leting agent issue - we will either freeze or bake this winter if they have their way

[tweenyb]

hiya

having just moved into a rental property we realised that the radiators arent working in 3 rooms, having caled the letting agent they sent out an engineer to take a look.

the engineer came out and poked around and said that the temperature control valves are broken and do not affix to the radiators. he told us he would order 3 new ones and that it will take about 2 weeks.

he asked if we wanted all the radiators left on, i said no as only a few weeks away ad the nights ar still warm but he ageed to leave the one on in the bathroom so that we could warm towels.
That was 5 weeks ago now.

Last momnday my husband contacted the ltting agent but was told our agent is off andwould call us the next day, tuesday came and we had no contact and no response when we called and left a message, the same on wednesday. Thursday we managed to get to speak to the estate agent weho contacted the repair guy. when she came back to us she simply said that the repair gu left all our radiatrs on and therefore we have heat if we switch the heating on. they will ot replace our valves.

not only is this not the case as he only left one valve on but we would like different heat settings in different rooms and do not want all the heaters on or off. ths effects us and our gas bill.
can they do this or do they have to supply the temp valves?

hope someone can help with a little advice?

they have already tried to stitch us up with the repair bills for issues caused by previous tenants and wont fi various faults in the property (roll on the end of contract)

[Mortartube]

I would suggest that you write to the letting agent and stipulate that if the repairs are not fully carried out in one month, you will be witholding the rent or a portion of the rent until thay have been. This is allowed in law and although I don't know what area you live in, there is some helpful advice here.

http://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/repair-private.htm#what_is_a_repair?

If you read under "Who is responsible for repairs" you will see that your Landlord has a legal duty to fix certain things, one of which is "Space Heating" i.e radiators.

[Mortartube]

Actually upon reading your text again, if they fail to carry out the repairs as required by law, you could tell themthat they are not only breaking the law but in breach of contract to provide a property that is fit to live in (You will probably find a similar clause in your tenancy agreement). This should be set out in writing and should leave you frree to terminate the agreement if you find a more suitable place and you should get your full deposit back. Tell them that their failure to comply with the law makes their contract null and void between you.

Threaten legal action if they fob you off. If your letting agent is a memeber of a professional body such as ARLA, complain to them too.