How patient should I be with regards to repairs?

spikyspiky

Hi,
We live in a privately rented house which we rented through letting agents last February. We have just signed a new 12 month AST lease. When we moved in last Feb we realised the shower although working had very poor pressure and the temperature fluctuated which we mentioned to the agents, not requesting a repair, just a mention. This has slowly been getting worse over the months. About 6 weeks ago there was a burst main up the road the water went off and when it came back on the poor pressure in the shower had reduced to a dribble so I requested a repair. The plumber came round and to give him his due spent 3 hours trying to fix it, which he did do, but then whilst putting it back together it leaked and wouldn't stop. So he says he'll let agents know so they can get permission off landlord for new shower. This one is between 10 and 15 years old according to plumber. Landlords said repair to save them price of retiling around a new different sized shower tight sods :mad: so plumber orders new part and says it'll be about a week and he'll be back. That was 5 weeks ago. Now I appreciate we have a bath to wash in (2adults 2 kids) but we are also on a water meter so its getting expensive now, and I also appreciate the fact that sometimes parts are hard to get. So how much longer do I wait before enough is enough? I know I cant just buy my own shower and put it in and retile and then withold the rent to the cost of that, but its what I want to do.
Any thoughts?

Nixer

There's not really a lot you can do other than to chase the plumber, or chase whomever is chasing the plumber. It's a pain I know, one of the drawbacks of rented is having to chase and chase for things that you could do easily yourself in a day or two. It could go either way - if you keep hassling landlord they might try and get it done quickly to get you off their back, or they might see you as a pain and give you notice to leave as soon as they are allowed to.

In the meantime, if you're a bit handy and the water presure in the bath is ok could you buy one of those metal shower attachment mixer tap thingies, fit that to the bath (i.e. remove the bath taps) and use that? You'd be free to remove it and take it away with you when you leave.

Jowo_2

The Shelter website has a good section on how to get a landlord to undertake repairs and they urge tenants to put the requests in writing and keep a copy (keep good records). There's even a process whereby a tenant can undertake the repairs and deduct the cost from the rent but it must be properly followed and it can be risky if a landlord chooses to serve notice on the tenant in response.

Ask your landlord to compensate you for the extra expenses you've incurred with your bills in this period.

BitterAndTwisted

Please put all further communication to the agents in writing although I do understand that parts might be difficult to get hold of and plumbers are probably working flat-out in the current weather-conditions, so a lot of patience will most probably be required.

If you have to go down the road of arranging the repair yourselves you will need a proper paper-trail so putting all your communications in writing will be the first step.

G_M

Ask your landlord to compensate you for the extra expenses you've incurred with your bills in this period.

in writing - everything in writing.

BitterAndTwisted

Yep, in writing and please don't forget to send your letter/s by Recorded Delivery and keep a copy for future reference. You might need them.