Private Renting - Issues with Boiler

mwahaha

G_M wrote: »

My boiler is 32 years old and works perfectly - OK maybe new ones are more energy efficient, but the 'energy' that would be wasted by replacinbg it is huge!

Agreed, most people are only likely to see savings of ~150 per year so replacing a working boiler at a cost of ~3000 isn't going to make sense financially or environmentally. Obviously when it an old boiler genuinely needs repairing then this changes.

damoandclaire

Thanks for all the responses guys and gals.

First of all, can I just say that this is not about me just turning rads on or off, thats not the issue. The issue is that the boiler has a fault that the engineer has said ultimately will cause the boiler to fail eventually, regardless of whether or not it is safe at the moment.

The issue is, the landlord will not carry out the repair and its been like this for over a year.

As a paying tennant, I have the right to ensure that stuff he is providing is working fully, I'm paying for it after all. To turn round and state that he won't have us as tennants if we complain about stuff we have a right to then that to me is basically blackmail.

Just because the device is safe, doesn't mean that its working properly. When they check for safety its a simple case of making sure its not leaking and has correct ventilation. If that is all good then the rest doesn't really matter in terms of a safety certificate (but i'm no expert)

To give you another example of how shoddy this landlord is, couple of months back, my partner was pregnant and our toilet broke down, started leaking everywhere so had to turn the supply off to the bathroom. I couldnt get hold of him for two days because he didn't answer his phone and then he had the gall to have a go at me for not contacting him sooner when he did finally answer. Then it took him another 2 days to get a plumber round who said, "never seen that kind of fitting". To cut a long story short, it took a week to replace a ballcock in the toilet. Thats a week of not being able to use our bathroom. He told us to fill a bucket and pour it down. Now if I'm working, my partner is pregnant, is it really appropriate or necessary to first of all, take a week to fix something very simple and secondly, to have a pregnant woman, lug a heavy bucket up and down stairs every time the need arose? Not really acceptable if you ask me but we got the same old, you can leave when I had a winge about it.

I would have thought that being a landlord came with responsibilities such as general repair, maintenance and if thats not done, should we complain we get thrown out. Who else things thats right?

clutton_2

i have now been without any hot water at all for 6 days - i know how hard it is to get good gas engineers to come and do work - especially in the summer when many are on hols. My landlord has let me shower in their own home until it gets sorted.

Even the manufacturers engineers gave us a 4 day wait .... tenants cannot expect any different treatment over how owner occupiers are treated by maintainance staff. Landlords are not imbued with magical powers of getting work done instantly. I also have waited nearly a week to replace unusual fittings in sanitary ware in some of my properties. Spare parts, especially for older units, take time to get hold of, and plumbers have pre-aranged jobs to go to and cannot just down tools immediately.

You clearly do not like the replies you have had. The LL IS fulfilling his statutory duty by having the boiler inspected and it is legal for use. There are no legal "leverages" you can use.

"" engineer has said ultimately will cause the boiler to fail eventually"" - what happens to the boiler in the future is none of your concern as a tenant - the landlord has repaired it now, that's all that matter to you.

mwahaha

No one is saying you've got a good landlord - being without a toilet for 5 days isn't good! It's just that since the boiler is safe and provides heat and hot water it's going to be difficult to force the landlord to do anything.

You could perhaps use it as leverage to reduce the rent i.e. 'since the boiler is costing me an extra 20 per month in gas I'd like a rent reduction of the same'. You're not out of pocket then and he might be more likely to go for that than replacing the boiler or tenant.

Also invest in a voodoo boiler doll and hope it fails completely

Fire_Fox

damoandclaire wrote: »

First of all, can I just say that this is not about me just turning rads on or off, thats not the issue. The issue is that the boiler has a fault that the engineer has said ultimately will cause the boiler to fail eventually, regardless of whether or not it is safe at the moment.

The issue is, the landlord will not carry out the repair and its been like this for over a year.

Just because the device is safe, doesn't mean that its working properly. When they check for safety its a simple case of making sure its not leaking and has correct ventilation. If that is all good then the rest doesn't really matter in terms of a safety certificate (but i'm no expert)

The boiler performs it's function which is to produce heating and hot water as and when required. I appreciate the situation may not seem 'fair' - maybe not but that's renting. Your landlord is in the business of making money and you are in the business of making a nest, sometimes the two don't gel. Ultimately it is the landlord's responsibility to provide you with a safe roof over your head not an energy efficient home.

damoandclaire wrote: »

To give you another example of how shoddy this landlord is, couple of months back, my partner was pregnant and our toilet broke down, started leaking everywhere so had to turn the supply off to the bathroom. I couldnt get hold of him for two days because he didn't answer his phone and then he had the gall to have a go at me for not contacting him sooner when he did finally answer. Then it took him another 2 days to get a plumber round who said, "never seen that kind of fitting". To cut a long story short, it took a week to replace a ballcock in the toilet. Thats a week of not being able to use our bathroom. He told us to fill a bucket and pour it down. Now if I'm working, my partner is pregnant, is it really appropriate or necessary to first of all, take a week to fix something very simple and secondly, to have a pregnant woman, lug a heavy bucket up and down stairs every time the need arose? Not really acceptable if you ask me but we got the same old, you can leave when I had a winge about it.

This is a completely separate issue. You can't change your landlord but you can change your address.

Sam_G_3

Given the cost of replacing a boiler (several grand), the landlord will not replace it until it dies completely or is marked condemned by British Gas.

We rent our home and our boiler is pretty crap, it's as old as the house (c. 30 years old) and isn't exactly efficient but the landlord has one of those landlord service policies with British Gas so if anything stops working with that or the heating we call them directly and they'll come out and repair it where possible - recently we called them out to change a float valve of some description (can't remember what it was called) which was near the storage tank as turning either the heating or hot water on/off would result in both being affected as opposed to just the one thing we were turning on/off, if that makes sense.

At the end of the day landlords will not give a sh*t about your property unless by law he has to take action to repair/replace faulty items - for example if your boiler completely ceased operation which resulted in you having no hot water or heating AT ALL. Sorry.

Chinkle

I've lived in three properties (including the one I'm in now) where the radiators come on even when the switch is directed to hot water only. I once had a gas engineer out to look at this, he fitted a new control but it still happened. Said that sometimes its just the configuration of pipes and all you can do is turn the radiators off. So it's very common and not a fault that is going to endanger anyone.

As others have suggested turn off your radiators when you don't need heating. Also if you are out of the house all day only have the hot water on morning and night. By taking a few simple steps yourself you'll soon see a big reduction in your gas bill.

Welshwoofs

damoandclaire wrote: »

First of all, can I just say that this is not about me just turning rads on or off, thats not the issue. The issue is that the boiler has a fault that the engineer has said ultimately will cause the boiler to fail eventually, regardless of whether or not it is safe at the moment.

The issue is, the landlord will not carry out the repair and its been like this for over a year.

All boilers fail eventually. In short, it sounds as though you want the boiler replaced on the basis that it's old and will fail at some point (perhaps during your tenancy). However a boiler is there to supply hot water and heat? You've said you have hot water. You've said you have heat. Ergo the boiler is working. The very reason radiators have thermostats is to control the heat to various parts of your house, so it's just a matter of using them.

In all honesty, I wouldn't replace a boiler in my own house under the circumstances you've described because it's doing its job! As others have pointed out, new boilers are really bloody expensive and if the one installed is doing its job - heat water + house - then why replace?

As a paying tennant, I have the right to ensure that stuff he is providing is working fully, I'm paying for it after all. To turn round and state that he won't have us as tennants if we complain about stuff we have a right to then that to me is basically blackmail.

It is working properly, you're getting hot water and heating. What you're suggesting is akin to wanting to swap in your perfectly servicable 10 yr old car because the cup holder's no longer working.

Then it took him another 2 days to get a plumber round who said, "never seen that kind of fitting". To cut a long story short, it took a week to replace a ballcock in the toilet. Thats a week of not being able to use our bathroom. He told us to fill a bucket and pour it down.

You'll probably find that it didn't take him (i.e. your LL) 2 days to get a plumber round, but 2 days was the first opportunity the plumber could come round. Have you ever had to call a plumber for your own house in the past? I've had to call them numerous times for myself and it generally takes a week. After all plumbers have other jobs, they don't drop everything and jump into the batmobile the second the phone goes....they book you in around the other things they're doing. It's also not your LL's fault that the plumber didn't have the required part - that happens. I've been a week without hot water (after waiting a week for the plumber in the first place) because the part he needed was a special order. There's not a lot anyone can do about that, you just muddle along! (in our case, lots of trips with heated kettles and pans of water from the stove)

Now if I'm working, my partner is pregnant, is it really appropriate or necessary to first of all, take a week to fix something very simple and secondly, to have a pregnant woman, lug a heavy bucket up and down stairs every time the need arose?

Doesn't your bathroom have a sink, bath or shower your partner could have filled a bucket from rather than go all the way back down stairs to the kitchen? Without wishing to be indelicate, one only needs a bucket of water down the loo for certain types of ummm....'matter'.

I think you'd have been well within your rights for a rent reduction on not having a loo for a week, but I also think that your expectations on the timings of maintenance repairs are also rather unrealistic. As someone else said, LLs have no special powers to magic up trades the second something goes wrong... we all get inconvenienced in these circumstances and have the long wait for trades. On the point of the boiler, I honestly don't think you've got a case there.

clutton_2

we can blame the government for all this - as the iniquitous EPC tells tenants the energy rating of their property before they move in, but there is NO compulsion on the landlord to improve the heat efficiency - completely crazy legislation.

Did you inspect the EPC report before you moved in ?

damoandclaire

we moved in a couple of years ago, well before the epc came into effect. but i see what you're saying in regards to that. my last landlord whom I'm now good friends with is having soooo many arguments over EPC with his tennants.