (unless it’s sunny, one of our rooms is in direct sunlight so warms up an little) and put something at the bottom of doors to try and keep the heat in. Make sure to wear layers rather than one bulky item as they will help keep you warmer. Do you have any friends or neighbours that you could ask to use their shower?

Just to add, we aren’t lucky enough to have an electric shower so we were filling bowls with the kettle and using them to wash as best as possible. This would also be an option for you if you’re hesitant to use the shower

If its two weeks I don't think your unreasonable to ask for some offset type of reduction. I'm a landlord. If you explained the things you needed I would be getting that amount off the rent. So I'd pay for the laundrette and kettle etc. Have you asked? Our boiler is 18 years old but so far touch wood it's never needed a part replaced

YANBU at all this is very very shoddy of the landlord. At times a few days is unavoidable but it’s still down to the landlord to provide heaters and reimburse costs

the landlord is responsible for providing a safe and working boiler it’s as simple as that

while not working heaters should be provided in the very least

im a landlord I have emergency cover last year the new part took a few days to deliver but as soon as I was aware there was no hot water/heating and it couldn’t be fixed that day I got a heaters delivered and refunded rent for a week

This is the landlords fault. The boiler was obviously on its way out and the landlord was being cheap. Ring Shelter for advice or CAB.
There are too many landlords on MN who defend a landlord no matter what.

YANBU that sounds really miserable,

your landlord should be giving you temporary portable heaters at the very least

And it is irrelevant how long people go without heat in a privately owned house. When you rent it is a business and you have to provide a decent living environment. Different standards are expected.
It is similar you go to a restaurant and order chicken and chips you expect a decent standard of cooking, whereas at home you might burn the chips but still eat them.

I have several rental properties and I would have arranged an emergency visit to have the boiler replaced within a day or two. Two weeks is totally unacceptable.

That really is shit. I'd be speaking to the agent and telling them I'm not willing to pay full rent for a flat without hot water or heating.
I'd go ahead with the inspection (surely it works both ways?) to show them just how bloody cold it is.
As a side note can you do your washing at home then bag it up and take it to a launderette to dry it? Is there one nearby?