Please help rented housing association and no heat

skyeandeviesmummy

Hi

Not sure what happened to my first thread so Im writing it again

I live in a housing association house and we have been having probs with our dual boiler its only heating water luke warm or not at all so heating engineer came out said you need a new plate for heating the water and came back yesterday to fit it. As he was fitting it the non return valve broke and now i have only cold water and no heat!!! He has left me with 2 little fan heaters but I know they cost a lot to run and told me they cant get the part till Mon so he will fit it tuesday.

This wouldnt be so bad if it was just me and DH but I have 3 children under 5 one is a 5 month old baby and yesterday it took me 30 mins to boil water for them to have a bath and it was dangerous trying to carry pans and kettles up an down the stairs with all my children about (DH works shifts so wasnt here).

My question is can they legally leave me without heat and hot water till Tuesday and is this part likely to be got elsewhere and they are just trying to use their cheap supplier? Any help gratefully received as I intend to ring them after I get back from the school to see if anything can be done before then.

Many Thanks

nuttyp

HI, i live in council accomodation, and have suffered simular problems. Our heating went wrong in august, and the seperate immersion heater also didnt work. It was all finally resolved this week - so nearly 3 months after it was forst reported. I finally made a complaint to enviromental health and they interviened on my behalf, and things moved very fast. It is sort of ok for a few days to be left without heating, but not for weeks. And hot water is not ok, according to our council.

Contact your HA today, they should have a measure in place to either assist you with using a local hotel? for showering your children. They should also have a grevience form that you can fill out, and should give you a reduction on your rent for the time you dont actually have the required services your paying for.

If you need further advise, contact your council but say its a private landlord - they seem to give out a bit more imformation when they think its not one of their own.

Good luck

Premier_2

Do you live in Manchester?

Oh no, babeh is only 5 mumfs old, silly me!

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=16048013&postcount=11

pinkshoes

It's only 4 days! You can't magically make the part appear, so they're going to fit it as soon as possible!

People survived in the good old days with 5+ kids and no central heating or hot running water, so I think you're over exagerating the problem.

Slightly inconvenient, but I think you're being over dramatic and should just make do.

skyeandeviesmummy

Pink shoes I have a child with asthma that is helped by being cold. As for the old days they would have had a tin tub downstairs so they wouldnt have climbed stairs with boiling hot water and an open fire so hardly a comparison. I am asking for advice not critisim and what might seem like nothing to you is a nightmare for me as I am trying to care for a terminally ill father as well and the stress of that is enough without anything else. If you cant say anything nice then how about not saying anything at all. Dont judge someone until youve walked a mile in their shoes!

Thank you to the rest of you for your help I agree that I might be being a little over emotional but my dads illness is taking its toll and everything feels like a mountain at the mo

poppysarah

They've left you with heaters. That's about all they can do.

As regards carrying boiling water upstairs - sounds far too dangerous. Take the kettle upstairs and boil it there if you have to.

But can't you nip round to a friends and give them a bath if they're desperately dirty? You can give them a good going over with a flannel the rest of the time?

Bit short notice for getting an electric shower put in though as an alternative.

BrandNewDay

pinkshoes wrote: »

It's only 4 days! You can't magically make the part appear, so they're going to fit it as soon as possible!

People survived in the good old days with 5+ kids and no central heating or hot running water, so I think you're over exagerating the problem.

Slightly inconvenient, but I think you're being over dramatic and should just make do.

In the good old days, A) People had stoves in which they could burn solid fuel and, children got chilblains.

pinkshoes

skyeandeviesmummy wrote: »

I am asking for advice not critisim and what might seem like nothing to you is a nightmare for me as I am trying to care for a terminally ill father as well and the stress of that is enough without anything else. If you cant say anything nice then how about not saying anything at all. Dont judge someone until youve walked a mile in their shoes!

I'm neither judging nor critisizing. I was offering helpful advice i.e. if they do not physically have the part, then they can't fix the boiler, and complaining to the HA won't actually get you anywhere, as they have no power to make a part magically appear either.

Perhaps you could phone the plumber and ask where the part is coming from, and offer to drive over and pick it up, so he can come and it it this afternoon?

As poppysarah said, can't you boil a kettle upstairs?

skyeandeviesmummy

For all the supportive comments thanks for the few nasty ones I hope you never have to come on here at your lowest point ever. I lay awake every night wondering if my dad is still going to be alive the next day and I know the problems seems like a little one to you but its one more I dont need.

I rang HA and they have rang the heating company who are dealing with it are now going to get the part on a faster delivery service so hopefully I should have someone out at the weekend.

I love MSE but this has made me think twice about posting again.:(

poppysarah

You have to take a step back from the neighbour noise if you are in an emotional state because your dad is so ill.
Your stress is making you more aware of the neighbour noise which under normal circumstances you wouldn't be as bothered by.

Pssst

skyeandeviesmummy wrote: »

Hi

Not sure what happened to my first thread so Im writing it again

I live in a housing association house and we have been having probs with our dual boiler its only heating water luke warm or not at all so heating engineer came out said you need a new plate for heating the water and came back yesterday to fit it. As he was fitting it the non return valve broke and now i have only cold water and no heat!!! He has left me with 2 little fan heaters but I know they cost a lot to run and told me they cant get the part till Mon so he will fit it tuesday.

This wouldnt be so bad if it was just me and DH but I have 3 children under 5 one is a 5 month old baby and yesterday it took me 30 mins to boil water for them to have a bath and it was dangerous trying to carry pans and kettles up an down the stairs with all my children about (DH works shifts so wasnt here).

My question is can they legally leave me without heat and hot water till Tuesday and is this part likely to be got elsewhere and they are just trying to use their cheap supplier? Any help gratefully received as I intend to ring them after I get back from the school to see if anything can be done before then.

Many Thanks

The law has very little to do with it. I would expect that your tenancy agreement will contain some reference to repairs etc. They do have your repair in hand. As to availability of parts, well it all depends on make and model of the appliance and what the part is. Some parts are more obscure than others and it isnt always possible to buy them over the counter due to the diverse range and complexity of appliances on the market.

This is one of the minor drawbacks of combi boilers. I presume you have one? With a storage system at least you could have backup of an immersion heater.

So no,the law has nothing to do with it.

Its just rather inconvenient. Hopefully he wil turn up with the right bits.