What are my rights as a tenant? No running hot water/heating since 22nd and a newborn at home

[Bucdynovehbkfdg]

Basically the caption, the agency hasn’t replied to us since the 22nd, radio silence. We have checked the fuses etc.

i understand it could take a few days to get someone out over Xmas, but they are literally ignoring us.

What is a reasonable time for her to fix it? Should she be providing electric heaters? We are boiling water to wash baby bottles and pumps as we have a newborn at home.

just a disclaimer, the landlord took 4 months to fix a leaky roof, so she doesn’t have the best track record.

I would expect the landlord to provide electric heaters, but I'm not sure what will happen now if they've been ignoring you for two days and now it's Christmas and then the weekend.

Have you got any friends or family who might have heaters you could borrow?

Can you borrow some electric heaters from friends and family and then you can claim back the difference of the cost of running the electric heaters versus putting the central heating on?
Just keep receipt receipts for the extra money that you’ve spent on electricity if it’s pay as you go
Or you’ll be able to compare bills from the month before if it’s monthly direct debit

Well you go to Argos and buy some oil radiators (about £35 for a decent one) then use the kettle for hot water.

A LL has to fix it in a reasonable time. It's 3 days before Christmas so going to be tricky to do it quickly.

As the LL to deduct the radiator cost from your rent (they will then belong to him).

Good luck. My son's flat was without hot water or heating last winter for well over a month. No reduction in rent or heaters provided at all.

When you say they haven’t replied- you haven’t just emailed them have you? This is an emergency, you should’ve phoned or gone into the shop before now.

Anyway, as it stands obviously nothing will happen until 27th December, when you need to speak to someone and get clear next steps. Tell them you’ll be speaking to the council housing department for advice (and do it!)

its reasonable for it to take a few days to fix but they should have someone out to look at it as an emergency - I’d expect 24 hours.

That's disgraceful. As a landlord I would be horrified to think of a new baby without heat or hot water. It's so easy to buy or even get loaned heaters until such time as I could get it repaired. And if I'd known on 22nd there would have been loads of time to get a repair done if possible. Disgusting. No wonder LL have a bad reputation.

I would expect an emergency call out. If they have the parts when they come they might be able to fix it right away. I would expect heaters. I have also had the use of a hotel room to shower when this happened to me as we didn't have an electric shower. I don't rent though, it was from home insurance.

They should have had a plumber / gas man out within the first 24/48 hours. Parts to fix however is a different ball game.

Heaters should have been provided.

We went into the shop but property management wasn’t there and they didn’t answer the phone. The agency doesn’t have an emergency line.

we’ve emailed the council today, we know the lady as she had to contact the agency to get the landlord to fix the roof in November.

we do have a heater, we’re currently all sharing it on the sofa and I’ve put baby in bed with me to keep her warm and dad is on the sofa (I know it’s not ideal but not sure how safe piling up blankets is instead). We have a heated airer so I’ve put that in the bedroom too. My older daughter has 4 blankets.

We don’t have an electric shower either. Yesterday we used boiled water to wash and today I went to my parents hotel room (they don’t live in London but are visiting for Xmas.)

This is what I thought, I understand it could take time to fully fix, but I’m sure there’s an engineer/plumber in London who is working. She just doesn’t like spending money.

Which council authority are you in?

All councils have minimum response and resolution times for these types of issues - hot water, heating, electricity, serious water ingress etc. Normally it is 48 hours. In addition, if your property is in a mandatory or selective licensing area you can make a complaint to property licensing department within the council when they next open.

I would make sure you have written (email) trail of repeated attempts to contact. Then call your private housing team at the council on the next working day and ask their advice and lodge a complaint. Highlight that you have a newborn.

Your agent legally has to be registered with an ombudsman, like the property redress scheme, and display this scheme membership on their website. Contact the scheme they are a member of and lodge a complaint. You will need the written evidence/emails and log (notes of phone call attempts) that you have made for the issue to the agency.

I would put the fact that you have lodged a complaint with private housing and their ombudsman in an email to the agent and note again the time taken to even respond to your issue raised.

Good luck.

I would get an emergency repair done, attempt to charge it to the landlord and if that doesnt work then pay it off a credit card if need be. You cant have a newborn in those temperatures, no idea of the legality but you need to get it sorted urgently imo, the same as if you owned the home, but hopefully theres some chance of getting it refunded with renting.

With Awaabs law in effect it should be 24hrs. It’s now the law.

Can I ask tho, what codes is your boiler showing? As we maybe able to help?

I thought that was only in social housing, not private rentals?

Anwabs law does not relate to heating and hot water issues. It’s just damp and mould and is social housing only

It’s in social housing and hasn’t even come in yet.

OP I’m so sad for you. You poor things.

I don’t think you should get emergency repairs done yourself. Are you out for Xmas day? I know it’s a disgrace, but only 2 more days. Potentially you could get a hotel and demand thd
landlord refund it (they probably wont)

Landlord has no legal obligation to reimburse for a repair they have not authorised

Do you have a manual for the boiler with the gas checks listed? Under warranty and it won't cost the landlord anything.

The government have commited to extending the law to private housing under the renters rights bill but the actual implementation time frame hasn't been confirmed yet so currently it only applies to social housing but as mentioned before councils do have their own guidelines and are fairly good at enforcing these (although generally not with their own council maintained housing)

Housing law states landlord has reasonable time to deal with the repair. There is no definition of reasonable. Unfortunately the repair may take longer due to it being Christmas. The landlord should provide temporary heating.

No it isn't.

I was left without hot water for 11 months when they broke it, installing a wet room.
From Nov 2024 to Oct 2025.
Complain - especially if they leave you over Christmas. You can get compensation, & if they don't act on your complaint you can go to the Housing Ombudsman. We got a formal apology & money.
Don't withhold rent.
This is the time to call in favours for heat. Log extra electric/gas costs. Get on the phone, & email, every day, firmly but calmly. Remind them you have a very young baby. Contact cllrs, mp.
Good luck.

H09, I don’t understand what Google is telling me

I’d be horrified as the ll. This happened to my tenants and the agency pissed about, didn’t fix it, so the tenant don’t me and I got it fixed immediately. Brand new baby, no heating/hot water, I was appalled! I sacked the agency. Source heaters, although that won’t help with the hot water. Bill the landlord.