Q's re my rented home

Cat121

HI and hope someone can help

I am a tenant in a privete rental agreement, I have a couple of 'issues'

The house is great but I'm having a few problems that i'd like to some advice about talking with my landlord.

1. I have asked him a couple of times to do something with the windows and doors - 2 double glazed window units are very badly fitted - letting in cold air and water (with hard rain) (one of these is my 4 yr old sons room). The front door is very draughty and lets water in in any kind of rain. Landlord still won't to anything. I have just had my gas bill and it was £400 :eek: I know this is due to a lot of heat being 'wasted' through the state the windows/doors are in. I would like to stay here but can't afford to be getting these kind of bills just to keep the house at a reasonable temp and dry (tried not using the heating as much - house became bitterley cold and felt damp after just 2 days)!

2. Have just had new water rates - £382 for the next year. I am a single parent with one child - do you think it would be a reasonable request to ask landlord for permission to have a water meter fitted? (Checked on Uswitch and they estimated an annual saving of almost £200)!!!

Much appreciate your advice, thanks in advance x

clutton_2

find out if there are free/cheap insulation provisions for tenants from your local council - you may be able to get draught-proofing for free - you may also qualify for roof insulation. There is also website called WarmFront which offers free/cheap heating etc for tenants on benefits.

i am a single person and my metered water bill is less than £100 (mind you i am Very very frugal with water !!) - i would be paying well over £350 if i was not on meter.

if worst comes to the worst you can always fill the window gaps with a few squirts of "expanding-polystyrene" out of a spray aerosol.

jaype

Don't underestimate how much water you use with a child - all the washing and baths. My parents really notice the difference when we go to their home (though we do have 2 children). Mond you, they live in Cornwall and it would probably be cheaper to bathe in Evian than what comes from the taps there.

Cat121

Hi,

Thanks all so far. I'm not too worried about the water use as I'm very frugal - we also like to recycle it for plants, garden etc. DS only has a bath every other week (at his dad's the other 2 weekends - bath to his hearts content there :-)) and we have quick showers etc

Any landlords out there - would you object to a request for a water meter fitting? I'm hoping that it will be a 'reasonable' request but don't want to offend (even though he doesn't seem to care much for the property).

Also - another quick query.......there is a very large conifer tree on front garden, has grown wildly since we moved in last March, landlord says I am responsible for getting it trimmed back. I maintain the gardens well and have even added a few great features (thanks to freecycle)! Such a large tree will cost a fair bit to have trimmed (too large for me to do safely). Is the landlord correct - I don't mind but it is likely to dip into my savings which I don't want to do if I don't have to - iykwim .

Thanks for all your help :-)

kittiwoz

The gardens are the responsibility of whoever it says is responsible in your contract. If it doesn't say then no-one is responsible for them. However if the tree is causing problems to the neighbours then I think the landlord might be responsible for doing something about it.