No heating in 2020

[shiveringwiggles]

Hi,

The flat me and my partner have rented since 2013 has an electric boiler which stopped working at the very end of Dec 2019. We have hot water but no heating whatsoever. We also have a 3 year old.

We informed the landlord, who then sent over engineers.The problem is that the type of boiler we have (Nibe) is specialist and normal boiler engineers can't touch it without specialist Nibe training.

Five engineers have been sent over (one, more than once) yet we still have no heating, two months later. The last engineer admitted to us yesterday that he had no idea what to do with it.

Where do we stand from a legal viewpoint? Are there rules on how long we should go without heating?

We were in a similar situation a few years back and went about 3 weeks without heating in January. The agency managing the rental supplied extra stand alone electric heaters and gave compensation for the extra electric we used to run them.

I complained continually but couldn't find any rules about how long we could be without.

@welshladywhois40 same here! They've paid for a £30 standalone heater but it can only be used on non-carpeted floors, which limits use to the kitchen/living room.

there are no rules or limits, as obviously no-one can guarantee when something will be fixed. The test is 'reasonable'.

your landlord needs to find the qualified technician to either fix or replace. First call him and find out the plan. If nothing is forthcoming, write to him, with proof of posting, pointing out the fitness for habitation rules (on the shelter website) and that if nothing is done you can take him to court.

which you can but of course won't get you heating this side of Brexit.

in fact write even if something is going to happen just to confirm what it is. You could also offer to arrange the repair yourself and deduct the cost from the rent if he is agreeable.

if no sign of action or co-operation your only recourse is to move.