Landlord Quoting Three weeks to fix boiler

mcfisco

Can anyone help with a query?

My daughter rents a house in which the hot water and heating boiler failed on Monday last. The plumber called yesterday, investigated and then went away.

The landlord called her this morning to say that the part required isn't available for three weeks so she'll have to manage without hot water until then.
I'm fairly sure the LL needs to do something other than just shrug but I'm not sure what levers I can use to get him to do something now for her rather than waiting three weeks.
Anyone got any ideas?

princeofpounds

He needs to repair it in a reasonable time. That is purposefully left undefined so any judge can use their discretion and common sense. Waiting for a part is a reasonable explanation. 3 weeks isn't ideal but neither is it an unknown timescale.

The landlord needs to supply alternative sources of heating and hot water if they are absent. Unfortunately this can mean a small room heater and a kettle, for a temporary period.

Sixtys_Chick

As a landlady I see the other side of it when the boiler breaks down. If you think you can get the part quicker then make some enquiries. I have just had to wait two weeks for a washing machine spare part, in the end I put in another washing machine but it is difficult with central heating. I do not use agents because they rip off the landlords as well as the tenants. All most landlords want is a decent tenant who pays the rent. Last time I used an agent they put in a person whose English was very poor. Next time I went round he had left and his friends had moved in. We are now on our third tenant and they all claim to be brothers. Try to find a landlord privately.

poppysarah

Does she have an electric shower in the property?

mcfisco

poppysarah wrote: »

Does she have an electric shower in the property?

No, it's all mains water
Looks like she'll have to rough it for a while

Her boyfriend who lives with her is a forester so not being able to bath or shower at the end of the day is not ideal.
I guess we all managed OK in the days before hot running water.

I did hear the LL on the phone to her, not a hint of an apology, it was almost like "this is how it is, tough"

DRP

Sixtys_Chick wrote: »

As a landlady I see the other side of it when the boiler breaks down. If you think you can get the part quicker then make some enquiries. I have just had to wait two weeks for a washing machine spare part, in the end I put in another washing machine but it is difficult with central heating. I do not use agents because they rip off the landlords as well as the tenants. All most landlords want is a decent tenant who pays the rent. Last time I used an agent they put in a person whose English was very poor. Next time I went round he had left and his friends had moved in. We are now on our third tenant and they all claim to be brothers. Try to find a landlord privately.

That sounds like the thing to do here i would say.

And make a (reasonable, polite) request in writing to the LL for the extra costs you incur. You never know, he might help you out.

Lou67

We had an issue like this some time back; only it wasn't the heating, it was the shower that broke, and we have no bath...so we had NO way to bathe. Washing in the sink is not acceptable IMO. Not for many weeks: maybe 2 or 3 days, but no more.

If the heating went, and I had no hot water, then 3 weeks to wait (as long as I had a firm and guaranteed date for the works to be done,) would be OK with me, as long as it was not below 5 degrees C outside, and as long as we had a shower (many showers work independently of the hot water.) However, if as the OP says, there is no *way* of showering or bathing, as the shower runs off the hot water, I would find that absolutely unacceptable to not have shower, and bathing facilities for 3 weeks.

My landlady uses an agent, and she has a 3 star contract with British Gas. Our heating and hot water has packed up 3 times for various reasons in almost 3 years, and it has been fixed within 48 hours each time. I would be very reluctant to use any landlord who did not have a contract with British Gas or some other heating engineers. It's rather irresponsible IMO as gas repairs can be very costly.

I would contact the local council, as landlords have to adhere to certain regulations, and yes, although they have to be allowed a certain amount of reasonable time to do something; 3 weeks with no heating or hot water or bathing facilities is unacceptable: well it certainly would be to me. The landlord would soon start to whinge if you didn't pay the rent until 3 weeks after it was due, and he didn't have a firm date that you were going to pay it; especially if they had a mortgage on the property you live in.

This is why I prefer to go through an agent; too many landlords get away with too much if you go private. What on earth would take 3 weeks to order in? I am not sure I even believe that actually, and would take the advice of a few people on here, and ask what part it is, and see if you can find it anywhere. Moreover, saying agents rip people off is a massive sweeping generalisation, and is out of order: we have never had ANY problems with ours, and neither has our neighbour across the road, whose landlord uses a different one, and has done for 5 years.

Wouldn't do for me. I would tell him if it isn't done within a week, I will book into a hotel, and I will be charging him for it.

Basically, would the landlord want to put up with no heating, hot water, or bathing facilities for 3 weeks? No. Nobody that I know would actually. I would definitely contact the council and maybe the CAB or even Trading Standards. It's all very well Landlords saying they have to tolerate rubbish tenants, but that doesn't mean it's OK to give a sub-standard and unacceptable service to people.

moromir

mcfisco wrote: »

No, it's all mains water
Looks like she'll have to rough it for a while

Her boyfriend who lives with her is a forester so not being able to bath or shower at the end of the day is not ideal.
I guess we all managed OK in the days before hot running water.

I did hear the LL on the phone to her, not a hint of an apology, it was almost like "this is how it is, tough"

In all fairness, he can't "not bathe", 3-4 kettles worth of hot water will do the trick to a 1/3rd full tub of cold.

moromir

Lou67 wrote:

Wouldn't do for me. I would tell him if it isn't done within a week, I will book into a hotel, and I will be charging him for it.

Basically, would the landlord want to put up with no heating, hot water, or bathing facilities for 3 weeks? No. Nobody would. I would definitely contact the council and maybe the CAB or even Trading Standards. It's all very well Landlords saying they have to tolerate rubbish tenants, but that doesn't mean it's OK to give a sub-standard and unacceptable service to people.

That kind of attitude helps noone because all the OP will achieve is a S21 at the nearest opportunity.

Yes it will be annoying to have to boil up the kettles but no its not unreasonable to be expected to do that while the parts are being ordered in.

The best advice given so far as to politely ask the landlord if the OP may make their own enquiries for sourcing the part to see if they can get it any quicker.

Would I put up with having no hot water for that period of time? I've had to, twice in the last year, if not longer. I have a Rayburn and a part on that broke that had to be FORGED by the manufacturer (proper dark ages stuff!). That part had a fault and snapped and I had to start the whole process over again!

Did I moan? Of course I did, but I also got on with it because people were doing their best to get it to me as soon as possible, these things happen unfortunately. It didn't kill me and I've got nice toned arms from lugging the kettle around

ognum

This is a real problem for landlords, it seems the lanlord did get the repairer in fairly quickly and they are trying to resolve the issue.

I agree no heating or hot water is very difficult, as a landlord I would be prepared to see if I could get you a pass for a local leisure centre to shower if needed but if the part really is three weeks away then there is little the landlord can do.

If your daughter owned the house she lives in and the boiler broke and took three weeks to fix what would she do? Most people would not check into a hotel, they would pop to a neighbour, shower at the gym, at work or at a relatives.

inconvenient, yes, but at least it's summer! Even with a Britisg Gas contract it can take this long.

Lou67

moromir wrote: »

That kind of attitude helps noone because all the OP will achieve is a S21 at the nearest opportunity.

Yes it will be annoying to have to boil up the kettles but no its not unreasonable to be expected to do that while the parts are being ordered in.

The best advice given so far as to politely ask the landlord if the OP may make their own enquiries for sourcing the part to see if they can get it any quicker.

Would I put up with having no hot water for that period of time? I've had to, twice in the last year, if not longer. I have a Rayburn and a part on that broke that had to be FORGED by the manufacturer (proper dark ages stuff!). That part had a fault and snapped and I had to start the whole process over again!

Did I moan? Of course I did, but I also got on with it because people were doing their best to get it to me as soon as possible, these things happen unfortunately. It didn't kill me and I've got nice toned arms from lugging the kettle around

Just because you would accept it, doesn't mean others should have to. And I *certainly* wouldn't. I think it's highly irresponsible for a landlord to not have a gas contract and to be so flippant about when the work will be done. This is the reason I would use an agent every time. Some landlords moan about tenants being bad, and it's not surprising when they're treating them like this!

Re; the last post: I have been under a British gas contract for 20 years (3 years in this house,) and I have NEVER waited more than 3 days for ANY repair. And it's warm now yes, but having no way to bathe is another story. No WAY would I tolerate it for longer than a few days.