When I first moved in I noticed that there was never any hot water or heating in the middle of the day, but simply put this down to the number of people in the property and the subsequent problems this would cause. Annoying as it was, I didn’t believe anything could be done about it.
After some time I found the timer controls and realised that the hot water was actually switched off during the day. Since I realised that more hot water was actually needed by the house I began to change the settings, only to find that they would be changed back again on a Friday after the landlord had been.
The problem was exacerbated by the fact that my room being the last in sequence, the radiator seemed to fill more with air than it did water. I complained on a weekly basis to my landlord (especially during the winter when my room would never be warm), but rather than properly check the system out, he slightly bled my radiator and that was it.
I would be surprised if during last winter it got above 14 degrees in my room and at night it would be colder. I would regularly find myself wearing two pairs of socks, about four layers of clothing, a hat, gloves and scarf while inside!
Eventually to make a point I started setting the heating and hot water to come on all day, in order to bring about some warmth. This led to the landlord leaving a notice by the timer that by “his express orders, the timer was not to be changed”. This led me in turn to seek out legal advice via the internet at which I was told that this was arguably illegal.
I left a sign next to his, but when he next arrived, he simply removed it. I spoke to him about it at which he said that the gas bill would simply be too large if the heating was left on all day and it would not be worth him staying a landlord. I think that, if nothing else, tells you all you need to know about the man.
Thankfully by then I had acquired a better job, with better references and finances, and was able to afford to rent a property via an agency. My new landlord has been very helpful, friendly, and timely with rectifying faults
However I fear for those on lower incomes who will not be able to afford the much higher rents required for a decent service and will have to make do with landlords who are simply in it for the money.
I had a land lady once long time ago, who would switch off heat all together when she left. She also locked the room to the room with the thermostat. Now, I like it cold, but still it was cold even for me. I moved when I could to a much better place, too. Glad you found something better.
ReplyDelete