Renting - no hot water or water pressure !!!

arambol

Hi guys,

Wonder if you can help me.

My girlfriend has moved into a 2 bed flat in London. She plans to rent out the 2nd bedroom and has permission to do so. However she's been there nearly a month and there is no water pressure in the bath/ shower and no hot water or heating.

The landlord has been very slow to act but finally after 3 weeks a plumber and the gas board came round.

Turns out the water tank is at the same level as the bathroom so there will never be any water pressure unless a pump is installed or the tank raised..... and while the boiler works, the safety cut off is tripping as the system pipes are all limescaled up and too much pressure is building up.

Apparently this has been diagnosed before according to British Gas so clearly the landlord rented the property to her knowing the situation.

The pipe flush is £800 to solve the hot water/ heating and I have no idea how much a pump would be to fit. Any ideas??

She is paying £490 a week, which is a lot of money not to be able to bath or shower..... and obviously can not rent out the second room while the is no water or hot water/ heating.

What legally is she allowed to do. Discount rent? Paid for nights in a hotel?

I'd appreciate any help as she's just been on the phone to me in tears !

Thanks

Captain_Mainwaring_2

As much as I don't like combi boilers, in this case the cheapest thing for the LL to do is to fit one - problem solved if the mains water pressure is OK.

By the time they change the boiler heat exchanger (I used to do loads of them) and fitted a pump which comes with it's own issues, a good combi will do the job for a fraction of the price and the landlord can be assured that there won't be anymore problems.

Don't make any deductions from the rent however.

Jees, nearly 2K a month for a 2 bedder? does it have a solid gold khazi?

arambol

Hi, thanks for the fast reply.

The actual pump for the boiler is fine and the boiler works...... apparently the pipes just need a Power Flush as they are all blocked with limescale.

The pump is a negative or positive head pump fitted near the airing cupboard (hot water tank) which will create pressure in the bath and shower. Think they are separate but I may be wrong.

Gold toilet......no, garden..... no, big flat.......no. That's just London for you. :eek:

PasturesNew

Not much help in this situation, but I always flush a loo and turn on the taps on the sink next to it to check for water flow rate and pressure.

I also turn on the shower to check how good it is.

I also open all the windows to check they open.

And check the hidden corners for damp.

And I did that for a £350/month rental. Got some odd looks from the agent/landlord, but I knew it all worked!

MissMoneypenny

When did the LL buy the house and if recently, did he have a survey?

We bought a house like that once and the surveyor paid to fix the problme as he had missed it when he did his survey.

clutton_2

write to the LL asking what they are going to do about it - asking them to repair it within 7 days. If she does not get a reply in 7 days go to the local council and ask for an appointment to see the private sector housing person and ask them to liaisie with the LL. AFAIK it is a legal requirement for a LL to provide hot water and heating - she needs it fixed before the winter.

has her deposit been lodged with a deposit scheme ?

Captain_Mainwaring_2

arambol wrote: »

Hi, thanks for the fast reply.

The actual pump for the boiler is fine and the boiler works...... apparently the pipes just need a Power Flush as they are all blocked with limescale.

The pump is a negative or positive head pump fitted near the airing cupboard (hot water tank) which will create pressure in the bath and shower. Think they are separate but I may be wrong.

Gold toilet......no, garden..... no, big flat.......no. That's just London for you. :eek:

It never stops at a "power flush" trust me I was a doctor. Heat exchangers can be saved in situ , but if you are saying that supply pipes to the shower are scaled , or the radiator flow and returns are scaled, then I have my doubts. A good descale and flush could end up with the flat looking like Fingals Cave.

To clarify - a negative head pump has a little pressure vessel (usually) and a non-return valve, and it runs and pre-charges to pipework and is capable of supplying pipework and taps above the surface of the water in the tank - the standard pump doesn't need the reservoir because it will always be pressurizing outlets below the surface of the water in the supply tank.

If water issues from the shower head as it is then you (probably) don't need a negative head pump - I say probably because if the flow is too low then it won't operate the flow switch on the pump.

Please also note that a plumber and a good central heating engineer are different beasts.

arambol

the landlord has had the flat for years. they apparently had tenants 8 months ago and then did a refurb where the flat was empty for 6 months. British Gas had a record of the problem with the limescale and PowerFlush requirement on their records from 9 months ago.... so i guess the landlord hoped the problem would go away and rented it knowing full well of the problem.

the deposit was paid to the letting agents and then passed onto the landlord. what is a deposit scheme and is it possible to move the deposit into the scheme at this point? the deposit was 3k so that could be a problem if the landlord decides to act "clever".

arambol

so with regards the pressure to the bathroom / shower.... would a normal pump attached to the hot and cold supply near the hot water tank do the job. when i google them they are the ones made by Stuart Turner or similar brand. plumber said £1000 to supply and fit. but that seems high. does that sound about right?

surely the landlord has to make sure their is water in the bathroom otherwise they are in breach of the tenancy agreement.

arambol

by the way guys..... really appreciate this.

my girlfriend tries to call the landlord but voicemail everytime. she's at her wits end.

tbs624

Arambol - the LL is in breach of his Landlord & Tenant Act 1985 S11(c) obligations. For a tenancy of less than 7 yrs s/he must :

"keep in repair and proper working order the installation in the dwelling for space heating and heating water"

Contact the Tenancy Relations Officer at the local council's housing dept (private sector team). Their advice is free and they can liaise with your LL if necessary. Keep notes of dates of visits from plumbers etc plus emails, notes on phone conversations.

This is clearly a matter for the LL to sort out, not for you or your girlfriend. She could try asking for a discount rent but I think she'd then find that he dragged his heels, and as you have said letting out the 2nd room will become nigh on impossible without the tenants having access to hot water.