Freezing Apartment

Gumbo · 20-11-2019 12:06pm

Saudades wrote: »

Is there an online register somewhere to check when an apartment building was built?

You can search the planning site to see when it got planning.
Get the reference number and then check the commencement notice register which gives you the exact start date.

Ray Palmer · 20-11-2019 1:46pm

This is all very simple. The building regs determined the minimum standard of building at the time of construction. When renting you can see the BER to decide to rent or not that place. You cannot insist the landlord bring it to a higher standard.

The reason storage heaters are so prevalent is the building regs insist each household has control of their heating. That means no shared heating facilities are allowed thus developers put in what satisfied the regulation. There is no way the regulations will be changed for existing buildings.

That is it nothing else to discuss.

s7ryf3925pivug · 20-11-2019 1:53pm

easy to change regulations for existing buildings. You cannot make changes to your own house that affect more than 25% of its area without also bringing it up to b2 ber rating. Easy to say landlords have to bring all rentals up to a base rating within a given timeframe and fine them if they don't. Rents are sky high at the moment so they have the means to do it.

cnocbui · 20-11-2019 1:57pm

CosmicFool wrote: »

I'm renting the apt. I'll look into those infra red heaters though. Thanks.

Hands down, the quickest and best way to heat a room in your situation are electric fan heaters. They are cheap to buy, efficient and very fast. Obviously their operating costs are more than some other options but those all require high capital investment.

Mezzotint · 20-11-2019 2:25pm

The reason storage heaters are and were so popular with developers was they’re significantly cheaper to install and had no legal requirements for regular maintenance, unlike gas. It’s as simple as that.

They’re often a very poor source of heat and you’d need to have a degree in thermodynamics to work out the controls on most of them, and that’s if they even work at all.

I found a lot of them are misunderstood to be just regular electric on demand heaters (especially by people who’ve never encountered them before and they’re unheard of outside of Ireland and Britain). So people don’t realise they’re supposed to charge over night and screw up the timers and so on.

A lot of people (most people) also have no idea what the input and output dials are or how you should set them. Often they’ll have the input and output set high, so the heater will charge over night and dump all its heat by lunch time. So you’ve a very hot house in the morning and no heat at all in the evenings.

Others have complicated fan assistance boosts and even day rate supplementary heating built in.

They’re insanely complicated to figure out. Maybe modern electronic controls might help, but you rarely see them.

My experience of them is they’re never maintained - broken dampers, damaged thermostats, damaged timers, often the heaters are full of lint too and they’re often completely misunderstood and incorrectly configured.

Also replacing the classic and ridiculous Irish or British immersion - An under sized, uninsulated cooper cylinder with a modern continental style super insulated larger unit (the ones that look about the size of a fridge freezer and are white exteriors) tends to mean you’ve adequate on demand hot water and massively reduces costs as they are like a thermos flask and don’t lose heat. How the hell anyone ever though the old fashioned immersion cylinder was an acceptable system is beyond me. You just lose all the heat to the “hot press”, which is why it’s so hot!

There’s a reason you hardly ever encounter storage heating in a house - no home owner would put up with it!

Gumbo · 20-11-2019 2:43pm

Alaric Enough Potassium wrote: »

Day to change regulations for existing buildings. You cannot make changes to your own house that affect more than 25% of its area without also bringing it up to b2 ber rating. Easy to say landlords have to bring all rentals up to a base rating within a given timeframe and fine them if they don't. Rents are sky high at the moment so they have the means to do it.

Are you even remotely aware of how much it would cost to bring a typical D rated dwelling up to a B rating?

You cannot and should not retrospectively apply old regulations to home owners, private or landlords.

Idbatterim · 20-11-2019 2:49pm

Op lidl have convector heaters for e45 with timer, Digital thermostat and remote control ...

Idbatterim · 20-11-2019 2:52pm

kceire wrote: »

Are you even remotely aware of how much it would cost to bring a typical D rated dwelling up to a B rating?

You cannot and should not retrospectively apply old regulations to home owners, private or landlords.

The previous house I was In and being gouged for , didn’t have any attic insulation. Like this place. It’s taking the absolute piss. At the very least , decent loft insulation should be law. Very quick , cheap , non invasive and effective ...

Mezzotint · 20-11-2019 3:38pm

Apart from being gouged, it should be required from an environmental point of view. It's a massive waste of energy otherwise.

SozBbz · 20-11-2019 3:44pm

Mezzotint wrote: »

Apart from being gouged, it should be required from an environmental point of view. It's a massive waste of energy otherwise.

This is coming down the line for everyone - landlords and owner occupiers of older buildings alike.

I think there will have to be some significant incentives to help pay as a lot of people wouldnt be able to afford it.

cnocbui · 20-11-2019 3:50pm

Perhaps the government should make the tax on rental income of landlords, inversely proportional to the BER rating. The higher the BER, the lower the tax.

Gumbo · 20-11-2019 4:25pm

cnocbui wrote: »

Perhaps the government should make the tax on rental income of landlords, inversely proportional to the BER rating. The higher the BER, the lower the tax.

Not a chance.

Ray Palmer · 20-11-2019 4:39pm

Idbatterim wrote: »

The previous house I was In and being gouged for , didn’t have any attic insulation. Like this place. It’s taking the absolute piss. At the very least , decent loft insulation should be law. Very quick , cheap , non invasive and effective ...

Which is all expense and hassle to the landlord. If you want them to do it get the government to give tax breaks as the already take 51% on all rental income unless you are a REIT.

You paid the market rate that is not gouging. If it was so cheap and easy to do why didn't you do it?

Idbatterim · 20-11-2019 4:57pm

Ray Palmer wrote: »

Which is all expense and hassle to the landlord. If you want them to do it get the government to give tax breaks as the already take 51% on all rental income unless you are a REIT.

You paid the market rate that is not gouging. If it was so cheap and easy to do why didn't you do it?

I moved out of the kip! You think buying a few rolls of loft insulation and going up there and cutting them and sticking them down is much effort or money for the landlord or getting it spray foamed? Compared to that kip which is now renting for E2000 a month :rolleyes: The greed knows no bounds!

Would you charge market rent to a tenant and not provide even the most basic easy to install insulation?

Literally all my mates just moved back home to save and buy, renting here is comedy! the rents are obscene, the quality of the buildings is a comedy act!

Gumbo · 20-11-2019 5:36pm

Idbatterim wrote: »

I moved out of the kip! You think buying a few rolls of loft insulation and going up there and cutting them and sticking them down is much effort or money for the landlord or getting it spray foamed? Compared to that kip which is now renting for E2000 a month :rolleyes: The greed knows no bounds!

Would you charge market rent to a tenant and not provide even the most basic easy to install insulation?

Literally all my mates just moved back home to save and buy, renting here is comedy! the rents are obscene, the quality of the buildings is a comedy act!

And that’s the choice you have.
If enough of the bad stock is left then they will be forced by market conditions to upgrade.

This reminds me of the old public sector V private sector threads on this board over the years. The same thing was said by the PS haters, market force decides the PrvS wages so let market forces decide rent.

There should be tax breaks or grant schemes for landlords to upgrade but there’s not at the moment. If there was some form of grants or tax off sets then I’d guess many would upgrade.

Doop · 20-11-2019 5:39pm

Ray Palmer wrote: »

Which is all expense and hassle to the landlord. If you want them to do it get the government to give tax breaks as the already take 51% on all rental income unless you are a REIT.

Eh...There are grants!!
https://www.seai.ie/grants/home-energy-grants/insulation-grants/

Who can apply
All homeowners, including landlords, whose homes were built and occupied before 2006 can apply. Homes built from 2006 onwards should have been constructed to the 2003 Building Regulations and should not need significant upgrades. This is defined as the date your electricity meter was installed.

Idbatterim wrote: »

Literally all my mates just moved back home to save and buy, renting here is comedy! the rents are obscene, the quality of the buildings is a comedy act!

Where exactly are your mates going to buy? seeing as all the buildings are a joke... must all be purchasing abroad...? :rolleyes:

Idbatterim · 20-11-2019 5:57pm

Doop wrote: »

Eh...There are grants!!
https://www.seai.ie/grants/home-energy-grants/insulation-grants/

Where exactly are your mates going to buy? seeing as all the buildings are a joke... must all be purchasing abroad...? :rolleyes:

most of the apartment buildings are comedy. they are buying houses. Given that its a total free for all here, when it comes to disturbing neighbours with noise or being antisocial etc, as if any of the authorities here will do anything about it. The sound insulation etc with apartments here is a farce, at least if you buy a house, the worst is noise from both sides, in an apartment, it can come from everywhere!

lifts out of action, kids taking the piss in communal areas etc. Many not paying the management fee, the usual!

Seanachai · 20-11-2019 6:06pm

Idbatterim wrote: »

most of the apartment buildings are comedy. they are buying houses. Given that its a total free for all here, when it comes to disturbing neighbours with noise or being antisocial etc, as if any of the authorities here will do anything about it. The sound insulation etc with apartments here is a farce, at least if you buy a house, the worst is noise from both sides, in an apartment, it can come from everywhere!

lifts out of action, kids taking the piss in communal areas etc. Many not paying the management fee, the usual!

I've been through the wringer with noise issues, I think the culprit could be gone though, she hasn't been heard of for a month now, fingers crossed. My building is old but the landlord pays for the gas heating for the winter, it's cold in the mornings but not too bad in the evenings. I'm amazed at how cold and damp some of my friends modern apartments are though.

Idbatterim · 20-11-2019 7:32pm

Seanachai wrote: »

I've been through the wringer with noise issues, I think the culprit could be gone though, she hasn't been heard of for a month now, fingers crossed. My building is old but the landlord pays for the gas heating for the winter, it's cold in the mornings but not too bad in the evenings. I'm amazed at how cold and damp some of my friends modern apartments are though.

in general, you'd be off your rocker to buy an apartment in this country, unless you have no alternative!

Gumbo · 20-11-2019 7:47pm

Newer apartments are not so bad. Especially with the updated sound regulations and sound transmission tests required.

Idbatterim · 20-11-2019 7:55pm

kceire wrote: »

Newer apartments are not so bad. Especially with the updated sound regulations and sound transmission tests required.

they have the regulations, but are they still working to self certification?

Gumbo · 20-11-2019 9:54pm

Idbatterim wrote: »

they have the regulations, but are they still working to self certification?

Kind of.
The developer still engages the professional for design, inspection and certification but they have to apply for a Completion of Compliance on Certificate from Building Control, and in Dublin, every multi unit gets inspected. Part of the CCC process is demonstrating compliance with various requirements and the actual sound test results are requested as part of that.

Deanzoggggg · 20-11-2019 11:26pm

cnocbui wrote: »

Perhaps the government should make the tax on rental income of landlords, inversely proportional to the BER rating. The higher the BER, the lower the tax.

Carbon taxes do that, but with less bureaucracy, which is why the technocrats encourage them.

s7ryf3925pivug · 20-11-2019 11:32pm

kceire wrote: »

Are you even remotely aware of how much it would cost to bring a typical D rated dwelling up to a B rating?

You cannot and should not retrospectively apply old regulations to home owners, private or landlords.

I guess I’ll find out as I am now required by law to do just that if I want to extend my house the way I planned before I bought it.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/new-energy-rules-for-home-renovations-and-extensions-1.4031816

L1011 · 20-11-2019 11:51pm

Alaric Enough Potassium wrote: »

I guess I’ll find out as I am now required by law to do just that if I want to extend my house the way I planned before I bought it.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/new-energy-rules-for-home-renovations-and-extensions-1.4031816

I have a feeling the "or cost optimal level" thing is going to be a catch all get out on that.

Gumbo · 20-11-2019 11:56pm

Alaric Enough Potassium wrote: »

I guess I’ll find out as I am now required by law to do just that if I want to extend my house the way I planned before I bought it.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/new-energy-rules-for-home-renovations-and-extensions-1.4031816

Cost optimal.
Anyone going to that amount of work are already most likely upgrading windows, boiler and fabric insulation so it’s not as big a shock as one would think.

Remember it’s a calculation. If your agent can demonstrate the cost to upgrade is not optimal then it doesn’t need to happen.

Deanzoggggg · 21-11-2019 12:13am

Alaric Enough Potassium wrote: »

I guess I’ll find out as I am now required by law to do just that if I want to extend my house the way I planned before I bought it.

It is a pretty wacky piece of law. It has been described by industry insiders as 'tragic'. Be as cute as you can. you might get some easy gains with LED lighting and easy to fill draughts in your hot press. Up your loft insulation to 400mm +. If you can get pics of your pipe system that can help. These are things that anyone can upgrade. If you get good airtightness you could get a decentralised heat recovery cheaply enough which would help and only once you nail invest in windows etc

fash · 21-11-2019 7:26am

Now in order to achieve a rent increase above 4% in an RPZ one of the almost certainly necessary steps to making a"substantial change" to the existing accommodation is to increase the insulation (as part of increasing the BER). If the landlord increases the insulation outside of such a targeted attempt to achieve a substantial change- the landlord is likely to make it impossible to ever later be able to achieve a substantial change.
In fact it would be a better approach for the landlord to remove any heating systems or even insulation and disimprove the existing situation to the maximum extent allowable by law - in order to make it easier to then make a "substantial change" easier to achieve.

(Rent control creates lots of perverse incentives.)

Ray Palmer · 21-11-2019 1:47pm

Idbatterim wrote: »

I moved out of the kip! You think buying a few rolls of loft insulation and going up there and cutting them and sticking them down is much effort or money for the landlord or getting it spray foamed? Compared to that kip which is now renting for E2000 a month :rolleyes: The greed knows no bounds!

Would you charge market rent to a tenant and not provide even the most basic easy to install insulation?

Literally all my mates just moved back home to save and buy, renting here is comedy! the rents are obscene, the quality of the buildings is a comedy act!

You have no idea if that landlord is meeting costs of providing the accommodation. Straight away more than half is taken in tax, would a mortgage have been greater than €1000?

You talk of greed but expect a landlord to take added expense to make your heating bill cheaper! You were renting the place and knew the BER before renting and then greedily expect the LL to spend money so you have a higher BER that you didn't pay to have.

Where do you think you are going to get a property that has the building standards you want? You can buy a new property but even then it probably won't match what you want. The vast amount of accommodation in Ireland does not meet current building regs. You want LL to provide a higher standard than their own homes and higher than the actual standard build here.

I am a landlord and I have replaced the windows and put external insulation on the buildings. Great expense even with grants. When doing this one of the tenants insisted I put them up in a hotel. Politely informed them I will not do the work at all and evict them first then do the work if they would prefer. So you talk of LL greed I point to tenant greed.

As some tenants were there a long time I didn't raise the rent. The government reward this by capping the rent. Not only that it means the property beside is charging more rent for a poorer quality property. So I will not spend any more money on the property as it is not financially viable.

katiek102010 · 21-11-2019 1:52pm

We have this with our rental, a house. There is no insulation in parts of attic and landlord not interested.

Elec blanks on all beds and even on sofa. Heat just disappears when fire/heating is off

s7ryf3925pivug · 21-11-2019 3:12pm

Deanzoggggg wrote: »

It is a pretty wacky piece of law. It has been described by industry insiders as 'tragic'. Be as cute as you can. you might get some easy gains with LED lighting and easy to fill draughts in your hot press. Up your loft insulation to 400mm +. If you can get pics of your pipe system that can help. These are things that anyone can upgrade. If you get good airtightness you could get a decentralised heat recovery cheaply enough which would help and only once you nail them, invest in windows which have mad embodied carbon anyway etc

Well carbon in the windows is carbon that is not in the atmosphere, so embodied carbon is good rather than bad. Carbon emissions produced during production is damaging on the other hand, and would want to be less than the saved emissions from using the product.

s7ryf3925pivug · 21-11-2019 3:15pm

Ray Palmer wrote: »

You have no idea if that landlord is meeting costs of providing the accommodation. Straight away more than half is taken in tax, would a mortgage have been greater than €1000?

You talk of greed but expect a landlord to take added expense to make your heating bill cheaper! You were renting the place and knew the BER before renting and then greedily expect the LL to spend money so you have a higher BER that you didn't pay to have.

Where do you think you are going to get a property that has the building standards you want? You can buy a new property but even then it probably won't match what you want. The vast amount of accommodation in Ireland does not meet current building regs. You want LL to provide a higher standard than their own homes and higher than the actual standard build here.

I am a landlord and I have replaced the windows and put external insulation on the buildings. Great expense even with grants. When doing this one of the tenants insisted I put them up in a hotel. Politely informed them I will not do the work at all and evict them first then do the work if they would prefer. So you talk of LL greed I point to tenant greed.

As some tenants were there a long time I didn't raise the rent. The government reward this by capping the rent. Not only that it means the property beside is charging more rent for a poorer quality property. So I will not spend any more money on the property as it is not financially viable.

The mortgage repayment isn't all an expense, only the interest portion of it is. Mortgage interest is never going to be anywhere near 1k a month on a 2k rental.

Idbatterim · 21-11-2019 3:31pm

do you heat the apartment at night op? or just the bedroom etc?

Ray Palmer · 21-11-2019 5:11pm

Alaric Enough Potassium wrote: »

The mortgage repayment isn't all an expense, only the interest portion of it is. Mortgage interest is never going to be anywhere near 1k a month on a 2k rental.

Not true, the mortgage is an expense to the LL regardless. Only the interest is allowed to be written off as an expense the landlord still has to pay it.

Expecting a LL to incur extra expenses to lower the tenants bills is greed. They don't have to do it and why should they?

s7ryf3925pivug · 22-11-2019 9:20am

Ray Palmer wrote: »

Not true, the mortgage is an expense to the LL regardless. Only the interest is allowed to be written off as an expense the landlord still has to pay it.

Expecting a LL to incur extra expenses to lower the tenants bills is greed. They don't have to do it and why should they?

It's not an expense, you are paying off something you bought. No loss is incurred outside of fluctuations in the value of the property, which is how you chose to invest your money.

CosmicFool · 24-11-2019 7:13pm

So an update.. I contacted The Landlord and the Management company. The landlord came out and had a look at the attic yesterday. She was "shocked" that there wasn't any insulation. I had a good look around the attic and it looks like there was at one point some fibreglass insulation as there are little bits left all over the attic. We've come to the conclusion that either previous tenants have taken the insulation or it was taken out by builders or the landlord herself took it. Obviously that's my assumption. The management has yet to get back to me and the Landlord.
Landlord was very sympathetic of the situation and said she'll try and solve the issue. She did mention how cold the apt was as I purposely left off the heating so she would feel how cold the place gets.
I do think the landlord will do something. She did say she's not sure if it is herself or the management company that needs to get in insulation but she did say that she'll ring them first thing on Monday.
Seems like she is legit and willing to help anyways but time will tell I guess.

antix80 · 24-11-2019 7:25pm

Good on you op

I'll tell you story.

When my gran died i bought out her house. I immediately regretted it as it was bloody freezing upstairs. The radiators upstairs barely heated the room and mildew grew on the walls. Which surprised me as i knew the wall cavities had been filled in her lifetime.

Well, a plumber told me the heating system wasnt up to scratch and given the general disrepair of the place i decided to rewire, install insulated slabs on external walls, and replace the windows with triple glaze (plus. Converting a window to patio doors)

When the door was cut, we realised there was no insulation in the walls. They drilled holes and pumped a tiny amount in, but just for appearances. My poor gran lived there from age 70-odd to 80 in freezing cold because some government scheme, run by the local council, decided to save a few hundred by turning up and doing a cowboy job.

CollyFlower · 24-11-2019 11:29pm

I remember, when I was a child we used to have an open fire in one room, they'd be 8 of us huddled around it, and that was the only heat we had in a 3 storey house.

Graces7 · 25-11-2019 8:04am

CollyFlower wrote: »

I remember, when I was a child we used to have an open fire in one room, they'd be 8 of us huddled around it, and that was the only heat we had in a 3 storey house.

That was how we grew up too. The only time there was ever any heating upstairs was if we were ill in bed.

Central heating was unheard of.

Even now I live with very little heating; a small pension breeds ultra care. Extra clothes.. hot water bottles.. When a rental has had central heating I never used it, nor storage heaters.

listermint · 25-11-2019 8:15am

Alaric Enough Potassium wrote: »

Spray foam never finishes off-gassing. So if you have an attic full of it then it is continuously emitting formaldehyde. formaldehyde is a little denser than air so it falls down into your house.

But it's not used in most spray foams these days.. did his come from Facebook ?

s7ryf3925pivug · 25-11-2019 8:46am

listermint wrote: »

But it's not used in most spray foams these days.. did his come from Facebook ?

Don't remember; wouldnt have been Facebook. Pretty sure it was about SPF and not UFFI. It might or might not have said formaldehyde specifically, but VOCs. I might have inferred formaldehyde from that.

Alf Veedersane · 25-11-2019 8:54am

listermint wrote: »

But it's not used in most spray foams these days.. did his come from Facebook ?

Maybe not formaldehyde but there are concerns although beijg studied further on other VOCs from spray-applied polyurethane foam, which would be what some foams are.

https://passivehouseplus.ie/blogs/new-research-raises-spray-foam-health-questions

listermint · 28-11-2019 4:46pm

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Maybe not formaldehyde but there are concerns although beijg studied further on other VOCs from spray-applied polyurethane foam, which would be what some foams are.

https://passivehouseplus.ie/blogs/new-research-raises-spray-foam-health-questions

Arent their VOC's (in abundance) in the paint you put on all your bedroom walls / living rooms / kitchens.

I dont see anyone here not painting their walls. Whats the difference between Low VOC and what sprat foam may give off ?

Still sounds like Facebook stuff. is their concrete studies on this

Alf Veedersane · 28-11-2019 6:16pm

listermint wrote: »

Arent their VOC's (in abundance) in the paint you put on all your bedroom walls / living rooms / kitchens.

I dont see anyone here not painting their walls. Whats the difference between Low VOC and what sprat foam may give off ?

Still sounds like Facebook stuff. is their concrete studies on this

The studies are referenced in the link.

The type of impact on health and the extent it impacts on health depend on a number of factors, including level of exposure and length of time exposed.

But yes, there are VOCs in a whole host of materials used in the home. But again, there are degrees of potential impact depending on the persistence and level of VOCs.

s7ryf3925pivug · 28-11-2019 6:48pm

listermint wrote: »

Arent their VOC's (in abundance) in the paint you put on all your bedroom walls / living rooms / kitchens.

I dont see anyone here not painting their walls. Whats the difference between Low VOC and what sprat foam may give off ?

Still sounds like Facebook stuff. is their concrete studies on this

There's not a whole lot of VOCs in water based paint usually. There can be very high levels in gloss paint. It's usually a bad idea to use lots of gloss paint indoors and the can will usually warm you about this.

There are VOCs in furniture especially in fibreboard. It is in the glue mainly. Mattresses are another major culprit.

There was a John Oliver segment this year looking at a potential link between fire retardants in baby mattresses and SIDS.

Hexavalent chrome is a bigger deal again. That is in most tile cement and also in gloss paint.

Sheepdish1 · 28-11-2019 11:43pm

CosmicFool wrote: »

God the apartments in Ireland are ****. There has to be a better way to heat an apartment than ****ty expensive storage heaters.
Had a look in the attic of out apartment and the insulation is non existent. How did they get a way with it.

Storage heaters are rubbish in my opinion, they are great for offices but are warmest when they are not needed and most heat has gone by 9pm! I find the best way is to wear plenty of layers and warm clothes particularly in older apartments!

Curious1002 · 03-12-2019 11:10pm

Signing a lease in the summer gave you no chance to know what problems with insulation you will experience in the winter. Therefore it's a good case to terminate your lease with no penalty whatsoever.

1. Free FLAC solicitor (by appointments only) will be able to advise on particular steps.
2. Keep a record of your correspondence with the landlord.
3. If you already contacted the management company - keep a record of it too.
4. Give the LL and the mgt. company only 3 days to respond and request them to visit the house/apt. It's winter - you can't suffer just because they take the time to reply and purposely delay you. Remember that the issue is a cost for them so they will do everything to delay the resolution. They will act quicker if they realise that you mean business.
5. Contact RTB and Threshold and tell them about the issue. They will have a log of your call/email and will advise on the procedures.
6. Finally, if approved by RTB, give your landlord a 2-week notice for refusing to act on emergency and let him know that you are in touch and guided by RTB.
7. Log an official dispute with RTB re: "Breach of Landlord obligations" and "Deposit retention", if applicable.
8. Keep a copy of all the bills re: extra heating and add to the RTB dispute. Electric Ireland (on request) will provide you with their estimation per year/month while you will show how much in fact you paid. If it's a significant difference, it will be taken into consideration for a cost return. If you log an official dispute while still living there, go ahead and use all the heating equipment you can/have - you have a strong case to guarantee the return of the cost as long as you can show a history of the problem, reports to LL and the lack of action.

Good Luck!

Gumbo · 04-12-2019 12:07am

Curious1002 wrote: »

Signing a lease in the summer gave you no chance to know what problems with insulation you will experience in the winter. Therefore it's a good case to terminate your lease with no penalty whatsoever.

1. Free FLAC solicitor (by appointments only) will be able to advise on particular steps.
2. Keep a record of your correspondence with the landlord.
3. If you already contacted the management company - keep a record of it too.
4. Give the LL and the mgt. company only 3 days to respond and request them to visit the house/apt. It's winter - you can't suffer just because they take the time to reply and purposely delay you. Remember that the issue is a cost for them so they will do everything to delay the resolution. They will act quicker if they realise that you mean business.
5. Contact RTB and Threshold and tell them about the issue. They will have a log of your call/email and will advise on the procedures.
6. Finally, if approved by RTB, give your landlord a 2-week notice for refusing to act on emergency and let him know that you are in touch and guided by RTB.
7. Log an official dispute with RTB re: "Breach of Landlord obligations" and "Deposit retention", if applicable.
8. Keep a copy of all the bills re: extra heating and add to the RTB dispute. Electric Ireland (on request) will provide you with their estimation per year/month while you will show how much in fact you paid. If it's a significant difference, it will be taken into consideration for a cost return. If you log an official dispute while still living there, go ahead and use all the heating equipment you can/have - you have a strong case to guarantee the return of the cost as long as you can show a history of the problem, reports to LL and the lack of action.

Good Luck!

I’m sorry, but this post is not real life.

Curious1002 · 04-12-2019 10:35am

Any input is valid.

Gumbo · 04-12-2019 10:38am

Curious1002 wrote: »

Any input is valid.

Of course, but the input has to have some relevance. What you posted is not what will happen in real life.

Freezing Apartment

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