No water in apartment, landlord pretends he can't do anything... ?

UFOGBear

Hey,

I moved into a flat 6 months ago, and since a few weeks, an uncomfortable problem occurs: randomly, hot water runs out, and there is either only cold water or no water at all in the appartment. This last for the whole night, and sometimes it's back in the morning, sometimes not. It happened once or twice over the first few months, and now it happens something like 3 days a week. The only water that works is the cold water from the kitchen, and nothing works in the bathroom.
The first time I called my landlord, he just said he will have a look at the water tank. When the problem got more serious, I texted him many times, and he either didn't answer, or only answered a few days later saying he would come over and check. Another time I managed to reach him, he said it was due to pressure variations and he couldn't do anything about it. I talked to other neighbours, and they seem to have hot water issues too, and didn't get much from him.
I know he knows about this issue cause one day he said "this usually only happens a little bit in winter", and I highly suspects he just doesn't give a ****, and he expects that if I'm not happy the way it is, then I'll just move out and he'll find someone else, which is sadly an easy situation for him.
The thing is I can't really afford to move out, and the apartment is very good, but I can't decently keep going like this... is there anything I can do to push him to do something?
I only signed a handwritten lease when moving in, and we only pay cash, so I assume there is not much that's really "official" in this business...
If some of you encountered a similar situation, I'd be happy to hear about your experience...

Thank you!

foggy_lad

It sounds like you have a blockage in the water tank in the attic. This could be anything at all from a bit of the attic insulation after falling into the water to a dead mouse or pigeon.

The_Conductor

foggy_lad wrote: »

It sounds like you have a blockage in the water tank in the attic. This could be anything at all from a bit of the attic insulation after falling into the water to a dead mouse or pigeon.

Or even something as innocuous as recurring air blockages. One way or the other- the absence of running water on a recurrent basis, is a serious issue- and one that the landlord is duty bound to remedy. I would suggest that you offer him the option of having his own plumber solve the issue by (pick a day 3 or 4 days into the future), after this date you will get your own plumber to resolve the issue, and deduct the cost of same from the following months rent.

This is not on.

ANXIOUS

Do you live in Dublin 15?

ted1

Having cold water means the supply is ok, it's probably an air block or poor gravity fed system which requires a pump. To be honest as a landlord its next to impossible to find a good plumber who can fix the system without throwing a couple of k at it. But as a tenants perspective its irrelevant as the land lord has a duty to fulfil. But it is something he can fix

UFOGBear

Thanks for your answers. I live in Dublin 8 actually (Portobello). There are 9 apartments in the building, and at least 4 are affected (that I talked with) so I assume it's the whole building. I guess even if it's an expensive thing to fix, it's still do-able considering the huge amount of cash we all give him every month.
In the case of the landlord never lifting a finger (which is likely, this guy is involved in one single thing: the rent day), do you guys know what can be legally done in such cases, knowing that it's all cash and there is no official or 'approved' type of lease?
If it's indeed that expensive, getting our own plumber would be something all tenants would have to chip in for, not that easy to set up.

chrismon

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/housing/renting_a_home/repairs_maintenance_and_minimum_physical_standards.html
Have a look through this.
It says the landlord must supply hot and cold water.
You can complain to the local authority about the situation
It might be expensive to fix but that's not your problem!

ANXIOUS

Same things were happening to me and it was the water pump.

sohappy

Sounds like low mains water pressure, the pressure is at its lowest at the highest point in the building ie.at the header tank, if the 4 flats are getting their supply from the same tank its probally not filling quick enough, either install a pump to up the mains pressure or add an extra header tank to increase the reserve of water

Koptain Liverpool

You should tell him that from next month on you will be withholding your payment of rent until the problem is fixed. He's not fulfilling his responsibilities so neither should you