help! can i end my tenancy agreement early because i have no water?

lynnm_2

i am under six months minimum contract, from a private landlord. minimum term expires at end of march and then rolling after that. i have had no running water since last friday (8.1.2010). I dont mean hot water, no water at all into the property from any tap or toilet. none of my neighbouts have had the problem so it not a problem with the main water supply, just the water to my house. my landlord suspects the pipes were frozen underground but the snow and ice has all thawed now. he is bringing me barrels of water manually each day but this is a nightmare. can i legally end my tenancy agreement early because of this? what would the potential consequences be if my landlord did not agree to release me from the contract early? thankyou.

adg1

He sounds like he is doing all he can to help you out. He's manually bringing to you water for you to use. Even though the snow/ice is melted the ground is very probably still frozen and the pipes run through the ground.

You need some plumber advice to see if you can get your pipes running again.

You've signed an agreement for 6 months and you are still in that fixed term. The landlord has an obligation to sort out problems in a certain time frame and it sounds like he's trying to do that for you. Give him a break and get him to call a specialist plumber.

clutton_2

the LL is making "reasonable " attempts to provide water.. if other neighbours are now ok, i would write to LL and ask that he send in a plumber immediately, as you cannot be expected to continue like this for much longer..

""can i legally end my tenancy agreement early because of this? - as a LL ,myself, i would say no... 4 days is not long in the overall scheme of things - for example.... if the ground needed digging up that coujld have been impossible in such deep frost.



""what would the potential consequences be if my landlord did not agree to release me from the contract early? thankyou.""

you would have to pay the rent until the end of march whether you live there or not and not get a good reference....

Jowo_2

Call up the water board to confirm your pretty good suspicion that its an issue related to the flat, not the mains pipe as the landlord insists and then demand he sends a plumber through asap to investigate the problem - keep good written records of all calls to provide an audit trail.

Follow up all phone calls and emails to the landlord with a letter, keep a copy.

Since are fully satisfied that its a flat issue, speak to your local council environmental health department or private tenancy relations officer who can inspect the property and demand the landlord sorts it out, if the tenancy is frustrated, whether the property can be defined as uninhabitable and what the landlord is supposed to do in those circumstances.

I can't give you any info on whether you are entitled to end the tenancy but someone else on the forum should be able to advise.