any rules and regulations to cover heating standards?

arriella_2

I live in a house owned by my housing authority m&d, i have the coldest house ever it does not get warm with the heating on for even 8hrs, it has been on for that long today and i can still see my breath, im using electirc heaters to warm a room and then i may aswell not have bothered as the heats gone, its that bad i thought my dog was poorly but she was shaking due to being cold...now we just stay in bed with the electric blanket on all the time. I have a flat roof which is probably poorly insulated and am sure no wall insulating, theyre thin hollow walls.You can feel the breeze/coldness coming from every double glazed window and the blinds move in the wind... Therefore i would like to know if there are any rules and regulations/standards for houses to be insulated, and possibly if there are any such inspectors i could reach to check the standard of this house so i can get my housing to do something about it, as everytime i ask they just say to me well its in our manifesto...yet theres nothing in it covering my house as i can see and could be many years down the line while we freeze and waste money:(:( I need something to be done to get them to shape up and do something about it. I am on disability too and income support.

1984ReturnsForReal_2

How old is the house?

WestonDave

There is something called the decent homes standard (easily found if you google for it) although I'm not sure whether that prescribes any timescales for sorting out problems.

heatherks

a few yrs ago when i lived in last council house i found out that the hadnt sealed / plastered underneath the windows sills before they had put the wooden / plastic part onto the wall ...took one of ...and it had big holes and to save time they just covered it the house im in just now had cavity wall insulation over 15yrs ago and was only half done ..(by council cowboys ) as when we had new windows put in you could hardly see any down the cavities ....but cant get it redone

dont know if there are any regulations .. regarding ..warm homes but i know in our area there was to be some guy comming around with a thermal scanner seeing how energy efficient your home was

have you tried fitting heavy or lined curtains

...or do you qualify for home insulation ...though the low income scheme

ormus

afaik there are no rules re heating in homes. there are rules regarding any applainces provided. ie they must work and be safe.
and there are rules regarding (modern) home insulation. (not applicable to old houses).

but i think you will find that no landlord has a duty to even fit a heater?

red40

Speak to your local environmental health department. They can use Part 1 of the Housing Act 2004 to implement improvements in a property. The landlord is required under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) to provide fixed heating in a property that can reach and maintain a minimum temperature of 19oC.

If you want a link I can search for it, but it comes under one of the 29 hazards under HHSRS, listed under Excess Cold.

Hope that helps.

arriella_2

its a manchester and district housing association house and is approx 10-15 yrs old, i qualify for improvemenets yes but my housing say it has to be undertaken by there own contractors this is why i need to know if i can find an authority in which to say 'look you are not meeting the standards' or im going to have someone investigate,heavy curtains dont do much im afraid theryre all lined etc but the heat just goes literally out the walls and through the roof

ormus

from the HHSRS act.
very wooly as per usual.


2.22 The decent home standard is not an enforcement standard, and authorities do not have
powers to require owners to comply. They should however have regard to it in giving
advice to owners or in considering financial assistance. As RSLs are included in the
commitment to make all social housing decent by 2010, authorities should have regard
to the compliance of a particular property, or the timetable within which compliance
is planned, in considering the action to take. However, significant hazards should
not be ignored, and occupiers should not be left for long periods in unhealthy or
unsafe housing. (See also Part 5, “Decision to suspend an improvement notice or
prohibition order”.)

also it states,

(homes should)
not contain a category 1 hazard;
is in a reasonable state of repair;
has reasonably modern facilities and services;
provides a reasonable degree of thermal comfort.

again very wooly.

red40

arriella wrote: »

i can find an authority in which to say 'look you are not meeting the standards' or im going to have someone investigate,

http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/pdf/142631.pdf

Start at page 59, Excess Cold. Councils can take enforcement action if they consider a hazard is present. Inadequate heating in a property is a hazard and depending on how your council risk assess the hazard and score that hazard would depend on it being a category 1 hazard (i.e the council have a duty to act) or a category 2 hazard (a power to act).

You can also have a look at the document (link below) ormus was referring to, although there is no HHSRS act, quite rightly the decent homes standard isn't an enforceable document. However the Housing Act is and its that that a council would use.

http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/pdf/safetyratingsystem.pdf

The relevant parts that maybe of interest to you are those that start in Part 3, Assessing Hazards on page 12.

Best advice I can give is speak to your council, they may have a protocol to deal with your housing authority. Good luck anyway