Renting - Boiler Breakdown

Dr_Icognito

Hi hopefully someone can help.

5 days ago our boiler started leaking from all over it. We notified landlord and it took another day and evening before boiler was shut down. 4 days without heating or hot water and it transpires the boiler is beyond repair and needs to be replaced after landlord finally got plumber out to it today.

Just wondering from a rental point of view what our options are. We rented though estate agents but landlrd got rid of them as they were useless.

Fiancee and I are deeply upset about this as we now face the weekend of having no hot water or heating. Landlord lives in the states, I have notified him but wondering what our legal rights are?

Thanks

bmar71n

you can organise for urgent repairs your self, and send the landlord the bill. However it may be better if you contact the landlord directly and ask if he is happy for you to do this to avoid any conflict and may get the job done quicker!

BitterAndTwisted

If the boiler had broken down and you owned the property you'd be just as upset but with the responsibility of finding another boiler and a contractor to install it, plus the money to pay for it.

Your legal rights are to pay the rent in full regardless of the inconvenience. You need to give your landlord time to get this organised for you. Legally the landlord should be making this a number one priority but needs a "reasonable time" to get it done. Just thank your lucky stars that it's not January.

Are there alternative means of heating water? You won't need to demand alternative means of heating at this time of year, I expect.

In any case, for the future you should put everything in writing to your landlord right way even if you have been communicating by some other means up to now. Is there someone else in this country who is acting on the landlord's behalf even if not another agent?

BitterAndTwisted

Organising a new boiler is the very last resort once it's been established that the landlord is unwilling or unable to arrange it himself. The OP is a long, long way from doing that right now. Sourcing a boiler and a contractor is not a five minute job, even if you owned the property yourself.

bmar71n

i had replacement boilers fitted in a matter of days, so not lengthy process at all.

BitterAndTwisted

That's nice. Still, the landlord is obliged to address this issue within a "reasonable time". That's not four days by any stretch of the imagination. Even with a time-machine

pararct

As its been 5 days now best option is to speak in person to the LL. Can you telephone him/her? Ask what there intentions are regarding repair/replacement and the time frame they envisage as achieving this. You can and should offer to arrange repair/replacement yourselves and to send him the bill (or pay it yourself and deduct the value from future rent, although you MUST agree this with him first) although you should get at least three quotes and let the LL have details of those and the work recommended.

The fact he is 3000 odd miles away across the pond is not an insurmountable problem neither does it give him/her latitude to delay unnecessarily a repair/replacement.
Communication and agreeing a way forward is the key here.

rentergirl

Absentee landlords are always a problem. This must be put in writing. It's good for both of you that don't deal with letting agents. Can you have put in writing, that you will 'manage' the property and repairs yourself, with a reduction in rent amounting to what he would have been paying the agents? For now, it can take a while to organise replacements/repairs, but you have to find a way of coping in the event this happens again.

BitterAndTwisted

Sweeping generalisations and erroneous advice are Rentergirl's specialities on this part of the forum.

Having a landlord thousands of miles away does not preclude being able to find a contractor or source a decent boiler. Finding a good, reliable contractor who's going to do a fair job might be if you don't have any contacts already.

Five days is not too long but I'd put it all in writing now for future reference in case other steps need to be taken.

tbs624

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

If the boiler had broken down and you owned the property you'd be just as upset but with the responsibility of finding another boiler and a contractor to install it, plus the money to pay for it.

This tired old refrain keeps being regurgitated. LL has a distinct statutory obligation towards his/her T and the maintenance of the space/water heating systems in working order. It is irrelevant what would happen in the case of an owner occupier where there is obviously no such obligation in repect of one's own heating.

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Your legal rights are to pay the rent in full regardless of the inconvenience. You need to give your landlord time to get this organised for you. Legally the landlord should be making this a number one priority but needs a "reasonable time" to get it done.

As B& T says here, LL has to get job done within a reasonable time.

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

]Just thank your lucky stars that it's not January.

yes, it could be worse but that does not help when a T is left without hot water/heating. LL should be arranging alternative temporary means of providing both whilst urgently sourcing that replacement boiler.

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Are there alternative means of heating water? You won't need to demand alternative means of heating at this time of year, I expect.

??? Check the last 10 days worth of temps up and down the country................

It may obviously speed matters up if a T offers to get some quotes on the LLs behalf but T should not be expected to cough up for the work. LL has to make appropriate financial provision to meet his legal obligations, whether living here or abroad - he doesn't qualify for some sort of extra dispensation depending on his own residency.

A T needing to follow the "procedure" under which s/he can pay out for repairs him/herself , and set the costs of doing so against future rent payments, will probably find themelves without heating for two or three further weeks until LL finally relents..

OP - your LL has to provide you ( in writing) with an address in Eng/Wales at whcih Notices relating to the property/tenancy may be served. He cannot lawfully demand rent until/unless he does so ( keep rent in seperate a/c so payment can be brought up to date as and when appropriate) Making the LL aware of this , in writing with copy kept by you, may encourage them to get on with things more quickly.

G_M

Hopefully the OP will pick the sensible advice above from the mis-advice!

1) Put everything in writing, just for the record, and to be formal
2) communicate also by whatever means is easiest/fastest (email? phone?)
3) be patient - LL must fix in a 'reasonable' timeframe so be realistic about this
4) try to be helpful - offering to get quotes on behalf of the LL may help him, and also help you (though of course you have no obligation to do this)
5) do NOT

organise for urgent repairs your self, and send the landlord the bill.

In extreme cases where the LL does nothing, there is a process for this, but it is detailed and slow - Shelter tells you how but you MUST follow the process. You are nowhere near that point yet. Indeed, as the LL is responding and contractors have been out, doing this would leave you responsible for any bills you incur!

On a separate, un-relatd issue, are you aware of the extra requirements relating to overseas landlords who have no agent in this country?

1) you MUST be provided wih an address 'for the serving of notices on the landlord' in England or Wales. Do you have such an address? If not, you do not have to pay rent - by law. Landlord and Tenant Act 1987

2) You may be liable to pay the landlord's UK tax!! Details here. HMRC