Legal help

firestronaut

Hi, I've copied and pasted this from another thread I made in the wrong forum.

I moved into my flat in February.
It's a specialist flat, designed for single parents with mental health problems.

In the past 2 months, my hot water has stopped running out the taps four times - three in the past month alone.
It takes them 4/5 days to come and fix the problem, even though they're told I have a 2 year old in the home.

The problem is causing me great distress which is affecting my mental health, as I can't wash up or bathe myself or my daughter, which is putting our health at risk.

Is there any legal route I can take to make them replace the boiler/cistern and perhaps even get compensation from them?

BitterAndTwisted

Every time you lose hot water and contact your landlord about it CONFIRM IT IN WRITING. Meanwhile I assume you have the facility to boil a kettle until your landlords arranges for it to be fixed.

And no, you are not legally entitled to demand they replace the system or to any compensation

G_M

Is this a private tenancy? Council? Housing Association?

Have you been told what is causing the problem? Without knowing that I don't see how you can insist on a replacement boiler. It might be a plumbing/blockage problem.

As bitter says above, always report the problem in a letter. By all means phone first to report it but immediately follow up in writing:

Dear Mr landlord,
I am writing to confirm our telephone conversation today in which I reported that the hot water supply stopped working today. This is the (4th) time it has happened, so previous repairs have not resolved the problem........"

Hump

If you're a Council tenant in England then you will have the right to repair on certain repairs (generally those which are both a qualifying repair and costing less than £250 - there's a list of around 20 qualifying repairs), compensation is payable upto £50 if the landlord fails to get the job done see http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/repairs_and_bad_conditions/repairs_in_social_housing/right_to_repair_scheme

If you're a housing association tenant in England you may have a similar scheme - again the maximum compensation is likely to be £50.