No hot water

Hazel2705

We've been having problems with our landlord ignoring us as our boiler doesn't work so no heating for 3 months which at the moment I can live with as it's summer. We have contacted the local council and they have inspected the house which has a number of problems and will be chasing him as soon as I give the say so.

We've been heating the water with the electric immersion but this morning the wires have burnt out so no longer works. I can't get hold of anyone in his office and have sent emails and rung the agent we originally rented from who have also sent an email but still no reply.

I know he is just going to ignore me but we're stuck without hot water and have a baby in the house so not very hygenic.

I've told the agent that if I don't get a reply by 3pm I'm going to have to get a plumber out and pay for it myself which isn't ideal.

Any advice for me?

typeractive

My god that sounds awful! Your landlord is obviously a joke. Whilst chasing him is the way - emails are easily ignored IMO. You need to speak to him - I recognise you've been trying a lot. Personally I wouldn't let it go 3 months, relying on some other form for heating etc, which may cost more money also? I'm sure someone with more information will be along to help soon, though in my eyes - do your absolute best to not pay for this work out of your pocket. obviously not an easy option. Do you live near any of your family / close friends?

Hazel2705 wrote: »

Any advice for me?

My honest advice would be to seek somewhere else to live. Extreme and indeed a hassle, but I wouldn't put up with the LL acting like this. It's not acceptable. Perhaps not the correct way to deal with things, but I'd be tempted to stop paying the rent...see how quick he gets back to you then

Welshwoofs

I'm sure that heating and hot water are basics which a landlord has a legal obligation to supply. If you've put the complaints in writing and had no joy, I think I'd be tempted to get the work done and deduct it from your next rent payment (but check where you stand on that!).

Long-term I'd seriously look to finding a new place to rent as it doesn't sound as though your LL is a good one.

mluton

Stop your rent, someone will have to contact you then.

Or as above deduct amount it costs.

Hazel2705

Thanks for the reply. The council have had problems with him for years so they are happy to deal with it for me. I paid 6 months rent up front so can't withold which is probably why he's ignoring me. We did this as was having problems getting hold of my husbands references and we had given notice on the previous place we were staying after another landlord for a different house had changed his mind.

There is nowhere else for us to go, it's school holidays so even all the local caravan parks are full up.

It's nothing but hassle, it's costing me a fortune in phonecalls and wasting my time having to wait in just in case someone replies to an email.

It's the frustration of not even getting acknowledged. He's obviously not allowed to say "no" and is just ignoring me.

The council can force him to do the work but that takes time.

I've been ringing all day and no one answers, I've got the agent to email and I've emailed. Is there anything else I can do before paying out for repairs? Even the council private renting dept can't ring him as he won't accept calls from them and will only go through the council legal team.

franklee

As the council have been involved tell them you are now without hot water. That is a priority repair. I'd suggest to them that you pay for the immersion repair yourself if they will assist in your claiming the money back from the landlord by being a witness by confirming in writing to the time you've been waiting, that you couldn't contact the LL and that it was necessary for you to do the repair yourself. Then ask the council to force the boiler repair for the heating after that.

Hazel2705

We are moving out on Novemebr 5th when our contract runs out. What he is doing is illegal but everything takes time going through courts etc which is no good to us right this minute when we need to be able to wash. Luckily I can bathe the baby in a bucket and boil the kettle for washing up but not very convenient.

franklee

Right you need the hot water now so I'd pay for the repair to the immersion only and then claim it back later, via the small claims court if necessary. So long as you have the council or agent to back up your story that the LL wasn't going to do it.

Welshwoofs

It sounds as though if he's refusing to accept calls from the council and it's all going through legal routes it may take some time! That's not a lot of use for you if you have baby and no hot water (or even yourselves! I tear my hair out if I'm without hot water for a day).

I'd do what franklee suggests, ask the council if you pay to get the hot water going yourself and them assist you in getting those costs back. I had elements in an immersion replaced about a year ago..from memory it was £40 but he was here doing other work as well so I'd guess that price could go up a lot if it was a special call-out and/or you're in an expensive part of the country (I'm not)

franklee

Right, depends what's wrong but it could be the immersion is a very small and simple thing to fix.

Hazel2705

It's a burnt out wire on the immersion. My husband know's how to ifx it but can't as he's not a qualified electrician. We are just going to leave it alone and report it as unsafe.

We've decided to call out British Gas to fix the boiler as it's been broken for so long it is definitely an unreasonable amount of time now. They do a set repair charge which was £127 so not to expensive and will try and claim back at a later date with the help of the council.

I will certainly be warning everyone I know about this LL.