PLEASE HELP: Flat has asbestos in storage heaters, no other heat - current temp 4°C!

Sonya1975

Hello all!

Am a first-time poster so apologies if this is in the wrong area of the forum...am really just wondering whether anyone can help me.

I've been living in a rented flat in London for seven years. Just over a year ago (Sept 2008), I found out that the storage heaters contained asbestos. (The landlords had clearly known this all along.) Myself and the ladies in the downstairs flat spoke to the landlord's son (who deals with any issues with the flats) and he said he would sort out removing the heaters.

By Dec 08, nothing had happened, so the girls downstairs spoke to the council, who wanted to send environmental health round. The girls wrote to the landlords....and were branded 'troublemakers' and served with an eviction notice. They moved out last summer and the downstairs flat has not been rented out since.

My issue is that it is (obviously!!) freeeeeeeeezing at the moment. I am relatively happy to put up with the cold most of the time (as the flat is a reasonable rent and I'd be unlikely to find anything in a similar price bracket) - but at present it is 4 degrees in the flat and there are layers of ice on the inside of the windows. The landlords have not supplied any heating other than the asbestos-filled storage heaters.

I have spoken to the local council and they have said that it is a dangerous and indeed illegal situation, and that they will send environmental health round. However, I have not given them the postcode, as I fear I'd be in exactly the same position as my former flatmates, and would simply be evicted.

Does anyone have any advice on this at all? I am slightly at my wits' end (I also have physio related problems with my neck, back and hands which are exacerbated by the cold, so am in pretty much constant pain at the moment!) - need to get through the next few months but really don't want to leave the flat as am happy here when it's not sub-zero temperatures outside (and almost that inside!!)

I do have two heaters, one oil and one fan based - would like to get some kind of Calor gas type heater but the people upstairs had one and the landlords made them throw it away as it was a 'health & safety hazard' (I know - the irony is almost poetic! Asbestos and hypothermia are fine, apparently, but a gas heater?! Call the cops!)

ANY advice would be hugely HUGELY appreciated!

Thank you xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

LisaLou1982

Hiya

Have you had someone out to check the heaters? Just because they contain asbestos, it doesnt mean that they are unsafe to use. Many properties contain asbestos in various places but this doesnt pose a problem unless the asbestos is disturbed.

Heaters are no longer made with asbestos, however, i would first get someone to check as someone cannot possibly diagnose a heating problem over the phone without first looking at the problem

Id advise against calor gas as they are a major source of condensation - every 1l of gas provides 1l of water into the air!! Use oil filled/electric heaters wherever you can, wrap up warm, use a hot water bottle to soothe any aching joints etc

Fire_Fox

Why are you worried about getting a notice to quit? You'd have two months to find alternative accommodation and, by the sound of it, you are better off without a landlord who has no regard for the law or his tenants' health and safety.

BitterAndTwisted

As advised, asbestos is a health-hazard only if disturbed. In your circumstances I would do two things:

1) get the flaming heating on pronto before you get frostbite or chilblains or worse

2) start saving for a deposit on another property asap