to cry over our immersion heater and the ineptness or our landlord (hereafter known as Nobber)?

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We have had no hot water since Thursday. We live in rented accommodation. The landlord ummed and aahed until Sunday at which point he turned up with a bloke who I though was called Pete. Pete'll Fix It to give him his full title. Nobber and Pete'll Fix It spent a few hours upstairs banging about and spewing dust and plaster and limescale and water all over dd's bedroom before sodding off and promising to come back tomorrow (Monday).

Pete came back alone, spent several hours banging and muttering about corroded elements and with an almighty bang about 6pm last night, part of the kitchen ceiling fell in and water spewed all over the floor.

Pete'll Fix It came down and apologised profusely, explaining that he's 'just a gardener' after all. Oh ho ho ho says I, what a jolly jape, a gardener. No, imagine my mirth, Pete'll Fix It is Pete The Gardener. Or Have A Go Pete. He's not fussy.

He's been back again today. More banging, more muttering. He's given up. Pete Only A Gardener has gone home. I bear him no ill will. He seems very upset that he couldn't help.

Nobber's gone to Portugal btw. Feature hole in the ceiling, no hot water, non-functioning immersion heater.

I'd laugh, but I'm too busy crying.

See I'm crying that much I can't type. Ineptness of our landlord. Obviously. Gah.

Environmental Health? CAB? Doesn't a landlord have some responsibility wrt hot water etc? Poor Pete. Can you ring Nobber?

Oh shit. Do you have a normal shower?

He's on a plane I believe. Probably choking on eating complimentary nuts.

I'm sure he does have a responsibility to something other than his own inadequacies. I'm yet to see evidence of this fact though.

We've got a shower and a kettle. We'll manage until tomorrow and then I'll tackle it. I'm too upset atm.

I would also let the HSE or environmental health know that your Landlord chooses to use a gardener for electrical works.

Not legal.

Been up since 5am. Water pouring through the kitchen ceiling.

I don't know what to do.

I'd call an emergency plumber to come out and fix it, and then send the account to the landlord with a letter explaining the sequence of events.

But I'm not an English lawyer, so hopefully that's not horrible advice.

But we have no money. And what if he wants paying? Landlord's buggered off abroad. And he may refuse to pay. What then?

Does anybody know anything about immersion heaters? If I take a picture of the current problem, would anybody know what's wrong?

Use your rent money to fix the problem.

Ring the council and explain the issue
they might be able to help with legal advice if you are on benefit they might have an alternative.

There is a scheme that allows landlords 'cash back' if they fit eco boilers etc so that might be worth finding out for your landlord.

o dear, I feel for you. the landlord has the responsability to not endanger you. maybe look at landlordzone they are quite knowledgable. if it*s pouring down the ceiling the substance of the house is in danger so needs to be fixed asap. can you call a proper plumber yourself and get it fixed. write to your landlord that he either pays the bill directly or you will deduct the amount from your rent.

No benefits, private landlord.

The immersion heater's fine in the main I think. The gardener has replaced the element at the bottom and water's pouring out of it. They've fixed one problem and created another (the water pouring out is hot).

Rent goes out on the day after pay day. That was last week. No pay day for another 3 weeks.

I'm on my own with dd (3) who thinks we have installed a fountain for her.

Get advice from your council - they should have a dept to deal with private landlords.

They do have the power to carry out works and then bill the landlord. With a problem as big as this they may be able to do it straight away (though not 100% sure on that).

Call them this morning and ask.

Just to clarify, I have a dh, he's at work.

We have tied off the ball thing in the heater to stop it refilling, it'll empty soon I hope. It's leaking at a rate of about a litre every 10 minutes now. Keep emptying the buckets.

Thank you everybody. I don't want the hassle with the landlord right now. We live on the same land as him (he owns the farm we rent the cottage from). I don't want our nearest neighbours to be our greatest enemies but need to do something.

I don't need this today. My grandma was rushed to hospital yesterday, my parents are abroad until Sunday and she's in a hospital 40 miles away. I can't be here and there. I don't drive. It's the worst timing.

Just found this:Your rights as a tenant include:

Property maintenance by the landlord or letting agency to ensure that the property is maintained at the standard at which you rented it

Doing essential maintenance work yourself and deducting the money spent on the repairs from the rent

from here

So you can pay for the plumber and deduct the cost from your rent. Is that a help?

Show that sounds hard.

Ok the tank will soon empty,your dh will be home later,theres nothing much you can do either so phone the hospital ask how she is and maybe speak to her,explain your parents are away and that you cant be there to the sister and will it be ok if you phone again just so she knows you care,the sister will have had all this before and generally its best for people in hospital sick to be resting and sleeping so as much as you want to be with her,in the long run this immediate rest will be better for her-shes in safe hands and tomorrows a whole new day.

your landlord should have an interest of not having more damage which means more cost in the future. I*m sure if he were available he would deal with something like this swiftly.

But we don't have any money to pay a plumber. He'd need paying straight away I assume? We just don't have any money.

And in the middle of this, dd slept in with us last night (her room's a mess because the heater's in there) and wet the bed for the first time. Trying to clean our mattress, empty buckets, phone the hospital etc. It can only get better, right?

Sonilaa, the landlord has seen the ceiling, the hole, the leak. His response? I don't have any artex, I can't fix that. No indication that he has any plans to do so. Maybe he'll send a hairdresser round to look at it in a couple of weeks. Of course he doesn't know it's leaking again but I suspect he wouldn't call a plumber.

nickschick, thank you. The hospital know the situation. I'd planned to get over there as soon as dh finishes work at 4pm but it's dependent on there being no water coming through the ceiling now. Grandma knows about the problem anyway, we visited her over the weekend at her house and told her we'd got plumbing issues. I just keep thinking she's alone. My Grandad died a couple of years ago, her severely disabled dd moved into a home last year, her son (my dad) is abroad and there's nobody with her. She's 86. I should be there.

I'm really sorry, that sounds absolutely crap and I'm furious on your behalf. How vile and selfish of him to leave you like this

He needs to employ a proper registered tradesman to sort out plumbing/electrics not just someone he knows as a gardener. Agree speak to council asap, or Shelter. It doesn't matter if you get HB or not they can force the issue with private landlords as a dodgy installation breaches a landlord's legal responsibilties. However don't just withhold rent either as you could risk eviction.

I wouldn't withold rent. The problem at the moment is that nobody can force an issue with a landlord who isn't in the country.

How do you find a reputable plumber? I don't want to go through the yellow pages and pick a bad one. Do you think they would fix it and bill the landlord for us? Or should I phone the council and they can sort it out? I can't face the possiblity of a big bill that we're expected to pay.

I'd go through council, they may have a list of approved companies who won't rip you off. Also makes it more official if you need ot argue with ll afterwards.

Any idea which council department? I'm on the website and can't find anything that looks relevant. Norfolk if that helps or if anybody can see something I can't.

this is an emergency and can*t wait so should be ok if the essential work can be billed to landlord directly. make plenty of photos of the mess in case of a dispute.