Legal wait time for repairs

coco1980

was wondering if someone could help, we are in a private let and have had problems with our boiler since we moved in last May, last Monday it was deemed dangerous to use and we have been without heating and hot water since, they have been waiting on parts and i know they got final part yesterday and promised it would be sorted today, still not sorted

ok worded wrong, is there a time limit that our landlord has to carry out repairs

Cardew

Why would it be a legal requirement in a private let to have central heating?

You can buy electric heaters for £10 and hot water provided by either an immersion heater or kettles!

Don't pay your rent and see if that gets the landlord into action; however it is just a dispute between tenant and landlord.

coco1980

im sure there must be a time limit on how long it takes to do repairs, no matter what they are and i dont have an immersion heater and have u ever tried to fill a bath with kettles, cheers for the reply though

gas4you

I do a lot of work for lettings agents.

I don't know the legal side, but they do get concerned if I need to order a part that takes a week to get.

I had one, a Halstead boiler, where the part took 3 weeks to get. Halstead were out of stock themselves. The agent was just about to sort out compensation, when the part arrived. So everyone was happy eventually.

coco1980

gas4you wrote: »

I do a lot of work for lettings agents.

I don't know the legal side, but they do get concerned if I need to order a part that takes a week to get.

I had one, a Halstead boiler, where the part took 3 weeks to get. Halstead were out of stock themselves. The agent was just about to sort out compensation, when the part arrived. So everyone was happy eventually.

thanks I do know they were waiting on 5 parts altogether but i was told they would have the final part yesterday and the job would be completed they then said it hadnt arrived until 5pm but the job would be done today, they were still saying that at 4.30 but the guy didnt show and they are now closed for the day, i am so angry not so much for heating but the hot water is an inconvienience i could do wthout especially when there is a child in the house,

G_M

Yes - there is a legal requirement for the heating to be fixed within a reasonable period.

So - I hear you ask, what is 'reasonable'?

Well, a court would look at how swiftly the landlord called in a heating engineer. How long the engineer to come. If slow, did the LL try to find another engineer? What was wrong witht the boiler - could it be fixed or did it need parts? how long did the parts take to come? Also - was it the depths of winter or mid summer?

So long as the LL can demonstrate he has done everything he could reasonably be expected to do, then what more can you (or indeed a court) expect? Whether you are a tenant, or an owner-occupier, stuff goes wrong with houses, and we are all at the mercy of contractors, parts suppliers etc.

In winter, if parts took long to arrive, yes, the LL would be expected to provide an alternative heat source.