Gas Boiler broken on day 1 of our tenancy.

Wrighty74

We moved in to our new rental property on the afternoon of the 14th October. We realised later that night when we went to shower that the boiler was not working. I might add that the gas boiler provides our heating and hot water. We followed the 'quick reference' guide to see if we could resolve the matter ourselves but to no avail. By this time it was quite late at night and so I contacted our letting agent the morning of the 15th to advise them. They were quick to act and we had a plumber with us that afternoon, (I received a text message to say he would be with us after lunch and that he would be carrying out a gas safety and boiler service), however he was unable to fully diagnose the issue and he has suggested that the landlord buy a couple of parts that may or may not rectify the problem. However, he advised these parts are not 'on the shelf' and so would have to be ordered and the likelihood of them being delivered before the weekend is highly unlikely. I spoke again to the letting agent and they advised they will let me know if the parts arrive today which I imagine highly unlikely since they would have been ordered after 5pm. So my partner and I are now headed into the weekend with no hot water and no heating with no real way of knowing when this will be resolved. My partner is a tradie and comes home absolutely filthy every night so a kettle and sink wash wont suffice for him.  I understand that boilers break down and we are not unreasonable people, but shouldn't the letting agent or the landlord have inspected the gas and appliances prior to us moving in? From searching the internet, it sounds as though a gas safety inspection should have been carried out PRIOR to us moving in, and if this had been done we would not be in this predicament. Am I entitled to any recourse? I was thinking of suggesting to the letting agent that they move the tenancy start date to the date the boiler is fixed since the house is not what I would call inhabitable at the moment. Any advice would be gratefully received.

davidmcn

It isn't "uninhabitable", it just has a broken boiler. There's no requirement for appliances to be checked before every new tenancy. They seem to be dealing with it in a timely manner.

Norman_Castle

Annual safety check could be 11 months old and valid. The safety check isn't a guarantee the boiler will continue working.

Jeepers_Creepers

Yes, they seem to be acting promptly and in good faith, and it's not their fault if parts are not 'off the shelf'. 

And a gas safety cert doesn't test the boiler to see if it's working properly, only that it's safe. 

It's a combi? You don't have a hot cylinder with an immersion? 

greatcrested

If a gas safety check was done within the last 12 months, another was not needed prior to your tenancy. They are valid for 1 year.Howeveryou should have been given a copy of the gas report. Were you?

In any event they simply 'check' for safety. They are not a service, nor can they guarantee against future breakdowns.

Yes, ideally a landlord/agent would run the system between tenancies to at least ensure it's working, but that frequently does not happen. If the previous tenant has not reported a problem, the LL/agent will assume it's working.

In this case, you seem to be getting an immediate response to your report of the problem and the LL/agent, and their engineer, are clearly doing all they can to resolve the problem. That is all that can reasonabky be expected of them.

I suppose you could ask the LL to pay for the cost of a temporary local gym membership or similar so that you can use their showers. No obligation but the LLmight agree.....

Morbier

I think your LL/agent has responded remarkably quickly and that plans seem to be in place to rectify the problem.  Can't quite see what more you want?  

As for your partner not being able to manage while there's no hot water - tough luck, I'm afraid!  What would you do differently if you owned this property?  Tenants' rights don't go above that.   (I've rented for a good while now, so I am looking at it from your point of view). 

xylophone

My partner is a tradie and comes home absolutely filthy every night so a kettle and sink wash wont suffice for him. 

I wonder how the miners managed  before pit head showers and hot running water at home?

If you had bought the property and been in the same situation, you would just have to have coped until the situation could be rectified?

Wrighty74

greatcrested said:

If a gas safety check was done within the last 12 months, another was not needed prior to your tenancy. They are valid for 1 year.Howeveryou should have been given a copy of the gas report. Were you?

In any event they simply 'check' for safety. They are not a service, nor can they guarantee against future breakdowns.

Yes, ideally a landlord/agent would run the system between tenancies to at least ensure it's working, but that frequently does not happen. If the previous tenant has not reported a problem, the LL/agent will assume it's working.

In this case, you seem to be getting an immediate response to your report of the problem and the LL/agent, and their engineer, are clearly doing all they can to resolve the problem. That is all that can reasonabky be expected of them.

I suppose you could ask the LL to pay for the cost of a temporary local gym membership or similar so that you can use their showers. No obligation but the LLmight agree.....

Hi Greatcrested, yes I was supplied with a gas report, which looking at is just under a year old. I do agree that they have responded immediately, its just a little frustrating it happened to be Day 1 and moving is a rather stressful time in itself. I do appreciate your civil and courteous reply.

whirlyhead

At the moment repairs people are having difficulties sourcing parts so it's not unusual for it to take a while.  Last time my boiler broke it took 10 days to fix, so even when you own a house, it's just one of those things.  You just work around it.

HummingBird76

It sucks, but its definitely not uninhabitable.  I went without a boiler for a few days before, cold showers and blankets were the order of the day...  At least its coming up to the weekend so hopefully your partner won't be getting so dirty (I hear you, my other half is a joiner and is always covered in crap ha).  It does seem like its getting fixed as quickly as possible, so just  take a deep breath and get in that cold shower

Rambosmum

Unfortunately boilers are one of those things that are working one minute and broken the next. It is rare to get a slow break down. So it could well have been fine when they did their inspection before you moved in and broken the second you tried to use it. Frustrating, stressful but not uninhabitable and they sound like they are on it. 

I guess it would be possible, due to the time of year, temperature and COVID (guidance advising washing with hot soapy water) that you could try and negotiate a hotel for the weekend, paid for  (room only) by the landlord but I wouldn't hold my breath.