Problem with oil boiler in rented house

boo2410

Hi all, am a long time reader on these posts and have picked up all sorts of useful info so just wanted to pick your brains about this. I'll try and keep it short.

Moved here in Feb 11 and in March problem with heating/hot water - there wasn't any. LL came round and showed us how to repressurize oil combi boiler so hubby did this every 3 weeks or so. Got to the stage where he was having to do it almost daily so LL came round and replaced a leaking pipe. All good.

Come summer more problems with boiler. No heating (didn't need it anyway) and no hot water. LL got plumber out who told LL the boiler had had it and really needed replacing. LL almost agreed then changed his mind and the plumber spent days here - he kept coming back and changing parts - which probably almost cost as much as a new boiler. Plumber also told us LL bought the boiler on ebay and it is a rubbish one that is notorious for problems.

Anyway, all good, we had hottish water and then gradually it started getting cooler and cooler til it was tepid again. By Xmas we contacted LA who sent out another plumber who couldn't see our problem as we had heating and started waffling on about storage tank needed - it's a combi boiler and I'm no plumber but know you don't need a storage tank with a combi!

So we gave up for a while and resigned ourselves to lukewarm showers (ok when you get used to them) and boiling the kettle to get our 8 year olds bath to a reasonable temperature and for washing up! Wrong I know but you start to lose faith.

Fast forward to now, two weeks last Monday we went into LA as hot water is almost cold now. Too cold to shower or bath so washing involves a bucket with two kettles of water crouching in the bath (nice). Plumber came out a week last Friday and fitted a new part. Lovely. For 2 hours then boiler overheated and cut out so back to square one. Plumber came back on Monday and reset boiler again, lasted 2 hours. Went in to see LA and she emailed LL who got a plumber to come round to quote for a new boiler.

Plumber came round and priced up, told us LL wanted a "cut and shut" but he would only quote for a proper job. That was about a week ago and we've heard nothing more. Plumber did say it would take 2 weeks from LL agreeing to quote but he would try and do it sooner.

This weekend has been chilly and with no heating and hot water it's made it even worse.

I should mention that the LL has this place on the market so we're guessing he's reluctant to spend too much money, however we are paying good rent for the place so surely he has obligations to us. We are also looking for somewhere to move to with hot water. Will speak to LA tomorrow for an update but hubby wants to withhold rent or at least reduce it as we've had no hot water/heating for 17 days. Can we do this?

However on the bright side we haven't used any oil :rotfl::rotfl:.

God this post is longer than I intended, any observations/thoughts? Is the landlord being a bit slow d'you think or are we impatient?

sandsni

I'd say your LL is being ridiculously slow, and probably costing himself more money than it would take to replace the boiler! If he's trying to sell a dodgy boiler isn't exactly going to be a good selling point either. You've put up with the problems for over a year, so no one could say you're being unreasonable. Witholding rent isn't a good idea, but put your request for an adequate boiler in writing to the LL via the LA. You could say you're thinking of contacting your local environmental health office as the means to get central heating and hot water are pretty high up their list, especially when you have a child. If the LL is trying to sell and you're already looking for somewhere else to live then you won't be too worried if he threatens eviction (but even if he did it would take months if you didn't want to leave).

G_M

Unless you have already done so you need to write a letter to the Ll (copy to the agent) at the address "for the serving of notices" on your tenancy agreement.

Basically as per your post (though I sggest bullet points for each date/event) list ALL the times the boiler has failed, and ALL the actions you have taken to report it, and ALL the times a plumber has been round.

Also note the comments made about the quality of the boiler etc.

Then you need to draw the obvious conculsion - that the boiler is past it, having failed, been fixed, failed again so many times.

You need to ask the LL what he intends to do to ensure that the boiler is properly fixed, once and for all, or replaced. And ask when this will happen, bearing in mind that you have ben patient, and that a permenant fix should be implemented in 'a reasonable timeframe'.

Ask for a response by return of post.

boo2410

Thanks G_M and Sandsni for your replies, I will write to the LL c/o the LA as that is the only address I have as he has moved abroad! We have been patient and I think model tenants, not moaning about anything and generally laid back. I work for an HA myself and my tenants are treated better than me! If only I could get a social housing property I'd be laughing.

tbs624

As per G_M's post but also:

(a) formally request that the LL pays for the temporary hire of a space/water heater ( can be done for the day/week and LL can set costs down on his tax return)

(b) at the bottom of the letter type "cc Private Sector Tenancy Relations Officer, Sunny South Norfolk Town Council" and send a copy there too.

They can serve a repairs notice on the LL if necessary.

You may also want to have a look at Shelter's Guide to Getting Repairs Done, available online.

boo2410

Thanks tbs624. Letter has gone to landlord c/o letting agents, as he is selling I think he's going to do diddly squat about it (although I may be wrong). Day 18 with no heat/water (apart from 2 x 2 hour slots when the plumber came and it worked for a tiny bit!)

Anyway went to view a house today and it'll do for us so we can give our months notice in soon, just want to wait until the referencing is done, although will pay 6 months up front so there should be no problem there.

On a bit of a different matter, IF we have no hot water when we leave (quite likely) how clean do you think the LA will expect the house to be? I'll obviously get packets and packets of flash wipes and clean all the kitchen cupboards and work surfaces, bathroom etc. and wipe them round the skirtings but really you do need hot water to clean. Also there is a giant amount od concrete paving slab flooring and in an ideal world I would have been on my hands and knees with a scrubbing brush to make sure they as clean as can be. And I don't want to boil six million kettles to get enough hot water. That sounds really bad doesn't it but the house isn't minging by the way (:rotfl::rotfl:) I just like to leave as clean as possible so as not to jeopardize refund of deposit..

sandsni

boo2410 I wish my parents could find a tenant like you lol. It took me a full week to clean the cooker after a tenant left (it was steam-cleaned, but only the bits that were clearly visible. When I lifted the lid - yeughhhh!) never mind the rest of the house ;-) And there was plenty of hot water available.
As long as you have evidence of the number of times you have asked for the hot water issue to be resolved, I don't see how the LA or LL could refuse to refund the deposit on the grounds that the place isn't clean enough. You'd certainly have grounds to dispute it if they did.

boo2410

Thanks Sandsni for that. Our LA is quite good (apart from the fact that they can't convince LL to get a new boiler) so hopefully all willbe ok.