Witholding Rent on Apartment

wardides

Just looking for some feedback on an issue I'm currently having. I'll try keep it short.

Living in rented apartment since summer 2016 and since we have been there, there has been various issues with our boiler. It's circa 12 years old, and before last April had not been serviced for several years (according to a professional). Heating would not come on one day (was during the summer so no big deal). He organised his own plumber to come out (it started working again in the meantime), who did several days later & serviced the boiler. Was in & out in 20 minutes. Asked him to fix the timer, said he would come back, never did. Couple of issues since with losing pressure, I repressurised & bled rads and worked.

On Saturday however, it stopped working. Baxi boiler, with flame failure error message. Would come on but not ignite. I text landlord & told him the issue, but that a friend of a friend would be up to have a look that day. Reply was no worries, let me know how you get on. Professional came up and could not figure out why it wouldn't work. He said he would be back following day with someone else to have a proper look. As the weather was almost freezing (should point out there are several draughts within the windows which we've filled ourselves, so even with heating not the coziest), we had no choice but to move back to one of our parents.

On Sunday, lad came & had another look. There for almost 2 hours. Told me a couple of issues, mainly around fuseboard. Estimated cost of around 500e to repair, but would recommend getting a new boiler as could repair and then several months later it could break again. Said he could have it sorted by Wed (once parts in). I told him i couldn't make the decision, would ring landlord on Mon. Filled landlord in on Mon & passed on plumbers number to landlord. Landlord told him no chance of getting a new boiler, and was shocked at the price of repairs. I then recieved a text from landlord on the Mon afternoon, saying he had his own plumber (no mention of this on sat when issue arose) who he would like to have a look at it tomorrow. Not ideal, as 2 of us work in Dub, but arranged for someone to be there today to have a look. Here's my issue.

Firstly, he will owe the lad a call out fee for Sun evening (I know I rang, but I had no choice and he never objected or offered to try solve himself). I'm assuming he can't argue this? Chap was there for about an hour on a Sunday night sure.

Secondly, no issue with him getting a second opinion to check price. However, if his plumber is there today, it could be Friday or Sat by the time heating is back, which means we will be gone a week. Am I being very naive to think it wouldn't be out of the question for me to not pay a weeks rent for this month? Considering the fact we have not been able to live there since! If we got back in on Wed I wouldn't be so petty. Would he be able to cancel our contract for doing so?

I'm also somewhat nervous about the plumber he has got out, as he serviced it fairly quickly last year and never once mentioned the state/age of the boiler!

Cheers in advance for any replies!

wardides

Just to add a bit more context to the issue I am renting theapartment with my partner since May 2016. Private Landlord, has a couple of apartments. Never had any hassles with him over the past. When we moved in, whoever had been there previous left the place in an absolute state. Over the past 18 months we have had a couple of small issues. Washing Machine broke recently, he brought out a new one he had in storage. I helped go collect & install it. Place was in dire need of a paint job (walls were grubby & marked, previous owner had a cat). We painted the place ourselves, agreed he would cover the cost of paint. Lock broke on front door, we replaced ourselves. Heating timer never worked, we replaced ourselves. Landlord informed about all decisions but we were happy to cover small costs & odd jobs we could do ourselves!

El_Duderino 09

Withholding rent isn’t the solution. Have you told LL you haven’t been able to live there without heat?

It’s fair enough for LL to want a second opinion but you might wasn’t to make sure he knows that you’re unable to live there until hearing is back on. So if he takes extra time by getting second/third opinion, then it’s fair enough for you to ask for money off the rent.

LL can’t fix it in a day, but they definitely should have fixed it within a week.

the_syco

wardides wrote: »

Firstly, he will owe the lad a call out fee for Sun evening (I know I rang, but I had no choice and he never objected or offered to try solve himself). I'm assuming he can't argue this? Chap was there for about an hour on a Sunday night sure.

You rang him, so you owe him the call out fee. You can ask the LL to pay, but as the guy didn't fix the issue, I'm unsure why the LL would.

wardides wrote: »

Am I being very naive to think it wouldn't be out of the question for me to not pay a weeks rent for this month?

If you withhold rent, the LL will probably issue you with a notice of rent arrears, with a view to evict you for failure to pay (full) rent..

wardides wrote: »

I'm also somewhat nervous about the plumber he has got out, as he serviced it fairly quickly last year and never once mentioned the state/age of the boiler!

You were the client of the plumber that you got, and so he tells you the info. The LL was the client of the plumber that he got, not you, so the plumber the LL got doesn't have to tell you anything.

wardides

the_syco wrote: »

You rang him, so you owe him the call out fee. You can ask the LL to pay, but as the guy didn't fix the issue, I'm unsure why the LL would.


You were the client of the plumber that you got, and so he tells you the info. The LL was the client of the plumber that he got, not you, so the plumber the LL got doesn't have to tell you anything.

Just on the top bit, the guy I called offered to fix the issue. LL just decided it was too busy. I told LL of the problem and said I could get someone local to come out (considering the weather). He never offered or mentioned getting his own plumber out during this stage. I wasn’t going to stay in a freezing property until he decided it was time to get someone out.

Just to be clear, I’ve got no issues with the landlord at all. Nor do I need or feel the need to push against paying my full rent. I just wanted to get a view on whether it would be unreasonable to refuse to pay for a week of rent when we’ve been forced to live elsewhere.

Pelvis

Could you not have gone and bought an electric heater to do you until the boiler is fixed? Moving out seems a bit drastic.