Can we take any action here against our landlord

RoastUK

Hi everyone,

My friend and I are currently renting a property. We have been role model tenants and have never been late with payment.

Whilst I get on with the landlord we have had multiple issues and I wanted to check if there was anything that we should do.

Recently we have had problems with our heating, hot water and tonight electricity.

We had no heating for one week first time. We let our landlord know straight away but he couldn't come until 5 days later to look at it. When he came he installed something in the boiler and the heating started again. Shortly afterwards we lost hot water. This time he came the next day and said he fixed it. However when we got back from work whilst hot water was working the heating had gone. We let him know and he came next day with his plumber friend.

Today I've come back from work and we've had no power at all. I checked if this was a power cut down our street but was just our property. After checking the trip switch and everything I phoned our landlord describing the situation. To cut a long story short he's said it's nothing to do with house you have to call the electricity board. As you can imagine I've had a nightmare day having to sort that out. We now have power after they've connected a wire from the street lamp through our letterbox to the meter.

I feel like the landlord hasn't upheld his responsibilities and I'm told it would be reasonable for us to not pay rent for a month. Obviously I don't want any legal troubles but would appreciate any advice on this.

I've had to write this using my phone so apologies for lack of detail. If more info is required please let me know.

Thanks

G_M

RoastUK wrote: »

....
Recently we have had problems with our heating, hot water and tonight electricity.

We had no heating for one week first time. We let our landlord know straight away but he couldn't come until 5 days later to look at it. When he came he installed something in the boiler and the heating started again. Shortly afterwards we lost hot water. This time he came the next day and said he fixed it. However when we got back from work whilst hot water was working the heating had gone. We let him know and he came next day with his plumber friend.

... We now have power after they've connected a wire from the street lamp through our letterbox to the meter.

Thanks

Whilst I agree he could have responded faster on the 1st occassion (5 days), in general your LL has responded, has undertaken repairs, and when they have failed again, has come back and fixed.

If the electric company had to connect a wire from a street lamp (unusual solution - I assume temporary?) then this does not sound like a property-related issue - it is the mains supply over which the LL has no control.

Final point: when making complaints or reporting faults, byall means use the phone/email etc for speed, but always follow up with a letter to confirm, and have a paper trail.

edit: if you withold your rent for a month, you will simply be in rent arrears.

Yorkie1

Just to confirm what G_M has said, do not fail to pay your rent. Whoever advised you is incorrect.

Kynthia

NEVER fail to pay your rent as you will be in rent arrears. If tenants feel they have a reasonable claim for compensation then they should put a request in writing.

However I'm not sure that you have a strong claim to compensation. The electricity was nothing to do with the property itself and out of your landlord's control. The other 2/3 incidents he has come out and made repairs. I know it's annoying when heating and hot water fail but it happens to everyone sometimes. If it keeps happening then I would start to get annoyed and ask for a proper repair or replacement boiler.

johnmcga

Just sounds like a run of bad luck to me. Five days is a fair while to go without heating but your landlord did get it fixed in the end, and has fixed the subsequent problems much more quickly.

I agree that if the issues keep recurring then it'll be obvious the repairs aren't adequate and you should press for a more permanent solution, but as things stand I can't see you have much of a claim for compensation.

Running a cable from a street lamp through the letter box sounds unusual though. Are you sure they were from National Grid?!

dimbo61

Are you also sure that the landlord is a gas safe engineer ?
Have you been given the " Gas safety certificate " for your property ( it,s yours while you rent it!) that is in date!!!!
Do the electrics look safe ? Do you have a friend who could check them out ( moderm fuse board with RCB,s )
The landlord has fixed the problems so far ( if a little slow) but you need to make sure the gas boiler is safe and the electics work properly.
Have you got smoke alarms and a CO ALARM ?

zappahey

dimbo61 wrote: »

Are you also sure that the landlord is a gas safe engineer ?

Since we don't know what he fixed, we don't know if he needs to be.

paul1964_2

zappahey wrote: »

Since we don't know what he fixed, we don't know if he needs to be.

If the OP is correct and "he installed something in the boiler", then I expect he does need to be Gas Safe registered.