Renting & Heating Issues

Drusillamac

Sorry, bit of a long story and looking for some advice.

Background: The boyfriend and I live in a rented flat. We rent via a letting agent but there is a landlord that lurks in the background.

In the week leading up to the 20th December, we noticed that our gas boiler was behaving badly. The pilot light would go off at random intervals which meant the heating would go off without warning. Which was not pleasant when temperatures were well below freezing. We contacted the letting agent who sent an engineer around. According to the boyfriend the engineer really didn't seem to know what he was doing (he asked him to look up things on Google...). Eventually the engineer decided it was the thermoster was the problem. Great, we thought. Order part and get it fitted. Sorted.

The rest of the week was spent contacting the letting agent to ask what was happening. The agent gave us vague answers saying that the engineer had changed his mind and decided it was the PCB unit causing the problem. At one point the agent had me phoning up British Gas (!) to see if they could send someone out. Obviously the Christmas break didn't help but, thankfully, we were not spending Christmas at our flat.

Post-Christmas we pinned down the agent about the PCB board. He said this would cost £200 to fix and then it might not even solve the problem. So the agent has decided that we need a new boiler which will only cost £400 (?!). He has talked to the landlord and persuaded them that we need a new boiler. Obviously this does not fix the current problem of almost no central heating and hot water.

To add to this, we have been using electric heaters which means our next electricity bill is going to be sky high. Due to this we are seriously considering asking for a discount on next month's rent. Or cancelling our DD that pays our rent to get the message across.

Does anyone have any advice regarding this? We're really not sure who to turn to :eek:

Yorkie1

Do not cancel your rent payment under any circumstances.

What is the timescale for the replacement boiler? It sounds as though your LL / agent is being fairly proactive at getting things fixed, compared to many on these boards and also given the pressures on tradesmen from the huge number of boilers requiring attention.

You could try calculating how much extra electricity you've paid, compared to what your gas usage would have been, and asking your LL for contribution towards that - but I'm not sure whether you've any entitlement to it.

clutton_2

£400 for a new boiler ??? show me where...... please !

The Letting agent can only act on the instructions of the landlord ... agents would not hold enough money to buy a new boiler.

As Yorkie says - dont with-hold rent

As a LL i would want to know if the agent/gas engineer are trying to solve problems between them.... i suggest you write to your landlord and ask him/her directly what is happening.

Drusillamac

@Yorkie1 We have not been given a timescale for a new boiler. Forgive me but I think two weeks (we reported the boiler not working on 18th) with next to no central heating or hot water is not really acceptable; especially with temperatures falling well below freezing. In a previous rented property we had a three day turnaround when the boiler went completely dead. We're also cynical that a new boiler is justified. This building is less than 10 years old so I assume the boiler is that age as well.

@clutton We will try to get information in writing from the agent. Unfortunately he seems to prefer doing business over the phone or face to face which makes it harder to pin it down. And he also tries very hard to be our "mate". He scoffed at us for asking for proof that the landlord had permission to rent out our flat.

Yorkie1

The point is that you were not without any heating or hot water. You had alternative method of heating, which is what the LL is obliged to supply. You had running water and thus ability to heat water. I agree that this is not ideal but you are not as hard done by as you regard yourself. These are exceptional times, with bank holidays in the way and with people far more vulnerable than you having to be prioritised e.g. those with no running water at all and no alternative heating.

If you reported the boiler issue on 18th dec, that is 12 days ago and by your own admission you have not been in the flat for that whole time. An engineer came out promptly and it appears to have taken time to identify the correct problem. If you read the threads in the In My Home forum you will see many experienced gas people stating that boilers often do not now last more than 6 years or so.

bris

A new boiler may very well be justified. I have had this problem many times and spent fortunes on parts that turned out not to be at fault. Boilers can have faults that take trial and error to fix, PCB boards are about £200 gas valves the same the list goes on. An engineer can change parts that may seem like the right part at the time only to then realise it was wrong after all, but in all fairness to them they don't know untill it's changed.
£400 is not enough for a change over though, the cheapest change over I have done was £650 for a compact combi, you could easily sink this into an old boiler for it to fail again a few months later with a different fault. With a new boiler though you will get 2 years warranty with the service engineer coming to you after a fault is diagnosed.
If he wants to put in a new boiler let him do it, it will be better for you in the long run.

Drusillamac

@Yorkie1 Actually we have been in the flat the entire time. Christmas lunch was spent at my parents' home; we were back in the flat by the evening (and very cold it was too). What is frustrating is being told that there is a part that could fix the boiler but they are not going to bother with it. The engineer sent to look at the boiler did not have a clue what was wrong with the boiler. He also admitted to being extremely hungover due to attending his work's Christmas party the night before. After this shambolic visit, the agent told us the engineer had the same boiler in his home and knew the system very well. Which clashes with his requests for my boyfriend to look up information on Google. That is why we are being very cynical that the engineer has been telling the agent the truth.

BitterAndTwisted

Be as cynical as you like but I would put all of your observations IN WRITING to your landlord and ask them what their time-scale is for getting this issue resolved. This writing business is the first weapon in your arsenal for getting things sorted, so please do it asap

tbs624

OP - there have been a number of threads on similar issues recently.

The law says that a LL is obliged to keep the heating/hot water system in good working order. ( LLs also have to provide for an annual safety check and gas safety cert) Repairs have to be seen to within a "reasonable time" - obviously there should be swifter action at this time of year, especially given the extreme cold of the past couple of weeks.

B& T is absolutely right about writing and formally requesting a timeframe for resolve. If the HE is inefficient then the LL should engage someone else, in order to get the work done as expediently as possible.

Rather than talk of withholding your rent (understandable, but the two issues are separate) calmly state in your letter that your electricity bills will be higher than they would normally have been and that you would like the LL to consider some form of recompense for this.

Do you have a usable electric shower? Did your LL provide you with the alternative heaters? If you have had to go and buy them this needs to be discussed direct with the LL. The LL can hire both space heaters and large water boilers by the day/week.

You have the right to a name and address for your LL - LA has to provide within 21days of you requesting it (in writing) but you can downland the info from the land registry for a few quid. Try dealing direct.

Ignore any LA who "scoffs" - they don't need any training qualification, or specific expertise to run an LA business. Sadly, it shows.

Keep copies of all correspondence and notes on phone calls. Follow up phone calls with confirmatory letters setting out your understanding of the current situation.

You can contact your local Council's private sector rentals officer for support if you make no progress.

Drusillamac

tbs624 wrote: »

Ignore any LA who "scoffs" - they don't need any training qualification, or specific expertise to run an LA business. Sadly, it shows.

Keep copies of all correspondence and notes on phone calls. Follow up phone calls with confirmatory letters setting out your understanding of the current situation.

You can contact your local Council's private sector rentals officer for support if you make no progress.

Thanks very much for your advice. Out of interest, would emails be sufficient instead of letters? From past dealings with the agents I have a feeling he would probably forget to respond to any post. He is a bit scatty. He told us that we were moving into building no. 1 instead of no. 2. Bad on us for not checking but we only found out when we had set up all the transfers for BT, gas & electricity etc. This is why we are being very doubtful that this will get sorted.

Yorkie1

The standard advice is that letters are the best way to do it - if it's really important, to send the same letter from two post offices with proof of posting. Your being able to prove that you've sent an email is not the same as your being able to prove that it has been read and ignored. Writing is the best evidence if it ever comes to disputes.