Do I Say anything?

tealrose481

My partner and I have lived in our rented house for nearly 3 years now and have a great relationship with our landlord and he is usually very quick at sorting things out for us but our upstairs toilet has been out of use for about 2 months now, they are meant to be fitting a new bathroom as the shower also leaks through to downdstairs, we had a plumber come round when it first started but have heard nothing since. Then thursday we both woke up with really bad headaches, feeling very sleep and my partner was very sick for ages, i phoned the gas board and they came out and condemned the boiler, i called the letting agency who service it every year and had to call them back 4 times for get any sort of reply as they never got back to me, their plumber came out today and told us he cant even start doing anything until the next weekend at the earliest which leaves us with no form of heating or hot water, is their anything i could say or do and should i?

Jowo_2

You mention the boiler being serviced in the past every year but were you ever given a copy of the Gas safety certificate? A landlord is required by law for their property to pass the inspection and can be prosecuted for this. The reason it is in place is to prevent landlords from killing their tenants through carbon monoxide poisoning.

A service and a safety inspection are two different things, perhaps you've conflated the two or perhaps the agent did actually arrange for both to take place at the same time?

Owain_Moneysaver

Yes - tell the agent you expect to be put up in a hotel at the landlord's expense. That might encourage him to find another plumber a bit more quickly.

KS1977

I am sure that if you mention this to your landlord and explain that he may end up with hospital bills and a courtcase on his back if he doesn't do something about it! He may be a lovely guy and you get on well, but the situation is serious....carbon monoxide poisoning is not something to take with a pinch of salt, and afterall, your lives are so much more important. Keep persisting.

Fire_Fox

Go over the letting agency's head and speak/write to the landlord directly. If that does not work contact Environmental Health, they can enforce repairing obligations on the landlord.

tbs624

tealrose481 wrote: »

My partner and I have lived in our rented house for nearly 3 years now and have a great relationship with our landlord and he is usually very quick at sorting things out for us but our upstairs toilet has been out of use for about 2 months now, ..

Tealrose - this is not indicative of a LL who has "a great relationship " with his tenants.

Have you ever seen a gas safety certifcate in the three years that you've been there ? Do you know whether the plumber who did the servicing of the boiler was CORGI/Gas Safe Registered?

Do you have use of a downstairs lavatory whilst you are awaiting this new bathroom being fitted?

The LA/LL is obliged under law to keep in working order the equipment for space and water heating. If there is a delay in getting the work done then the LA/LL should be hiring an electric water boiler & portable radiators for you at their expense.

It's a criminal offence for a LL not to supply Ts with a copy of a current gas safety certificates and they also have to be able to produce the certs for a period of two years. See here for a recent HSE ( Health & Safety Exec) prosecution

There is a private sector rentals officer within your local Council who can help you with this and they can speak to your LA/LL if necessary.