boiler in rented house

secla

my wife smelled a strange smell coming from the boiler this morning so we switched if off and called the letting agent who sent someone round to have a look. as a result the gas supply has been capped and we cant use the boiler so no hot water or heating
spoke to the letting agent today and they have contacted the landlord who said "they are going to try and scrape around to get the money to repair) from what i understand its quite a big job.

Now this doesnt exactly fill me with confidence, i have a 1 year old in the house and cant really do without it. At what point am i legally aloud to rip up our contract and look for somewhere else ? i dont really want to move as i dont mind the house im just not interested in having a land lord who cant do essential repairs ! we have 7 months left on our tenancy and the landlord is usually out of the country so hard to get hold of.

any advice appreciated.

BitterAndTwisted

The landlord is obliged to carry out essential repairs "in a reasonable time". You could get the repair done yourself and deduct the cost from the rent but there are very strict procedures to follow. I've got my fingers crossed that you LL will come up with the money for the repair asap

pinkshoes

You need to give them a reasonable amount of time to fix the boiler. It's not quite boiler weather yet, so at least you won't freeze, and although it's annoying having no hot water, you can use a kettle to boil water and fill the bath.

Keep contacting the letting agent on a daily basis to find out what is happening. If there is no progress in 7 days, then you could look into fixing the boiler yourself, and deducting the cost from your rent. Contact shelter, as you'll need to put something in writing if you do this.

YOu can't just rip up your contract. It's only been broken for a few hours, so you're jumping the gun a little!

secla

certainly not paying for it myself as its going to cost a pretty penny. tbh ive had problems getting the landlord to do any repairs on the house so we will have to wait and see.
I wouldnt be bothered about no heating if it was just me but with my 1 year old daughter in the house it bothers me a bit more.
When we moved in 5 months ago we were told the boiler was on its last legs and would need replacing but that was going to be done in the next couple of months. we heard nothing more after that.

What worrys me the most if that we were told the landlord would have to try and scrape some money together. surely if your renting out a house you should have provisions for this sort of thing

So we think 7 days is fair before seaking any legal/other advice ?

BitterAndTwisted

You've already said that the landlord is often out of the country and hard to get hold of so I think giving them just seven days might not be adequate for them to make arrangements. Even if they had the cash at hand a system and a contractor would still need to be sourced and I doubt that that would take only seven days.

secla

they have already managed to get hold of the landlord. funnily enough when theres an serious emergency there easy to get hold of im just wondering what would be a reasonable time to give them before i start looking for alternatives. Like i said im not sure if the landlord can even afford to do the neccessary repair in which case they shouldnt even be renting the house out in my opinion

kmmr

What is a reasonable time? Probably more than a couple of hours! You smelled something, had someone out within a few hours, and a LL who says they are looking to try and organise something. I think you could give them the benefit of the doubt for a few moments....

secla

ok thanks for the replys

clutton_2

whether the LL does the repair this week or next, you have signed a legally binding contract to pay the rent untiil the end of the fixed term... Read Shelters website to see how you could pay for the repair yourself there is a specific format to follow.

Alternatively - ask the Environmental Health office at your local council to contact the LL immediately to remind him of his repairing duties......

G_M

Is there anything in writing? If not, write immediately to the Landlord, and copy the agent, summing up what has happened so far, and asking for the Landlord's estimated time for the repair.

You need to have an official paper trail of what has happened, who said what, and when.

As for what is a reasonable period of time, well it depends what needs doing. Is a spare part needed? Is it a common one or hard to source? Is a complete boiler replacement needed? If so, the LL will want to get several quotes. And remember plumbers can be hard to get round especially as this time of year people are all starting to switch on their boilers, find faults and call a plumber....

So far, the response seems good. All you can do is wait, but do put your boiler complaint in writing.

Shelter's advice is here.

theartfullodger

secla wrote: »

spoke to the letting agent today and they have contacted the landlord who said "they are going to try and scrape around to get the money to repair) from what i understand its quite a big job.

So, Landlord doesn't have enough £££ to get through a prob. Sorry but you are committed to stay to end of fixed term, then find somewhere else. This sort of LL is a pain, steer clear.

and the landlord is usually out of the country so hard to get hold of.

any advice appreciated.

See
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/cnr/nr_landlords.htm

If he's not normally resident her you (or the agent if you pay rent to agent) should withhold 22% of rent for tax man.

That'll get LL's attention...