Landlord, letting agency and broken boiler***Resolved***

[Coffeebreak]

This is a bit of a long one but would love some advice.

 

I reported my boiler broken a week ago today to my letting agency, it's an old back boiler and the water tank that feeds into the boiler was leaking really badly. I realised this when I went to switch on the heating and hot water and it kept tripping the electricity.

 

I did the usual thing of phoning up the letting agency who got the landlords (he lives in newzeland) approved plumber round to have a look.... Then the fun started! The plumber took one look at it and said no way could he do a 'quick fix' and would let the letting agency know. He did and then came back the next day to price the job.

 

He said there is 2 options, a full replacement system (combo boiler) or to replace the existing water tank. He then went on to tell me that although he would give the letting agency the quotes no work will be done until the landlord pays them the money he owes off the work they did when the boiler went off last year! Now this is 3 years in a row the boiler has given up and 3 times the plumber/gas engineer has told the landlord that the boiler needs replaced!

 

So now it's been a week and I've just been informed off the letting agent that the landlord wants another quote from a different company, ok he is entitled to more than one quote but I'm currently freezing and apparently it's an emergency as it has interfered with the electrics!

 

I honestly could go on and on but it's pretty obvious that my landlord doesn't like spending money. I've lived here for 4 years, pay my rent every month and apart from the 3x boiler problems and a broken shower I don't complain about anything preferring to fix the little things myself like replacing a broken curtain pole and stuff like that.

 

Last year it took him almost 6 weeks to get the boiler fixed and I really don't want to wait that long again, I bought electric radiators to try and keep the place warm and when I asked the letting agent if there was any chance that he (the landlord) would compensate me for the extra electricity his final response was 'why?

 

She's saving money on gas that can pay for the extra electric!' Kinda proves my point about what kind of man he is.

 

So any advice on where I stand and what I can do to hurry him up would be massively appreciated.

Edited November 9, 2015 by Andyorch
Paras added

[unclebulgaria67]

This is a bit of a long one but would love some advice.

I reported my boiler broken a week ago today to my letting agency, it's an old back boiler and the water tank that feeds into the boiler was leaking really badly. I realised this when I went to switch on the heating and hot water and it kept tripping the electricity.

I did the usual thing of phoning up the letting agency who got the landlords (he lives in newzeland) approved plumber round to have a look.... Then the fun started! The plumber took one look at it and said no way could he do a 'quick fix' and would let the letting agency know. He did and then came back the next day to price the job. He said there is 2 options, a full replacement system (combo boiler) or to replace the existing water tank. He then went on to tell me that although he would give the letting agency the quotes no work will be done until the landlord pays them the money he owes off the work they did when the boiler went off last year! Now this is 3 years in a row the boiler has given up and 3 times the plumber/gas engineer has told the landlord that the boiler needs replaced!

So now it's been a week and I've just been informed off the letting agent that the landlord wants another quote from a different company, ok he is entitled to more than one quote but I'm currently freezing and apparently it's an emergency as it has interfered with the electrics!

I honestly could go on and on but it's pretty obvious that my landlord doesn't like spending money. I've lived here for 4 years, pay my rent every month and apart from the 3x boiler problems and a broken shower I don't complain about anything preferring to fix the little things myself like replacing a broken curtain pole and stuff like that.

Last year it took him almost 6 weeks to get the boiler fixed and I really don't want to wait that long again, I bought electric radiators to try and keep the place warm and when I asked the letting agent if there was any chance that he (the landlord) would compensate me for the extra electricity his final response was 'why? She's saving money on gas that can pay for the extra electric!' Kinda proves my point about what kind of man he is.

So any advice on where I stand and what I can do to hurry him up would be massively appreciated.

 

Not sure there is much you can do. You cannot force the landlord to spend money on the house. Suggest you try to find somewhere else to live and advise the letting agent that you have no alternative but to do this given the circumstances.

 

The letting agency i believe have some responsibility is making the house safe to live in. They can probably deduct money from the rent received to pay for repairs. Your local council may have a department that deals with these issues, where you can get advice. There are also various housing related charities that can advise on your rights. Have you tried phoning these ?

[neil6534]

unless the letting agency is employed by the lanlord as the management agent then there is little you can force them to do.

your landlord is also responsible for getting a yearly certificate ensuring that the boiler is safe, it sounds like he isn't doing that.

you could call your local councils envrionmental agency and they could probably help....in short you are entitled to heating

[AndyOrch]

Thread moved to the appropriate forum.

 

Regards

Andy

[Coffeebreak]

Surely I can force him to spend money on the house as it states in my tenancy agreement that he is to provide the means for the property to have heating and hot water?

'Whichever heating was present when you tenanted the property the landlord is obliged to maintain and repair to 'proper working order'. Boiler breakdown is a prioritory 1 repair- 24 hours. A heating breakdown is prioritory 2, 5 days. These are fully enforceable.'

We are looking for somewhere else to live but this close to xmas we really don't have x amount to pull out for bonds and rent in advance, does anyone?

 

The letting agent is employed by the landlord to manage the property but in my opinion doesn't 'manage' very well.....

I will call the local environmental health department tomorrow and see what they come up with.

I guess I just don't want to become a 'problem' tenant' but I also don't want to go at least another week no further forward with when it will be fixed.

Is 2 weeks a reasonable amount of time to expect it to be fixed?

[mariner51]

YOU can't force LL to spend any money on repairs, the Council and Court could, but not wihiin your timescales.

Lord Denning's advice was that 'no Tenant can expect a better level of Service other than that avail to an owner-occupier'.

If you think you can do better than LL/LA, feel free to contact a reputable plumber for a cost/time estimate to complete work, and decide if you could afford it as an owner-occupier.

Any sensible T should try to save ~£10/wk towards initial rent & deposit of next rented accom.

Not easy on low income/benefits, but neither is giving up smoking, as I can confirm.

[martin2006]

try a different approach, look at "help-link" to see if you would qualify for a new boiler under what i think used to be called the green deal scheme.

 

its at least worth a google and a fone call to find out

[Coffeebreak]

All ended well, it took 3 weeks but I finally have my new boiler just in time for the snow we had here in the north east last night.

[AndyOrch]

Excellent .....I will amend your thread title to reflect the outcome Coffeebreak.

 

Regards

 

Andy

[martin2006]

excellent news