No heating/hot water in rental property for two weeks

soozer

Two weeks ago our boiler broke down. We reported this to our landlord and she arranged for a heating engineer to call round. This engineer has now been to our property four times in total, each time saying that he'd fixed the problem, but the boiler lasts less than five minutes before shutting down again.

The heating engineer has requested we deal with him direct as the landlord gives him 'a hard time' when he has to speak to her.

Today he came round and fitted yet more new parts, including a new circuit board. Yet again it died within a few minutes of him getting it working again.

So far we haven't contacted him to tell him it's gone again. To be honest we're just a bit fed up! We just want it fixing! It's no fun getting out of bed to a bedroom that's barely above freezing.

We have been in the property for five years and the boiler has had the same problem every winter. Three years ago we were without heating or hot water for two months. We don't want this to happen again. We are good tenants, always pay our rent on time, and apart from this boiler problem we don't really contact our landlord. The landlord is quite elderly and we think she may be developing memory problems so we try not to disturb her too much. We do any minor DIY jobs ourselves.

We'd appreciate any advice on what our next move should be.

soozer

Believe me, if we could afford to move we would!

Thanks for your helpful reply :think:

anguk

I would get in touch with your landlord again and tell her that the problem still hasn't been solved and perhaps suggest that she tries a different heating engineer if this one hasn't managed to fix it after 4 visits. I'm not sure why the heating guy would ask you to deal direct with him instead of the landlord and perhaps the landlord gives him a hard time because he isn't fixing the problem, after all he probaby charges her each time he comes out to your house.

If you don't tell your landlord she won't know there's a problem, she may even think the boiler has been fixed & everything is okay.

soozer

anguk wrote: »

I would get in touch with your landlord again and tell her that the problem still hasn't been solved...

I've just left a message on her answerphone. Hoping she calls back tonight.

Heating engineer is so unreliable. This week he came over on Monday and fitted a part to the boiler. When we contacted him to say it had shut off again he said he'd be back the next day with another part. Waited in all day yesterday - he didn't show, so at 6pm I sent him a text asking what time we should expect him. His reponse - a one word text "tomorrow".

We've also only had one gas safety check in five years, the last one being over 2 years ago now.

We really need to move house don't we?

olly300

If your landlord has a bad memory then I would write her a polite note explaining that the heating engineer hasn't fixed the problem after 4 visits, and you hope she can find someone else to fix the problem.

sooz

How many new circuit boards has that boiler had? It's probably cost more than a new boiler.

bazzais

As such a long term tenant with the knowledge of just how many repairs the boiler has had, I think you should maybe approach the landlord with the idea of getting a new boiler installed as has been said. All those callouts and new parts are not cheap, they must have added up to almost a new boiler by now, also explain that its really not on for you to go without heat and hot water for weeks on end on a continual basis year on year.

Who knows you may talk some sense into your LL

Ta

Baz

tbs624

Soozer -or any other T facing similar difficulties:

Please don't let Premier put you off posting on the HBR&S board. There's an ignore button if necessary S/he has said s/he is a LL: unfortunately s/he often seems to struggle to see things from both sides, unlike some of the other LLs who post on here..

Your LL is legally obliged to maintain the space & water heating systems in good safe working order under s11 of the LL&T Act 1985. If she can't organise that then she is in breach of her duties to you. At the very least she should provide you with alternative forms of heating and help towards any resultant higher heating costs incurred by you.

It doesn't sound as if her preferred engineer is particularly competent - is he CORGI registered? If a LL persistently fails to ensure that repairs are completed there is a set procedure for getting them done yourself. You have to do it formally in writing, and there is a guide on p16 here:

S/he is also legally obliged to have a gas safety check done annually by a CORGI registered h/engineer, to give you a copy of the gas safety certificate at the start of the tenancy or within 28 days of the check as an existing tenant, and to keep her own copies for at least 2 years. She is putting your health/life at risk by failing to get this done and she can be prosecuted on separate counts by either the HSE or the local Council for failing to comply with the gas safety regs.. See here here here and here

Please contact the private sector rentals team at your local council - they can help you get the repairs done and push the LL to get that gas safety cert sorted out. In the meantime get an audible carbon monoxide detector if you haven't already done so.

soozer

tbs624 wrote: »

Soozer -or any other T facing similar difficulties:

Please don't let Premier put you off posting on the HBR&S board. There's an ignore button if necessary S/he has said s/he is a LL: unfortunately s/he often seems to struggle to see things from both sides, unlike some of the other LLs who post on here..

I must look into that ignore button - thanks! The funny thing is, the last thing I want to do is create any trouble for my LL. She's elderly, and I think she's suffering from memory problems and the last thing I want to do is upset her. I don't want to involve the Council or anyone else if we can deal with this between us. I was simply asking for advice and suggestions as to how to deal with this. I do think she genuinely forgets about gas safety checks etc, rather than is avoiding the issue.

tbs624 wrote: »

Your LL is legally obliged to maintain the space & water heating systems in good safe working order under s11 of the LL&T Act 1985. If she can't organise that then she is in breach of her duties to you. At the very least she should provide you with alternative forms of heating and help towards any resultant higher heating costs incurred by you.

I do think she tries her best, but her heating engineer of choice doesn't seem to know what he's doing. He's been out to us four times since we reported this to the LL and each time he leaves and says it's fixed but within ten minutes it's off again. It would be funny if it weren't so cold at the moment!

tbs624 wrote: »

It doesn't sound as if her preferred engineer is particularly competent - is he CORGI registered? If a LL persistently fails to ensure that repairs are completed there is a set procedure for getting them done yourself. You have to do it formally in writing, and there is a guide on p16 here:

Thanks for that tbs - appreciate it. Her engineer is CORGI registered, but always takes at least three visits to fix any problems. This time round he's replaced four parts of the boiler, including the main board, but it's still got the same problem.

tbs624 wrote: »

S/he is also legally obliged to have a gas safety check done annually by a CORGI registered h/engineer, to give you a copy of the gas safety certificate at the start of the tenancy or within 28 days of the check as an existing tenant, and to keep her own copies for at least 2 years. She is putting your health/life at risk by failing to get this done and she can be prosecuted on separate counts by either the HSE or the local Council for failing to comply with the gas safety regs.. See here here here and here

Thanks for the links. I'll drop her a note first and ask her to sort it. I'll follow it up if she doesn't arrange anything.

tbs624 wrote: »

Please contact the private sector rentals team at your local council - they can help you get the repairs done and push the LL to get that gas safety cert sorted out. In the meantime get an audible carbon monoxide detector if you haven't already done so.

Thank you tbs I really do appreciate your help.

Now to find that ignore button...

tbs624

soozer wrote: »

....Thanks for the links. I'll drop her a note first and ask her to sort it. I'll follow it up if she doesn't arrange anything.

Maybe you could print this off for her - link.

Good luck - do post back with an update, because it can all help other T's who may be in a similar situation.

sooz

bazzais wrote: »

As such a long term tenant with the knowledge of just how many repairs the boiler has had, I think you should maybe approach the landlord with the idea of getting a new boiler installed as has been said. All those callouts and new parts are not cheap, they must have added up to almost a new boiler by now, also explain that its really not on for you to go without heat and hot water for weeks on end on a continual basis year on year.

Try asking around your neighbours for a recommendation of a new corgi plumber too. Then you could give her a couple of numbers of proper engineers at the same time. You don't want this one fitting your new boiler!