No water/electricity for 5+ days. Advice needed.

St_Marco

Hi guys, looking for a bit of advice really.

On Friday morning I noticed there was a leak in my airing cupboard which was coming from a water pipe in the loft above. The water had been leaking for a good few hours and the only way I noticed it was because I heard a dripping sound. The whole roof in the cupboard was drenched.

I notified my landlord at around 9am on the Friday(10mins after I found the leak). They told me not to worry and they would get someone out to look at it. It got to about 3.30pm and I had heard nothing, the leak was still dripping. I had turned the water off in the flat at this point. But yet it still continued to leak out.

After contacting the landlord I was informed they were at work and there was nothing they could do. They requested I contacted the maintenance company who deal with the block of flats. I mentioned should they not do that and was told they didn’t have time.

So I contacted the maintenance company who agree to send someone out to take a look at it. A guy comes out who is about 50 stone, does not bring a ladder, no torch or anything. I ask how he will get in the loft and he says he doesn’t need to. He then informs me because the leak is in the flat the company is not liable as the maintenance is only for communal areas.

I was supposed to go on holiday for the weekend and had paid for flights etc. I asked the guy if I could still go or should I remain? He informed me that it should be okay to go on holiday as it was not major serious.

I re-contacted the landlord and explained the situation and they were not very happy. They tried to contact the company and argue they were liable to repair the leak. The company was not budging and neither was the landlord.

I decided it was not a good idea to go on holiday and I am glad I didn’t because the very next morning the leak was far worse. It had now spread from the airing cupboard ceiling to the hallway ceiling. The paint had started to drop off!

At this point I knew something was seriously wrong and contacted a local plumber to come out. He came out and thankfully found the problem and found the water off stopper in the flat was faulty. We found the main water stopper to the flat downstairs and managed to turn the wateroff. This stopped the leak. He however said he couldn’t fix the leak. He charged us £20 to come out and because it wason a very hot Saturday I felt that was fair enough.

Again I contacted the landlord and informed them of the situation. I informed them it had got worse and needed addressing asap.

They again stuck to their guns arguing that it was themaintenance company’s responsibility to fix it. But this company was saying itwasn’t. The landlord instructed me they were going to speak to someone higher up in the company but this would not be until Monday.

So for the weekend I had no water and had to turn the electricity off due to the leak being directly above the trip switch board to the house. I didn’t know what to do so I said fine I will wait but let them know that I was not too happy.

Monday comes; they talk to the maintenance company people who once again tell them they are liable as it is in the flat and not in a communal area.

They said they won’t let it go and that I should not do anything. It gets to 4pm and I manage to get hold of a plumber who said they could come and take a look at it.

I contact the landlord and explain that I have someone to look at it and am then informed that if someone comes out I will have to pay for it! I explain to them that 4 days without water or electricity is not right, I understand they have a dispute with the maintenance company but in that time I am the one who is being inconvenienced. And it is not getting fixed anytime soon!

Again they re-iterate that I will have to pay for it as they have not authorised the plumber. So I cancel the plumber visit.

They then tell me at 7pm their family (mum and dad…..)will come over and take a look at it.

They come over and do not even go into the loft. To befair they are lovely people and understand it isn’t right.

However after realising they can’t do anything they begin to contact the maintenance company, then after they again deny them repairs contact the people who built the house and then after being told it isn’t in warranty any longer try the letting agency who tell them they no longer deal with the house!

At this point I am getting a bit !!!!ed off but just sit there and let them do their thing.

They then go and say they will contact me later. I get a call around 9pm and am told a family friend who is a plumber will come out.

So the dad and the plumber come around and nothing happens. The plumber thinks he knows what is wrong and that it is a burst pipe due to the heat. But he won’t be able to come over to fix it until Friday.

Today however I receive a call from the dad about 12pm and am told that the friend will come out this evening to put some tape around it which should keep it working for awhile. He informs me that I can switch the water back on and the electricity which I again tell him that is a bad idea while it isn’t fixed. It will damage the house and I do not want to be responsible for that.

The family are off on holiday on Thursday morning which is why they want a band aid done.

Naturally as you can imagine I am like er….5 days+without water or electricity in a heat wave is a bit much!

But they insist it has to be done on their terms. I cannot call someone out. Which is fair enough, it is their responsibility.

So pretty much my question is this.

5 days+ with no water, or electricity, having to cancel a holiday and losing the flight and hotel money. Having to drive to a family members home to use their bathroom and wash my clothes, having to chase them up and pretty much getting nowhere should I ask them to compensate me for the days I have not had these utilities?

The thing is I have been in the flat for 5 years. They rarely contact me and when I contact them it takes days to get a response. I am a decent tenant always paying rent on time and never had any issues that I have caused. The only other time there has been an issue is when the washing machine broke. It took them a week to replace it and the one they replaced it with cost about £80 and are from a company you will never have heard of!

The mum and dad are great but the actual landlord seems like the tightest of tight people who expects to own a property and not have to pay for repairs to the building.

Looking at the law it states that the landlord must keep the property in a liveable condition .

So I am not sure what I should do really as it is about£23 a day in rent. Obviously in that time I have not had the services agreed and I think if it was on the other foot they would defiantly ask for some kind of compensation. If you went to a hotel and had that service you would not payright? So should this be different?

Everyone else I have spoke to about this has thought that they simply do not want to pay for the repairs and this is what is delaying it.They are looking for anyway possible to not spend money. And by getting a friend to come look at it again avoids having to pay someone to fix it.

From my point of view I just want the utilities to be working again. I have had to take a financial hit in the form of cancelling holiday but also in the form of having to phone people, pay for people to come out and take a look. Have to buy food and bottles of water on each day that do not require electricity to cook and so on.

I don’t really want to cause trouble and I am probably too nice for my own good. But I don’t think I should have to pay the full amount of rent for that period because if it was any other service you would not be required to pay for the days you do not receive it.

Any advice offered would be really appreciated! Sorry it is a bit of a long post!

Many thanks

anselld

St_Marco wrote: »

The plumber thinks he knows what is wrong and that it is a burst pipe due to the heat.

Either you misheard this or the "plumber" is another numpty. There are no types of plumbing pipe which burst due to (weather) heat.

Neither will "tape" seal against mains pressure effectively.

I would be inclined to contact environmental health officer at the council as they are the ones who have powers to enforce this type of repair to be done.

princeofpounds

If the property is uninhabitable (and lack of power and water for several days qualifies) then the LL should be arranging alternative accommodation for you or you should be able to claim damages.

This is what a letlink article has to say about it:

The tenant for his part must not interfere with the performance of the repairs and he has no right to be rehoused while the repairs are being undertaken. The tenant is merely entitled to special damages for the cost of alternative accommodation during any extra time out of the property caused by the landlord's delay in commencing repairs(16). During the period of repair, the tenant's obligation to pay rent will continue(17)

http://www.letlink.co.uk/articles/disrepair/the-landlord-s-disrepair-duties.html

Citations:

15. Guppy's (Bridport) v Brookling (1984) 14 HLR 1.
16. Calabar Properties Ltd. v Stitcher [1984] 1 WLR 287 .

Now I don't know how accurate the article is - it's not an area I feel I have read up on enough to advise properly - but I think that's the general situation.

St_Marco

Thanks for the replies, that is very helpful.

The family friend came out with some tape and as expected it didn't work. He was saying it should be fine to use even though water was pouring down the walls.....
He said he will come back out on Friday to see if he can replace the pipe.

The letlink article is interesting but I can't help thinking it isn't accurate.
Shelter have this on their website

"You are also entitled to claim compensation if you've suffered inconvenience or have not been able to use your home in the normal way as a result of the landlord's failure to repair your home. The amount awarded by the court will depend on the level of disrepair and the effect that it has had on you.

If you haven't been able to use your home, or part of it because of the disrepair, you may be entitled to a reduction or refund of rent – this is called an ‘abatement of rent’. You may be able to claim for inconvenience and disrepair, and the amount you can claim will depend on how much of your home is uninhabitable. If no part of the house can be used, 100 per cent of the rent may be reduced/refunded. If only part of the house is unusable then the rent will be reduced proportionally".

As I stated before I don't wish to go the legal route, I don't want to create a problem. But with this instance I don't feel I have much choice. I do not think it is right to continue to pay for a service that is not being received and I think they should compensate me for the inconvenience I have and am having to endure.
My reason for thinking that is that this could have been fixed within 24 hours if they had called a proper plumber who could complete the job. The fact they have done everything in their power to pass the responsibility off onto someone else and then trying to get an un-experienced friend to look at it shows that they will do everything they can to avoid having to pay for the repairs. While they will be swanning off on their holiday I will be in a house with no electricity or water.

It would be interesting to hear from landlords on here and see what they would do in that situation?

anselld

St_Marco wrote: »

It would be interesting to hear from landlords on here and see what they would do in that situation?

Any sane LL would get it fixed asap. If there is a dispute with the management co that would be taken up separately after the fact.

Plumbing is not even that difficult these days - a couple of push-fit connectors and a bit of plastic pipe will do a perfectly good job. What on earth are these so-called plumbers playing at?

St_Marco

Just a bit of an update.

So finally yesterday evening the family friend comes over and seals the pipe. Seems to be working.

Now it took them a week to fix this. In that time I had no water, no electricity, could not use the shower or even use the toilet.

As I pay £23 a day rent times 7 = £161.
I think asking for 50% back is very reasonable but I decided on asking for £60. Basically £8 a day back.

So I contact the landlord and ask for a rebate......The landlord says I am unreasonable to ask for anything at all because in their mind the flat was liveable.
The Landlord and Tenancy act 1985 say

Section 10: In determining forthe purposes of this Act whether a house is unfit for human habitation, regardshall be had to its condition in respect of the following matters—

· repair,

· stability,

· freedom from damp,

· internal arrangement,

· natural lighting,

· ventilation,

· water supply,

· drainage and sanitary conveniences,

· facilities for preparation and cooking of food andfor the disposal of waste water;
So 5 of them would be covered. Pretty much concluding in law the house would be defined as un-liveable.

I point this out and it does not go down well.....They inform me the bedroom was fine therefore the house was liveable.
By this point I think I decided in my mind I don't want to live here anymore because if they can't see I have been inconvenienced then I don't really want to give someone like that my money.

So by the end of the phone call I am told they think I am wrong to ask for anything, it is un-justified, they did everything they could to fix it (by using a family friend when he was free) think I am ungrateful, and that they are personally offended etc.

But I stick to my guns and inform them that I am sorry they feel that way but from my point of view asking for £60 back is very reasonable considering the state of the property.

I can't see them paying it and am wondering if I should just drop it? My partner thinks the fact they have acted like that I should pursue it.

cattie

I think in light of the very hot weather we have been having that it is right that you receive some form of compensation for having no hot water at least. Your LL sounds terribly stingy & doesn't deserve to have good tenants if he feels it's ok to be having to live the way you have for the past week.

No wonder some landlords give others a very bad name.

DRP

St_Marco wrote: »

So by the end of the phone call I am told they think I am wrong to ask for anything, it is un-justified, they did everything they could to fix it (by using a family friend when he was free) think I am ungrateful, and that they are personally offended etc.

Your LL sounds a complete !!!!!!!!.

I would let off steam by sending him a letter detailing everything.

In terms of your legal rights, there are lots of posts on this forum about when to contact environmental health etc, but i guess the problem is largely over , so maybe too late.

I would certainly be leaving asap - if he is so unsympathetic and basically crap at dealing with a serious problem like yours , then lord knows how many 'minor' problems he is willign to sweep under the carpet...

I assume he has permission to let from his lenders? Paying income tax on your rent? has your deposit in a scheme? gas safe certificate? etc If you're feeling particularly vengeful (I would be), it would be satisfying to drop him in it with the authorities. :mad:

anselld

So next time you know what to do ...
Report the problem (in writing).
Move your belongings out of the way.
Go on holiday as planned.
Let water pour down the wall until LL gets it repaired.