Right, I don't care now if we get bloody evicted

[BrandyButterPie]

The landlord STILL hasn't fixed the oven. We are getting into four months now with no oven. I have been told that even if we follow all the rules in doing the repair ourselves, they can evict us in two months, but at least we would have an oven for Christmas.

So, do I ring the agent and just say "Don't expect the full rent until we have had this mended, oh and we will be getting it mended oursleves and just not paying rent until we have our money" (it is a silly aga that they installed in an unsafe way with inadequate ventilation - although it passed the gas saftey test, it had a warning on it, then finally the carbon monoxide detector went off and the transco man disconnected it)

i think i would do what you have just said.
not sure on the history but hope its sorted asap

I would get three quotes from qualified tradesmen. Send copies to your landlord and tell him that if he doesn't employ one of them within a reasonable period of receiving the quotes then you will use the cheapest and deduct the amount from your rent. A "reasonable period" I would suggest after your long wait is a matter of days.

That is outrageous. I would do as Lorn suggested. I am a LL and have just bought a new oven for our tenants because they didn't like electriciy. Soft touch I think.

crikey!
we have no telephone line and i refuse to pay to get one on a house thats not mine! but too embarrassed to ask the LL

Santa, why don't you have a telephone line, and why are you too embarrased to ask the LL. Not all of them bite.
Our current LL is a bit of a tit, he promised to get a tile fixed in the kitchen and one in the garden when we moved in in July. Tile man came on Monday and already the outside one has cracked due to frost.
I would ask the LL for a phone line, it is a fundamental human right isn't it?

When we moved in the house was completely renovated and re wired. Phone line was never put in. Think it is because the LL is our friends mum that I am a bit embarrassed! Stupid huh! She is great though so now I am thinking more into it, i look a bit of a tit

Might get DH to call

Definitely get the quotes and send them in writing (keeping copies). Explain you expect the work done or you'll stop the rent to pay for it. I think you can also contact a branch of the council that will help (even with private rents) because the incorrectly installed oven and carbon monoxide issue is something they can be challenged on.

What do you mean by no telephone line? No socket for the telephone at all?

Yes nothing at all. I have sky set up, there are no TV areials either (sp?).

Oh x posts. I see. I'd approach the ll but perhaps expect to share the cost? If it was rented as seen maybe they aren't obliged to fit one for you. I don't see a telephone as a human right though!

SantasMadMissy, it's in the LL's interest really to get a phone line, make it easier to rent in future? It would put me right off a place if it had no phone.

OP - four months without an oven is ridiculous, you are more than entitled to act yourself IMO.
Why do you think they might evict you for organising the repair yourself?! Sounds a bit harsh (and most likely illegal)

Can somebody read this email for me? They have just sent one to me saying that the contractor has been told my contact details.

"Thankyou - I will look forward to hearing from the contractor tomorrow, as I'm sure you can appreciate, this is now urgent as the work has been outstanding for a few months, and we have two preschool children living in this house. Can I please confirm that this email refers to both:

-The gas oven that was declared unsafe and disconnected by an emergency gas engineer on the 29th of September of this year, and which had previously been warned about in the yearly gas safety inspections, and has not been considered safe enough by a gas engineer to reconnect since, leaving me and my family with no alternative means of cooking, despite us paying full rent as part of a rental agreement including an inventory that states we have use of a large range gas oven and stovetop, and:

-The possibly faulty wiring in the entrance vestibule that has meant that bulbs blow almost immediately we replace them, meaning that the entrance to the property is dangerous and unfit for safe use, which was reported two weeks after the faulty oven and also has not been fixed, despite said full rent being paid and such.

As I am sure you are aware, until last week I was a stay at hime mum, so would have been availiable for the repair people to perform the repairs at almost any time of day. However, now both me and my husband work full time, and so the repairs will have to be performed at a time that fits around our working hours. This means the repairs can be performed on a weekday before 10.30am or after 5.30pm, or on weekends. Of course this is with prior arrangement and notice. I am sure you appreciate that enough inconvenience has been caused to us in the time since these defects were reported to mean that we cannot submit to further problems.

Thank you for your time and assistance in solving this very distressing issue."

Should be both my husband & I. Otherwise sounds good.