No hot water in rented accommodation

Fuzzy_Duck

I live in rented accommodation and I currently have no hot water. It started with weird beepy noises emitting from the heater, and the water taking longer and longer to heat up. Rather stupidly we didn't do anything about it until there was no hot water at all.

My problem is that my estate agent is really difficult to get hold of. He's the only person working in the office, and yet he's hardly ever there. I have a mobile number for him but as he never answers I have to text him instead. I texted him Tuesday and have had no response as expected. I know it's only been two days, but already I am hating braving the cold shower or taking time to fill a bath using the kettle.

I'm getting frustrated because this is a constant source of annoyance. The last tenant destroyed the flat before doing a runner and we're having to deal with the aftermath. For example my washing machine stopped working ten times and the estate agent was so slow at getting the handy man called out my boyfriend just watched what he did and fixed it himself every time after that, until my estate agent finally accepted we needed a new one.

Likewise there's a load of damage in our flat where the handy man's been called out, said he needs a part and then never comes back again... it's not as important as having a broken washing machine or not hot water though so we just leave it. We've texted the handy man too (he also never answers his phone) in the hopes that would get the ball rolling, but he's just as unreliable as evident in the above!

So I guess what I'm asking is what would you do in this situation? Am I allowed to text the estate agent again two days later and what should I say? How long is a person supposed to go without hot water before it becomes unreasonable?

Myrtle77

If you're not getting adequate responses, or they're not bothering to resolve such a serious problem, try contacting your local authority housing standards team or the environmental health team.