Renting - Advice please?

muddy-pawz

Hi all,

I'm not sure if this is the right place, but here goes!

Myself and my partner rent our property through an estate agent.

We reported a problem with our boiler and the plumber then condemned the builder (end of November).

The estate agent sent the landlord a quote, the landlord has disputed the quote and has found someone else to do the work.

The new boiler was supposed to be fitted yesterday (three weeks after being condemned!), but Sunday evening my partner had a call from the landlord saying the plumber wouldnt be coming and he is 'waiting on some calls back' to sort something.

Does anyone have any advice at all where we stand?

Citizens advice have told us to report the landlord to the council, but if we do that we face eviction and at this time of year we really cant risk that.
If were going through an estate agent, do they have some legal duty to ensure the property is fixed without us risking losing our home? (We've contacted our estate agent, they say they cant do anything as the landlord has said he will sort it himself - they've been pretty useless since we moved in)

We've had no hot water or heating for three weeks, my partner is getting a chest infection and my electricity bill is through the roof as were running space heaters and the immersion for water all the time.

Does anyone have any constructive advice, we're getting desperate here!

Please no negative comments

[Deleted User]

muddy-pawz wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm not sure if this is the right place, but here goes!

Myself and my partner rent our property through an estate agent.

We reported a problem with our boiler and the plumber then condemned the builder (end of November).

The estate agent sent the landlord a quote, the landlord has disputed the quote and has found someone else to do the work.

The new boiler was supposed to be fitted yesterday (three weeks after being condemned!), but Sunday evening my partner had a call from the landlord saying the plumber wouldnt be coming and he is 'waiting on some calls back' to sort something.

Does anyone have any advice at all where we stand?

Citizens advice have told us to report the landlord to the council, but if we do that we face eviction and at this time of year we really cant risk that.
If were going through an estate agent, do they have some legal duty to ensure the property is fixed without us risking losing our home? (We've contacted our estate agent, they say they cant do anything as the landlord has said he will sort it himself - they've been pretty useless since we moved in)

We've had no hot water or heating for three weeks, my partner is getting a chest infection and my electricity bill is through the roof as were running space heaters and the immersion for water all the time.

Does anyone have any constructive advice, we're getting desperate here!

Please no negative comments

Your contact is with the landlord not the letting agent. The letting agent has no legal responsibility towards you.

You won't face eviction if you report your landlord to the council. For starters it takes months to legally evict a tenant and with the courts closing for the festive period it will take even longer. Even if your landlord did issue a retaliatory Section 21 as long as your tenancy started or was renewed after 1st Oct 2015 the Section 21 will not be valid because you reported a repair.

See G_M's Repairing Obligations, & Retaliatory Eviction.

Retired_Mortgage_Adviser

Unfortunately, an EA's hands are tied if the landlord refuses to authorise/spend money for repairs/maintenance.

As a portfolio landlord myself, I thoroughly disapprove of landlords such as yours who hasn't even budgeted/insured for a boiler repair/replacement and has left you hanging for more than 3 weeks now without a boiler, and that too in winter! I wouldn't be surprised if he never got it serviced either.

I would repeat the advice about contacting the council formally. Also, you could use Shelter's free chat advice line for more step by step instructions.

Do make sure all communication with EA and LL is on email as far as possible. Good luck!

Andysandy

Amen to that! I would use something more colourful than "thoroughly disapprove".

Retired_Mortgage_Adviser wrote: »

As a portfolio landlord myself, I thoroughly disapprove of landlords such as yours who haven't budgeted for a boiler repair/replacement and has left you hanging for more than 3 weeks now without a boiler! I wouldn't be surprised if he never got it serviced either.

BelowTheLine

To flesh this out -

If the tenancy either started, or was renewed, after 01/10/2015, any S21 Notice (the 1st step in eviction) is invalid if

i) the tenant has reported an issue to the LL AND
ii) the tenant has complained to the council AND
iii) the council has inspected AND
iv) the council has issued an improvement notice to the LL

If ALL the above steps have taken place, the LL cannot serve a valid S21 Notice, and any already served S21 becomes invalid.

So get the ball rolling ASAP.

Lover_of_Lycra wrote: »

Even if your landlord did issue a retaliatory Section 21 as long as your tenancy started or was renewed after 1st Oct 2015 the Section 21 will not be valid because you reported a repair.

[Deleted User]

I'd probably ask the LL for an update before reporting it though. Just in case its going to be sorted in the next few days. By this, asking when the boiler is going to be installed, you can't be expected to live like this especially as Christmas is nearly here and that will induce further delays.

But if no joy from LL, yes report it. That day. But I am afraid it may take the council time to come and inspect for the same 'time of the year' reasons.

Sorry we can't offer more help.

Cakeguts

Our neighbours both in their 80s have had to wait about 3 weeks to get a new boiler after their's broke recently. They own their house. I expect that the plumbers are busy. It is that time of year when plumbers get busy.



If someone living in a house they own can't replace a boiler any quicker then I don't think the problem you have is anything to do with the fact you rent and more to do with how busy local plumbers are. Generally the busier they are the better they are. The ones who can come straight away are the ones that may not do very good work.

G_M

To play devil's advocate....


I would never automatically accept the first quote for a new boiler, whether I obtained it myself or via an agent. And whether for my own property or a let property.

Yes LLs have a duty, legal and moral, to look after their tenants, but that is tempered by common sense too. This IS a moneysaving site, and any large expenditure of any kind should be evaluated and compared. Getting a 2nd or even 3rd quote makes sense.

Furthermore it is December. Plumbers are always busy at this time of year and it is not unusual to have to wait. Whether a tenant or a home-owner.

What the LL should be doing though is minimising the inconvenience eg by supplying electric heaters or even installing an electric shower if that can be done more quickly.


As for eviction, yes, once a repairing issue has been reported there is legalprotection for the tenants against a S21 (as per the link above).

muddy-pawz

Hi all,

Thank you for your responses.

The part about a S21 notice has been really helpful as this is what was putting us off. CAB said that the landlord could instigate eviction proceedings which put us off.

To clarify - the plumber was booked in for yesterday after 2 1/2 weeks wait (We weren't most pleased however we understood that we had to wait due to the time of year). On Sunday the landlord called my partner saying it wouldn't be replaced as he couldn't afford to pay up front.

Landlord is someone who just owns the one house, and we've never had a boiler service. It's always been recommended when the Gas Safety is done but he's never done one.
We also have a gas fire in the living room which was condemned before we moved in, this has never been repaired or replaced either.

Need to work on Compensation for the extra electricity and space heaters now...:eek:

G_M

muddy-pawz wrote: »

..... On Sunday the landlord called my partner saying it wouldn't be replaced as he couldn't afford to pay up front.

That's a different matter. Do you mean he does not intend to replace the boiler? At all? In that case yes, you need to escalate this formally.

* Write to the LL at the address 'for serving notices'
* contact Environmental Health

Or what is meant by "couldn't afford to pay up front."?

It's very rare for a plumber/engineer to require payment up front. Indeed it is very fool-hardy to pay any contractor in full up front! Some partial advance payment may be reasonable where the contractor is ordering an expensive item eg boiler, but to be honest in the LL's position I'd be looking for nother contractor who accepted payment on satisfactory installation.

This may be the reason for the delay.....

muddy-pawz

G_M wrote: »

That's a different matter. Do you mean he does not intend to replace the boiler? At all? In that case yes, you need to escalate this formally.

* Write to the LL at the address 'for serving notices'
* contact Environmental Health

Or what is meant by "couldn't afford to pay up front."?

It's very rare for a plumber/engineer to require payment up front. Indeed it is very fool-hardy to pay any contractor in full up front! Some partial advance payment may be reasonable where the contractor is ordering an expensive item eg boiler, but to be honest in the LL's position I'd be looking for nother contractor who accepted payment on satisfactory installation.

This may be the reason for the delay.....

Sorry for the confusion - my partner is the one in contact with the landlord so maybe I'm getting the wrong end of the stick.

I'm not sure if he meant he couldn't afford the whole thing, or just a partial payment. Surely the issue of payment would be agreed before booking the work in? (asking as I have never had to deal with this before!)

Yesterday evening he was "waiting on some calls back", today my partner has chased but so far nothing.

We have to do things either via text or over the phone when dealing direct with the landlord as he isn't techy and doesn't own a smart phone or use email (carpenter by trade so not even a work email)

Would saying wait until tomorrow lunch then go to my local council sound fair if we haven't heard anything?
It's not the route I would like to go down, but it seems quite unfair we are having to suffer due to the landlord not wanting to pay...