Tenants rights re: hot water

saraht1969

Hi,
We are renting a house through a private landlord. When we moved in at the end of November, we noticed that we were unable to get hot water unless the heating was turned on. As it was a very cold winter, we had the heating on the majority of the time, but mentioned it to the landlord. Last month, we arranged for a friends husband who is a plumber to come and and have a look at it and he said it needed a diverter valve, and we mentioned this to the landlord again, who said she would get it sorted. Last week we asked her about it again and said that we didnt want the heating on all the time in this weather and having a 9wk old baby in the house we needed hot water. She told us the plumber would call early this week. Monday we pestered her again and she told us the plumber would call Friday. We said we wanted it sorted sooner, so she arranged for him to come yesterday. When he came he was a handyman and not gas safe registered or corgi registered. He said that he had had to call many times to fix the boiler and that she was aware that it was not very good. He confirmed that it was a diverter valve we needed and said he would speak to her. When we spoke to her last night she said she would get the repair sorted ASAP. Today she claims the plumber is unavailable until next week at the earliest.

My question is this: where do we stand with this? People have advised us that we shouls insist this is done now or else asrrange it ourselves and deduct the money from the rent. I dont want to do anything that will cause us problems, but want hot water when I want to wash my hands or wash up my baby's bottles without having to have the heating on. Any advice or help appreciated.

Many thanks

Sarah

Jowo_2

A landlord is obliged to keep the heating/water system in good repair. The Shelter website gives the steps whereby a tenant can communicate their intention to undertake the repair if the landlord ignores the deadline, get some quotes and deduct it from the deposit. These must be properly followed and the tenant has to understand the risk that some landlords will serve notice rather than carry out their responsibilities.

Keep good records, make sure everything you report is followed up in writing and keep a copy.

silvercar

Today she claims the plumber is unavailable until next week at the earliest.

Given that you have hot water and heating, the repair isn't urgent (in the sense that you are not left without heating on a freezing winter day) and so waiting a week would not be seen as unreasonable.

In the mean time you could turn every radiator off.

Fire_Fox

saraht1969 wrote: »

Hi,
My question is this: where do we stand with this? People have advised us that we shouls insist this is done now or else asrrange it ourselves and deduct the money from the rent. I dont want to do anything that will cause us problems, but want hot water when I want to wash my hands or wash up my baby's bottles without having to have the heating on. Any advice or help appreciated.

Many thanks

Sarah

Report any problems with the property to the landlord in writing, preferably by recorded delivery, as you need a paper trail. You are a long way off withholding rent if you have only 'mentioned' the problem to the landlord. Boil a kettle to wash your hands or wash up!