We rented a house which was supposed to have a shower fitted but it hasnt

[Jampot]

I looked at the house we moved into on Friday a couple of weeks ago. The owner said she would fit a shower. She has not. What they have done is fit a hose contraption on the bath taps which you have to lift a stopper thing www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=20001&partNumber=83282 89&c3=3%7Ccat9579964%7CMixer+showers%7C9579969&c2=2%7Ccat9576969%7CShowers%7C9579964&c1=1%7Ccat egoryroot%7CBathroom%7C9576969 like this

The problem with this is there is no wall bracket to hold the head, nor does the stopper work when the hot tap is on (not that the hot water is working right now though, nor is the central heating). So if I try to shower I have to kneel in teh bath (the tiling only being about 3 foot high)and hold the head with one hand and hold the stopper up with teh other to achieve a trickle of cold water.

So what can we do about it?

Dh thinks the reason they didnt fit a proper shower was because it would cost a lot to wire it in and would cause problems for the consumer unit which is already to capacity,

Tricky one as I suppose technically there is a shower. BUT, it doesn't work adequately and so you should pretty easily be able to complain on that front and point out that a working shower has to have hot water! It will be a water pressure thing I expect, not enough fromthe hot to hold the knob up. (same problem with new bathroom that MIL had fitted in her old house, I lived there for a while and spent the entire time asleep, I need my shower to wake up! Not to mention trying to wash long hair!)

thing is the hot water tank is roughly the same level as the bath so any height will be a problem. Presumably a shower has to work and simply installing one isnt adequate?

We couldnt do the tiling as dh is crap at DIY and the tiling is now "edged"

actually im very cross anyway. They tried to leave their cat here and also garden covered in dog shite and a pile of rubble and crap in the back garden and the conservatory roof leaks where they tried to seal the stench pipe into the roof

Sounds like exactly what went wrong with MIL's one, tank also at same height as bath and so you could not at all get it to stay up without adding so much cold that it was freezing. So yes, complain and demand a working shower! Think that kind only really works well when the tank is in the loft so you get the height.

hmmm nice house Dontcha just love renting! (I currently have damp and slugs, when we moved in we had 2 privies in the yard full of 3 month old rubbish including kitchen waste, a hole between the velux frame and the roof........and we have a decent landlord, or at least I thought so til recently but that is another story)

Have you rented direct or through an agent?

If it's direct, I'd got to the CAB.

Ask them to fit a wall bracket. Otherwise it's not really a shower at all.

we rented through an agent. Ive never rented before so this is a real eye opener for me. However I feel I will be the tenant from hell We are creating a list of "problems" such as the central heating, leaky roof etc.

We have been to my sisters for dinner so the children have used her facilities

Speak to the agent and make him/her aware that there is a list of problems being compiled. There should have been an inventory done before you moved in and that will have noted things such as dog mess and rubble in the garden as well as other things you may not have even noticed yet.

I would say that, at the very least, you expect the shower to be functioning (that just putting in a shower doesn't count if it can't be used properly) and that you would be afraid to have a stand-up shower anyway for fear of ruining the non-tiled surfaces - it isn't your responsibility to tile them regardless of dh's abilities. Tell them that the conservatory is currently unuseable as is the garden.

Give them a time period to fix these problems - say four weeks - and then say you will be taking "action" against them. Don't specify what, let them sweat it.

Did you buy the plot by the way?

no i didnt although it did sell for 50k instead of the guide price of 75k

I am however in teh process of buying a repossession house