landlord won't fix the central heating

bellabooski

Hi everyone,
I moved into my rented flat in February. As I suffer from Rheumatoid Arthritis and Osteoarthritis I took the flat because it had gas central heating and keeping warm in winter is vital (I am also a pensioner).
Whilst the flat was being refurbed before I moved in, the landlord decided to have the old gas boiler removed and had it replaced with an electric wet system boiler.
The day after I moved in the electric boiler broke down and after 3 heating engineer visits it was decided that the 33 year old radiators couldnt cope and were clogged up.Apparantly a system flush would not help because the system is 'microbore'.
The landlord decided he had spent enough on the new electric boiler and said that he wasn't going to fix the central heating at all.He then arrived with 2 plug in panel heaters to heat a large 1 bed flat.
During the rest of February and March I've been so cold and scared to use these heaters too much because of the electric bill.
Today I've discovered a large patch of black mould on the outside bedroom wall.
I've also discovered that he hasn't protected my deposit in any of the 3 schemes or provided me with an energy certificate.
My question is, can I get out of the tenancy agreement early (it runs till February 2012) because I took the flat on with central heating and he seems to be in breach of contract with that and the other issues mentioned? I really can't face another winter without proper heating and would like to find somewhere else to live.
I have a 12 month Tenancy Agreement with no break clause.

I would be so grateful of any thoughts,advice and feedback.

Bella:)

princeofpounds

The bad news is that you are unlikely to be able to get out of the contract easily.

The good news is that you can probably get all your problems fixed in quite a straightforward manner, and if you assert your rights then the landlord might well agree to surrender the tenancy in order to avoid dealing with his obligations.

Do you have the landlord's address first of all, and is it in england or wales?

The deposit - ring the three schemes to confirm it is nor protected (you may already have done so). If it is not, then you need to write a letter to the landlord pointing out that the deposit is not protected and that this carries a penalty of 3x the deposit should you choose to enforce protection.

It is up to you whether you wish to make the letter a 'friendly' reminder or a letter before action, which provides notice that you will seek to initiate legal action. Personally, if you are looking to pressurise the landlord, and given he has treated you poorly so far, I would go right to a letter before action to show you mean business.

You are unlikely to get the 3x penalty as he can avoid paying it by protecting the deposit late, but he is likely to get the deposit protected, which is the main thing.

As for the repairs, the link below will give you full guidance. But in brief you can either fund the work yourself and deduct from future rent (as long as you follow a strict process of notification and collecting quotes), or you can involve the council's environmental health team to issue repairing orders. Either way you will get things repaired.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/repairs_and_bad_conditions/repairs_in_private_lets

I would also encourage you, if there are still gas appliances, to pursue the matter of gas safety certificates. I'm afraid I don't know enough about EPCs to understand if that is worth following-up, probably is a measly fine.

With all this, the landlord might get annoyed. Then is your time to be assertive and point out that you are only enforcing his legal obligations. You could then propose that he lets you surrender the tenancy early, but only do this if you have agreement in writing, with a signature and preferably a witness or some other kind of evidence, and also get your deposit back in full before departing with a written assurance that he will not pursue you for any damages.

PasturesNew

Have you put your name down for an OAP council bungalow? I'd do that too. The quicker you can get into a settled place with proper landlords the better. Even if it might take 5-10 years to get somewhere, at least you'd be on the list... and you never know, they might come up trumps sooner.

Trinitrotoluene

Hi Bella,

As princeofpounds has pointed out some very good advice I would go down that route. List all of the issues in one letter (I would advise it friendly but assertive) at this point. I am sure as you are a pensioner that environmental health or age concern would get involved and help with things.

As the flat you rented was advertised and rented mainly for you because the flat has central heating then you have every right to get this repaired and there is no way the landlord can weasel out of that. You will not be able to escape the contract but if necessary you can go down the lines of repairing it at your own cost and deducting it from rent. If you choose to do this make sure you follow the required steps to the letter.

sequence

Isn't an electric central heating going to cost a fortune ? I wouldn't have wanted to swap gas for electric heating. You say you're scared to use the electric heaters because of the bill, but the electric central hearing is exactly the same thing, and will probably cost considerably more to run.

Mankysteve

I think you would have a case with the heating switch its false advertisement if he said it had Has central heating then he switched it. Any judge would see the difference and agree that the change is plain out of order. As other have said contact shelter and the citizens advice.

Marvel1

See this link:
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndCommunity/Privaterenting/Repairsandstandards/DG_189194

Scroll down to "What happens if repairs are not done properly?"

bellabooski

Thankyou so much everyone for your replies it is very much appreciated.
I have decided to start with a freindly but firm phone call to the landlord and then if that doesn't get a positive response I'll try a firmer letter pointing out his obligations. If that fails, I will approach environmental health and see if they can help me in any way.
I am going down to the council offices tomorrow to register for council sheltered housing.As you say it could take some years so better to start the ball rolling now.
As an Army veteran and War Pensioner I will ask for help from the various forces welfare sections too re housing.
Once again, thankyou very much for your very kind advice.
kindest regards
Bella