Renting. Now we have no gas.

[WhyAyeButterPie]

When we moved in about a year ago, the oven wasn't working (big ridiculous agalike) - it took three months to repair, and apparently (according to the neighbours and the gasman) the previous tenants had been asking for their entire tenancy for it to be done.

Then the front room fire was condemmed by a gas inspector (who also left a note of caution about the oven). The landlord refused to mend the fire as we have central heating. Also apparently there were problems with our rent (once, with prior notice, £100 of the £525 rent was a week late - they agreed to this in advance) (although once they did ring me up and started yelling at me that they were going to evict me as we hadn't paid the rent for months. DP rang them back and gave them the transaction numbers and they "found" the money)

Tonight the carbon monoxide alarm went off, so I rang the number on it and an emergency gas man came out, found a problem with the oven and shut off all gas to the property. I immediately rang the letting agent, who said they would ring me back straightaway. They haven't and now aren't answering the phone.

So, as my baby and toddler are asleep in an unheated house in the North East, what do I do? (I know it's not too bad for one night, but past events have shown that we need to stand up to the letting agent or nothing gets done- it took a month and a half for them to give us the keys to an empty house when we moved in)

(The landlord themselves lives abroad, we deal with a letting agent who are a large company)

Can anyone advise us please?

Yes, luckily we have all the stuff we used when it was broken for three months last year- camping stove, microwave, george forman grill.

It is annoying though, especially when we are paying over the odds for the house, partially because of the lovely fixtures and fittings.

There is an ex council estate less than 2 minutes walk from this house where we could get a proper house (this is a dorma bungalow) with 3 big bedrooms (instead of one and a boxroom) and lawns front and back (instead of that bizarre gravel stuff that hurts children when they fall over and babies try to eat) for the exact same price.

I just love that our garden here backs onto the ILs, where DH grew up, and all the neighbours know us, and there is hardly any traffic or even strangers. Plus, I did like the big stupid oven- we had got used to it. We do a lot of cooking and it is ace in winter- you can bake a loaf or cake in it when it has been off for half an hour!

Plus, it does alarm you when anyone from round here immediately starts being nicer to you when they find out where you live, as opposed to the ex council estate where they assumed you lived...probably snobbery tbh, but still, what if it isn't?