want can i do about the local housing office taking no notice about want i am saying about my mother heating?

Question

and fire not working propery i have reported many times to the housing office asnd they have said they would send some body down but have not come . i have even been to the advice centre and they phoned them up and they said the would come and they did not turn up please can you help me who can i go to that will will do something about it . i am banging my hewad on a brick wall

Answer 1

You need to report these issues in writing. The letter also needs to come from some one listed on the lease. If you are not on your mothers' lease, she will need to send the letter. They are not required to take complaints from someone that does not live there. You can't prove you made the complaint unless it is in writing.

Answer 2

Request that they send you temporary heaters immediately.

They will be using a contractor to do the repair. The unfortunate thing about that, is that they cannot give you an appointment because they cannot speak for someeone else. But the contractor will be sent a job order to visit the property, and they should call you or visit soon.

Gas fire issues are important, and heating is required to be provided by the landlord. They must check all gas appliances every year, and act upon your requests to check appliances at other times.

Ask them who the contractor is going to be, and call them directly. Ask them when they are likely to call.

Lastly, tell them you will contact the local press, and this usually makes them move a little faster.
Give them reasonable time to do the job, and rememeber that it is the weekend, so wait until Monday now.

Answer 3

If this is a Local Council or Housing Association, even a privately rented property, then ignore your MP. That is nonsense. You need to insist with the landlord i.e. the owner of the property, that they fulfil their legal obligations. If they do not do so then your mother should refuse to pay the rent (but you must keep that rent available in case they fulfil their obligations!). If your mother owns the house then I'm afraid it is your mother's responsibility. You can still apply for heating grants though.

By the way, for the guys that said "Write to your MP/local newspaper", I have some nice beach front property in Bedfordshire you might like. Have you ever tried visiting the planet Earth?

Answer 4

I had the same problem with my dad, his heating/hot water broke down at the beginning of march this year and it took well over 7 weeks for somebody to actually come down and fix it.
I phoned the local council, who in turn passed the buck and said it was down to the outside contractors, they in return blamed the council and still nobody would take responsibility.
I tried being nice and polite, that got me no where, i got very rude and abusive again that got me no where.
i screamed, shouted and in the end cried, and still no heating/hot water.
In the end i got in contact with my local Mp and asked her if this is how all council tenants were treated, i also contacted my dads GP and asked her to write a letter on behalf of him, he suffers with Chronic Airways Disease and needs heating/hot water.
I then called both the council and their contractors and told them in not so polite terms that if the situation was not resolved asap, i would be making a formal complaint and would contact my local news paper to let them know just exactly how their elderly tenants are treated, and how they had left an elderly, recentley widowed gentleman to boil pans of water on the gas stove just to have a wash, i also told them that as dads gas bill was going to be so high due to boiling pans on the stove every day, that i had contacted the gas company and asked for the gas bill to be sent to the council so they could pay it.
The very next day his heating/hot water was sorted and he received a grovelling apology letter.
Dont be fobbed off mate, stand your ground and fight your corner, if you have to be a bit of a nuisance then do it, once they realise your not going to go away and mean serious buisness they will pull their fingers out and do something about it!
Good luck

Answer 5

my friend is in exactly the same predicament, phoning up every day to get her mother's hot water sorted out. the poor woman has been without a cooker for 3 weeks, no heating, now no hot water.
the only thing that got through to them was threatening to sue because it is in breach of their contracts to allow people to live in these conditions.
sorry i cant be of any more help, but keep on at them.
good luck, i hope you get it sorted soon. x

Answer 6

get onto your MP about it

usually one phone call from them will embarrass the powers that be to do it

and failing that go to the local papers

embarrassment is the name of the game when a reasonable and concerted effort to get basic amen ties working is rebuffed

Answer 7

Is she old? Is she cold? If they're REALLY not taking any notice, go and see your MP in surgery. They'll have someone out in no time at all.

Answer 8

have you got a good local councillor, if so get them involved, afterall it is election fever so they will jump thru hoops for you, i got mine involved with the council and she soon got them moving, best of luck x.

Answer 9

go to your local councillor local radio and papers and keep on at them they wont do nothing other wise