Is it worth chasing LL for breach of contract?

MrsBrowny

Hi all,

Myself and my husband moved into a rented property 15 months ago with our two kids, then 2 and 5. We are moving out next weekend after a ridiculous amount of problems, and wanted some advice as to whether we should pursue a case for breach of contract.

Our rent stated it was inclusive of council tax, oil and water usage, however, the day we moved in we realised the heating had gone off by 10pm. When we checked this the next day we were told that it was only on between 8am and 10pm (this was the hot water too). On days the LL considered warm we would have no heat or hot water all day. Just to clarify our property is almost like an annexe of the LLs house and they share a boiler etc (obvs why these things are part of the rent).

During the winter the boiler broke down several times for days or weeks on end, but the LL tinkered with it himself and would not call out an engineer (he has woodburning stoves in his property so wasn't as much of a problem for him as us). As a result of all this our electric bills are astronomical after relying on electric heaters for almost the entire winter.

In the breakdown of our rent LL states that £280 of our £850 monthly payment is for oil alone - this seems like a joke as we have been denied heating and hot showers just because he has already gone to bed!

Now we no longer have to live here I wondered if it would be worth trying to recoup some of this money - our neighbours who have had the same problems from this LL would testify to the conditions.

Many thanks,

MrsB

Werdnal

Why did you put up with 15 months of this hassle without compalining before?

You may be able to put together a plausible court claim, but the time to do this is whilst you are still living there, not after you have moved on.

Its a bit like ordering a meal in a restaurant and finding the food is cold or inedible. If you complain at the start, you would be entitled to your money back and/or a replacement meal ... if you struggle through it and then demand a refund at the end, it somewhat reduces your chances of a successful claim.

I would have put details of the apparent breaches in writing to the LL at the time, and then if he still continued restricting the heating, you would have had more clout to hit him with!

MrsBrowny

I agree with you but to be honest we live in an extremely rural area where rental properties are few and far between - it just ca down to desperation and having nowhere else to live if (knowing the LL's character) he just decided to give us our notice for causing him trouble. At £850 inclusive of so many utilities we couldn't afford to have to move until recently.

Is it unlikely that anything can be done now?

G_M

Werdnal's analogy is good, though I'd say
" if you struggle through it, pay the bill, and then demand a refund the next day, it somewhat reduces your chances of a successful claim."

Do you have copies of letters to the LL sent during the period of the tenancy reporting/complaining about the lack of heating?
Do you have replies from th LL?

You may indeed have a case, but it will not be a guaranteed one, and whether it is worth the effort, time, money, stress etc.....

Re the time restrictions: there are many buildings where heating/hot water is controlled centrally (usually for flats), and these are often on time control. What exactly does your tenany agreement say? Does it guarantee 24 hour heating?

I have a very similar set-up: an annexe I sometimes let out. The heating also comes off my home's system, so works on my timer. When I let the annexe out, I discuss what time the tenant gets up/goes to work/goes to bed (as diplomatically as I can!) and adjust the timer to suit his/her needs as well as my own, but I do not stop using the timer and leave the heating on 24 hours a day!

Re boiler breakdowns: These happen. A LL has a duy to repair in a 'reasonable' period, but there is no definition of this. If he can show he attempted to fix, had to wait for parts to be delivered etc etc, that would be 'reasonable'. I imagine that would be his defence....
Where a boiler breakdown is dragged out, alternative heating must be offerred - you have electric heaters. But yes, I think given that the heating was included in the rent you could claim for the extra electricity.

Do you have records of the precise dates when the boiler was not working? These should, of course, be on the letters you wrote at the time to the LL.......