Boiler broken - What rights do I have as a tenant?

rivmix

Thanks for all your responses.

That was my opinion on how long it could take to replace a boiler in an URGENT situation. Apologies if I offended anyones expertise on this.
As it happened The LL chose to use their own contractor instead of the agencys who came round and replaced in exactly 1 week.

What I was actually trying to get an understanding of though was if we were leggally entitled to XX off the rent but it doesn't seem so from your reponses.

Anyway, thanks for your time.

PasturesNew

I could live without heating for 15 days.... but not being able to wash/bathe would be a pain.... I'd imagine I smelt, even if I were strip washing effectively.

Pixie5740

Speaking as tenant I would say the LA and LL dealt with this within a reasonable timescale. Yes, it's a pain in the !!!! when a boiler breaks down, especially in winter but if you were a homeowner you'd be looking at a similar timescale.

DaftyDuck

There is, of course, no reason why you shouldn't politely and gently point out that the LL should have supplied the electrical heating and, as you paid for it yourself, a contribution would be appreciated.

Nothing ventured and all that....

But politely.... don't mention urgency, unrentable or anything like that...

Road_Hog

PasturesNew wrote: »

I could live without heating for 15 days.... but not being able to wash/bathe would be a pain.... I'd imagine I smelt, even if I were strip washing effectively.

As someone who went without heating for 36 hours (a couple of years ago) I can tell you, you can't live without heating. It came about with me replacing a radiator (system drained). The piping and connections were eroded and I needed some other bits and eventually ran out of time and patience. It was mid afternoon next day before the heating was back on and reversing the effects of no heating.


My house is fully double glazed with fairly modern glazing. You just cannot believe how cold a house can get during the winter in a cold snap, without heating.


Unless I've missed it, OP hasn't mentioned if they've got an electric shower. I doubt many people have time to take a bath in the morning everyday before work.

DaftyDuck

You can live without central heating...

I managed a childhood in an old, draughty vicarage where there were wood fires downstairs and... that was it. I lived in a house in Ireland with a cold tap (piped from a spring) and one fire for five rooms. Had a tin bath by the fire for washing... and that was the 1980's, not the 1890's. Four years ago I lived in a house on the edge of the NOrth York moors with no central heating, and just radiant bar fires for warmth (and one useless coal fire place). Well, it was like that when I bought it, and now it has central heating... much more pleasant, but not a necessity for life.

This current house had the single-flow 1930's heating in whan I bought it (which did nothing whatsoever to heat it - it was designed to kill polar bears and warm the planet) and, during the winter of 2011, we had new wiring, plumbing and central heating installed whilst living in it... 4°C inside for much of that time. THAT was cold!

Cue more Monty Python "Four Yorkshiremen" tales of hard times...

rivmix

No we don't have an electric shower.. or even double glazing!. There is no way you could have washed at the property, pipes go extremely cold when the water is left to stand for so long, we had to make alternative arrangements. Filling a bath even half full using a kettle would take an age, cost a fortune and probably be cold by the time you got into it.

It was pretty rough, with electric heaters it was just about bearable which we were fortunate enough to be able to borrow from one of the housemates work.

DaftyDuck

rivmix wrote: »

...... with electric heaters it was just about bearable which we were fortunate enough to be able to borrow from one of the housemates work.

OK, well, to be fair, you can't really ask the LL for a contribution to their purchase cost, which I suggested some posts back....

We do all (and I do include myself in this) expect it so soft these days. We expect our houses to be heated, our windows to be (double) glazed, our baths to be warm, our houses to be free of all draught and damp....

We can survive with cold-water baths, open windows and no central heating. It may be more comfortable as we are, but it is not an essential of life.

thesaint

Road_Hog wrote: »

As someone who went without heating for 36 hours (a couple of years ago) I can tell you, you can't live without heating..

You can't live without "Heating", or "Central Heating"?
The OP had heaters(borrowed themselves).

I lived for 18 months without central heating until August of this year. 36 hours? lol.

donfanatico

DaftyDuck wrote: »

OK, well, to be fair, you can't really ask the LL for a contribution to their purchase cost, which I suggested some posts back....

We do all (and I do include myself in this) expect it so soft these days. We expect our houses to be heated, our windows to be (double) glazed, our baths to be warm, our houses to be free of all draught and damp....

We can survive with cold-water baths, open windows and no central heating. It may be more comfortable as we are, but it is not an essential of life.

I agree, I haven't lived like since I left home but back in my childhood people didn't have central heating. They had one fire in the living area and that was that, no heating anywhere else.

However, it is different now especially when paying 1k or much more to rent a one or two bed flat in London you expect stuff to work ok and have all the mod cons.