Renting flat with possible inadequate heating

roonaldo

Hi. I've rented a 1 bed flat since Sept 23, it has no gas but economy 7 for hot water.  For heating, in the bedroom there is no heating at all, in the hall there is a storage heater, in the lounge there is 2kw convector heater on the wall (the cheap £25 type).

Is that ok?

DullGreyGuy

roonaldo said:

Hi. I've rented a 1 bed flat since Sept 23, it has no gas but economy 7 for hot water.  For heating, in the bedroom there is no heating at all, in the hall there is a storage heater, in the lounge there is 2kw convector heater on the wall (the cheap £25 type).

Is that ok?

Have you asked the landlord about the heating? 

We discovered our rental flat had in floor storage heating after the first winter there and had assumed the boosters was the only heating available (that was an expensive winter!)

roonaldo

roonaldo said:

Hi. I've rented a 1 bed flat since Sept 23, it has no gas but economy 7 for hot water.  For heating, in the bedroom there is no heating at all, in the hall there is a storage heater, in the lounge there is 2kw convector heater on the wall (the cheap £25 type).

Is that ok?

Have you asked the landlord about the heating? 

We discovered our rental flat had in floor storage heating after the first winter there and had assumed the boosters was the only heating available (that was an expensive winter!)

hi, thanks for replying, definitely no under floor heating. I rent via an agent and no access to landlord directly.  But i'm really trying to find out whether I should be asking as i'm unsure what the minimum requirements should be, I have a feeling the agent or landlord will just drop around a cheap convector heater. I've seen some of other flats in my block and they all have storage heaters in each room, so I expect in my flat they broke at some point and never replaced.

theartfullodger

Invite your local council to do a HHSRS survey.

And look up Landlord guidance for HHSRS and you'll see what you should have.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/housing-health-and-safety-rating-system-guidance-for-landlords-and-property-related-professionals

Sounds like a stupid tightfisted landlord

Artful:  Landlord since 2000

Martin_the_Unjust

How big is the flat and how big is the storage heater?

I lived in a four bed house which had one storage heater in the hallway downstairs and another on the upstairs landing. Those and a gas fire in the lounge was the only heating. I don’t remember it as being a particularly cold house (and the kids survived it)

njkmr

Did you not notice the amount of heaters etc on taking on the flat?
It's probably just easier to get yourself a small heater and put it where you need it.
But get yourself one that cools as well because it sounds like your landlord probably didn't put in air conditioning in either , for our long not summers...!
Landlords...! Shocking.

mark_cycling00

You'd be surprised how many 1980s properties were sold with no central heating at all and just wall heaters. I even have friends living in fairly new apartment blocks in London with no heating apart from electric wall heaters although the insulation is very good.

I'd expect a storage heater in the living room. If it has been removed and not replaced you should be able to see evidence of it such as the electric circuit or evidence of wall fittings. In this scenario you have a good case for it being sorted 

roonaldo

mark_cycling00 said:

You'd be surprised how many 1980s properties were sold with no central heating at all and just wall heaters. I even have friends living in fairly new apartment blocks in London with no heating apart from electric wall heaters although the insulation is very good.

I'd expect a storage heater in the living room. If it has been removed and not replaced you should be able to see evidence of it such as the electric circuit or evidence of wall fittings. In this scenario you have a good case for it being sorted 

thanks, it is an 80's development too, yes evidence of where it was on the wall and now removed.

Albermarle

roonaldo said:

mark_cycling00 said:

You'd be surprised how many 1980s properties were sold with no central heating at all and just wall heaters. I even have friends living in fairly new apartment blocks in London with no heating apart from electric wall heaters although the insulation is very good.

I'd expect a storage heater in the living room. If it has been removed and not replaced you should be able to see evidence of it such as the electric circuit or evidence of wall fittings. In this scenario you have a good case for it being sorted 

thanks, it is an 80's development too, yes evidence of where it was on the wall and now removed.

Would be better if you can get it replaced as normally a storage heater will use lower cost Economy 7 electricity at night, whereas your current convector heater will use more expensive daytime/evening electricity.

_Penny_Dreadful

roonaldo said:

Hi. I've rented a 1 bed flat since Sept 23, it has no gas but economy 7 for hot water.  For heating, in the bedroom there is no heating at all, in the hall there is a storage heater, in the lounge there is 2kw convector heater on the wall (the cheap £25 type).

Is that ok?

It's possible the building is not connected to the gas mains therefore electrical heating is as good as it gets.  What is the EPC rating of the flat?  For a flat in England the Domestic Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard (MEES) Regulations set a minimum energy efficiency level of E since 1st April 2020 unless the landlord has a valid exemption in place.