It’s so cold I can see my breath inside!

[Hoohoohoo]

Recently rented a property (end of August), the plan is to be here as long as possible.
There’s a small extension off the kitchen, since the temperature has dropped it’s been absolutely freezing in there. It currently has our fridge and dishwasher in.
There is no room for a fridge in the kitchen and it seems pretty pointless to have an unusable room as the extra space is what sold us compared to other houses with similar layouts.

It’s freezing in there all day, I can see my breath and I may as well be outside. The door to that room gets opened often so I feel like I’m constantly losing heat. It also leaks condensation from the plastic roof. (The LL said he may replace the roof in the summer, for another plastic sheet I imagine)

Although in our mind it’s a long term rental, the LL can serve us notice at any time so I’m reluctant to put money in to insulate the room, but something needs to be done.

The LL purchased this property to rent out so he’s never lived here, and probably doesn’t know how cold it gets. Would it be something I can bring up and he can sort it out? Or is it down to us as tenants?

it sounds like it is built to conservatory standards. This is treated like a shed and does not have to meet the same building regulations as a house.

If it has a plastic roof you may as well put a fan heater in the garden for all the good it will do.

It sounds like it's what is more classed as a "lean-to" than an actual extension.

When you build a conservatory/lean-to you don't have to have planning permission as long as it's i) not over a certain size; ii) has an external quality door between the two parts; and iii) is not connected to the house's main heating system.

The "room" that you've got is the equivalent of a conservatory with a polycarbonate roof and is really won't ever be usable in the winter unless it is seriously upgraded. That upgrading might then require it to have planning permission, so is definitely not something I would attempt to do as a tenant.

Unfortunately, I think you need to use it for what it is - outside storage. You should double check that your appliances are suitable for out there though. I'd be concerned that the dishwasher might freeze when it gets even colder and you don't need a burst pipe to contend with too.

If you look at fridge descriptions you'll often see that they say that they're not suitable for use in outhouses as they're not designed to be out in the cold.

Sorry OP - I know you want it to be a long term home for your family, but if the room doesn't serve it's purpose and the landlord won't make any changes, you may have to consider moving again I'm afraid.

Thanks for the advice.
It’s not practical being used as outdoor storage as it has a big double patio door from the kitchen that you can see through.
I will just have to grin and bear it, we waited two years to find this house as it’s in such a desirable location.

I didn’t want to have to suffer if nothing could be done, hence asking for advice but I got the answer I needed.

Regarding the appliances, the previous owners put in the connections for a dishwasher and had one in there for several years with no problems. (I know there could be an issue but we haven’t been using it in this cold, it’s been switched off)
We had a garage attached to our last property for a spare fridge so we already own an outbuilding fridge.

A Lean to will never be more than a shed. But how is your dishwasher out there? That sounds like a faff. Where is the washing machine?