To ask for some form of compensation

[FleurDeLips]

I live in a housing association property which is actually quite expensive to rent a month and pay service charges (meant to be affordable housing, but a mortgage would still cost me less). I’m a good tenant look after the property, always pay rent, claim no benefits and yes I appreciate I am luckier than some.

A month ago something went wrong in the HA managed heating system and I was left without any running water (hot or cold) apart from the cold mains supply in the kitchen. We could not flush the toilet without using a bucket filled from the kitchen tap and haven’t had access to any hot water apart from if I boil the kettle up. We did try to fill the bath with kettle water but it took so long it wasn’t worth it for 2 inches of water. We did also kind of slosh ourselves in the bath with kettle/cold water using jugs and bowls. Washing their hair in freezing cold water in the kitchen sink gave my kids headaches and made them cry.

They told me I could not get my own plumber in as this would invalidate all the electrical and heating systems in the house and then they would never do any maintenance to the system again and no one had authority to touch it.

I have had to take 9 days off work to let in various workmen over the past month. I have also had to drive around to other peoples houses or the local gym nearly every few days to access warm water/showers for myself and my DC. I don’t live near my family or friends or the gym so can’t walk to these places.

The main part of the repair has now taken place so I have access to hot water again. I still have to take more time off for the last part of the repair.

I’ve raised a complaint about the way this was handled with misinformation and delays. I was told by one workman that some people are without water for 2 years, as if that makes it any better or acceptable?

Is it worth pursuing anything from this? It’s fixed now but I can see that I may be entitled to under the right to repair scheme. They did in fact attend my property promptly when I reported it but they wouldn’t authorise the repair as it was a big job and instead kept trying to send workmen to investigate and replace parts.

You understand that not everyone can get a mortgage?

I own my own house and the boiler stopped working one Christmas leaving us without heating or hot water. The weather was freezing at the time. We had home emergency insurance that covered this and they were completely hopeless at arranging the repair, resulting in it taking much longer than it should have done. I wrote a letter of complaint and they paid compensation.

I had to use up my annual leave to do it or choose to take it unpaid. Just have a think about how you are scoffing at me to make even more sacrifice and cost for something that was out of my control caused by another company who ran rings round me. Why is any of this my fault is what I want to know?

I'm not getting into it again - you think it's "ridiculous" to leave your key with a workman but that's what millions of people do everyday because, as you've seen, it's impractical and expensive to keep taking time off work.

You didn't want to leave a key anywhere which was entirely your choice, but don't then complain about the consequences when you did have other options.

Ì think you should get one months rent free. That would seem fair to me.

Some housing associations wont allow you to leave the key, they want you to be there.

OP, if they have offered you money, take it, I was without sinks or a washing machine for 8 months, while my HA pissed around, it only got fixed, when I got my local councillor, my MP and the ombudsman involved.

If you have a read of the HA ombudsman website, it says something like, you can reject the payment, but its then up to the HA and they can either up the offer or take it away. Its not worth the fight tbh

Some housing associations wont allow you to leave the key, they want you to be there.

That's fair enough and if that's the case then you would probably have the right to compensation, but OP didn't even ask 🤷‍♀️

@gazpachosoupday I’m going to accept their offer, I just want it to be over now. I can’t get back the annual leave I just have to accept its gone or work time back. It’s just awful they leave people so long and then act like you are being awkward for not being happy about it!

I am not actually even sure whether this company would enter your home using a key safe if you are not in, it’s entirely possible they would refuse. They only do this if the HA house is empty. If I had an agent, I would give them the key as I would know who was responsible for locking up. I don’t have an agent and wasn’t prepared to buy and drill a key safe into my outside wall on the off chance they might not even enter my property and end up with no idea what was going on tbh.

OP, Mumsnet is very funny about asking for compensation

Only when it concerns renting and doubly so when it's social/council. If it were anything else where OP were paying for a service they weren't getting there'd be very different comments about emails and complaints and shit customer service.

The people talking about their owned homes and having to go without things, it's completely irrelevant. When you rent a property you are paying for the service of them repairing or replacing items that break, when you buy a property you're not.

And I doubt any homeowners would be paying for tradesmen or companies that acted this way and just be grateful for it. But they'd have the choice to look elsewhere and engage someone else, and likely be moaning bitterly about it.

OP has paid for that, in her rent every month but because she's renting, is seen as unreasonable for expecting to get what she's paid for. It's not been down to lack of tradesmen or parts, it's been down to the LL not wanting to provide part of the service they've been paid to provide and a fundamental part of the service at that. At the very least OP should get a reduction in rent because she was paying for something that she wasn't actually recieving. As well as some compensation for the extra cost of having to travel/pay for alternatives that she needed to use.

And as for the key thing, my HA insists that the tenant is present when they visit, and OP does say that "Despite them not approving this and not wanting to enter my house without me being there? " the OP would need permission for a key safe and if they're refusing to enter her property without her there, what's the point anyway?!

Again, people comparing owning their own property and being free to make arrangements that suit them over not being able to make those decisions because the LL doesn't permit it, or doesn't cooperate. It's not a valid point because the same parameters don't apply in both situations.

Of course someone will be along soon and say (again) if you don't like it but your own property, but again, not the point because the LL is offering a service, OP pays for that service and didn't get what she paid for.

OP, the way you described how the HA went about it is complete shambles. Tradesman and engineers coming around with an identified faulty piece, but not replacing it just for the sake of it shouldn’t be expected.

I don’t think £150 covers it, I would try and get 1/3 or half the rent back. You have young children, and using up AL this way will impact your ability to take days off to take care of them when sick and have holidays with them. On your request I would consider adding the value of at least a couple of unpaid leave days as well.

@FleurDeLips

Dont know if you are still on here but you may be interested in filling this in.
https://shaction.org/housing-in-the-workplace-survey/?fbclid=IwY2xjawIoXfZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHcG3rJxvf2eW7fqUp-i7QP45bVfhv35cTnavIg7VWHPKOHwWifTVaXT2aA_aem_sCU47JkClN8FAvx-QZKV-Q