Serviced apartment or rented flat? Who fixes the heating, and what happens while you wait

Short answer: a serviced apartment is a stay you book. The rate usually covers a guest team, cleaning and bills, and the operator deals with faults and may move you. A rented flat is your home. Your landlord must repair the heating in your flat within a reasonable time, and we organise it, but heaters and hotel rooms are not automatic.

We still meet tenants who believe the flat they rent from us comes from a serviced apartment company. It is easy to see why. The homes we specialise in are modern new-builds, usually with a 24-hour concierge in the lobby and hotel-style bathrooms, and some come furnished. The difference shows on the first cold evening the heating stops. This post sets out who does what in each, what we do when your heating fails, and what is down to you while the repair is arranged.

What is the difference between a serviced apartment and a rented flat?

A serviced apartment sells you a looked-after stay. A rented flat is a home you run, with a landlord who must repair it and a team that organises the repairs.

What matters to you	Serviced apartment	A flat you rent from us
What you have	A stay on the operator's terms	Normally an assured periodic tenancy, with no end date
What the price covers	Usually bills, council tax, Wi-Fi, cleaning and linen	The home; council tax and bills are normally yours
Who answers at 10pm	Reception or the guest team, where staffed	James, our AI assistant, at any hour; out of hours we arrange emergencies only
No heating in January	The operator's team or contractor	Normally an emergency for us; we arrange the engineer and your landlord pays
A part has to be ordered	A move to another apartment, where the terms and availability allow	A temporary repair where possible, then the permanent repair at a booked slot
A temporary heater	Often provided, in our experience	Not automatic. If the repair will run past a few days, you can buy a basic heater with our OK and your landlord pays you back on receipt
Somewhere else to stay	Sometimes, under the booking terms	Discussed if the home cannot safely be lived in; no promise of a hotel
Cleaning	Weekly, at operator members of the Association of Serviced Apartment Providers	Yours
Your deposit	Whatever the booking terms say	Protected with the Tenancy Deposit Scheme within 30 days
Leaving	When the booking ends	Two months' notice in writing

Is my rented flat a serviced apartment?

No, not if you signed a tenancy agreement. Since 1 May 2026 a private assured tenancy in England runs on a rolling basis with no end date (section 4A of the Housing Act 1988, inserted by section 1 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025). A company let, where a business is the tenant, follows different rules (section 15 of our Essential Terms and Charges). You pay rent, normally monthly. We protect your deposit with the Tenancy Deposit Scheme within 30 days. You pay council tax and the utility bills unless your agreement says otherwise.

A serviced apartment is booked, and priced by the night, week or month. The rate usually includes the bills, Wi-Fi and cleaning: operator members of the Association of Serviced Apartment Providers must include weekly cleaning in the advertised price. The operator's own terms govern the stay, and some say so plainly. Locke's booking terms state that a stay "does not create any form of a tenancy".

Why does my building feel like a hotel?

Because a London new-build is run like one at the front door. In a typical block, a 24-hour concierge and an estate team look after the building around your flat. They take in parcels and can help with a booked contractor visit. They do not manage your tenancy, and a concierge holding a key is not permission for anyone to enter your home. Our Property DNA page describes the buildings we manage and how they are run.

Will my letting agent give me a temporary heater?

Not as a matter of course, and this is where expectations and reality part company most often. In our experience a serviced apartment team will often bring a heater or move you to another apartment, because keeping your stay going is the service you paid for. In a tenancy our job is to get the heating repaired. If that takes a day or so, you will usually keep warm your own way. If it will run past a few days, usually because a part has to be ordered, the practical answer is a basic plug-in heater that you can buy with our OK and your landlord pays back on receipt.

Here is how that works. When we know a repair will take that long, we offer it ourselves; you shouldn't have to chase it. Ask us before you buy if you can: we agree the cost with your landlord and confirm it to you in writing (sections 32.1 and 55 of our terms). Keep the receipt, send it to us with a photo of the heater, and your landlord pays you back. If you couldn't reach us first, keep the receipt anyway and tell us; a refund isn't automatic then, but we put it to your landlord. You never have to buy one: if you'd rather not, say so and we ask your landlord to provide a heater instead. And tell us if a young child, an older person or someone unwell lives with you, because that can make the repair itself more urgent.

Why your landlord pays: Shelter suggests asking the landlord for electric heaters when a repair takes time, and Wandsworth Council's guidance says landlords should provide them in winter while a boiler is repaired. If a repair takes longer than it reasonably should, Shelter also explains that you can ask your landlord to refund money the delay costs you. And the Property Redress Scheme, which handles complaints about letting agents, advises agents to find a solution for the meantime when a repair waits for parts. None of this changes your landlord's duty to repair within a reasonable time.

Who answers when the heating stops at 10pm?

In a serviced apartment, reception or the guest team, where it is staffed: some buildings run the front desk around the clock, and some operators advertise 24/7 emergency support. In a flat you rent from us, you report it to us at any hour: WhatsApp James, our AI assistant, on +44 7463 580011, or call 020 3865 1500.

James answers 24 hours a day, logs the fault, gives you a reference and tells you what happens next. For no heating in cold weather, call 020 3865 1500 straight away; don't wait for a reply to a message. Out of hours we deal with emergencies only; anything else is logged and arranged in working hours.

What happens when my heating fails?

We normally treat a total loss of heating between October and March, or a total loss of hot water, as an emergency (section 48 of our terms). The month is not a condition: the actual temperature, someone's health or a vulnerability can make it urgent at any time of year. We assess the risk and arrange a competent engineer, and making it safe does not wait for routine quotes.

An emergency visit may only make the system safe or get it going on a temporary repair. The permanent repair then follows at a booked appointment, normally a morning slot (8am to 12pm) or an afternoon slot (1pm to 5pm); tell us if neither works. We tell you who is coming and when, and we keep you updated until the job is done.

In a typical London new-build, heat and hot water come from a communal network through a heat interface unit in each flat. If the fault is in the building's network rather than in your flat, the repair is usually for the building's heat network operator or managing agent. We report it and chase it with them (section 64.7).

Why can the same repair take longer in a rented flat?

Because your landlord pays for it, and we spend their money under rules they have agreed. Within a spending limit, normally one week's rent, we choose and instruct routine repairs without waiting for the landlord to reply (section 10.2). Above it, we need their written approval before we commit. For work over £200 we normally obtain at least two comparable quotes, and over £1,500 at least three (section 47.1). Parts can take days to arrive, and fitting them can mean a second visit.

A serviced apartment operator runs maintenance as part of the stay, and one with other apartments may move you while a repair is done. Locke's terms reserve the right to move a guest to an equivalent apartment. That is part of what the nightly rate pays for.

Does my landlord have to fix the heating?

Yes. Your landlord must keep the installations for space heating and heating water in repair and proper working order (section 11(1)(c) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985), and must carry out the repair within a reasonable time of being told. Our approval rules never hold up urgent safety work (section 48 of our terms). Awaab's Law will add fixed timescales for private landlords, but section 60 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 is not yet in force and no date has been set; our Awaab's Law page tracks it. If a landlord ignores a repair, the environmental health team at your council can step in.

What is down to you while the repair is arranged?

Day-to-day care of the home is yours (section 57 of our terms), and so are a few practical steps while you wait: setting the controls, keeping a prepayment meter in credit (section 63.1), telling us what the building says, and being in for the engineer or having an adult you name there (section 49).

• Check the controls. Setting the thermostat, the timer and the heating controls is yours, and so is bleeding a radiator that stays cold at the top.
• Check the credit. If your heating or electricity runs on a prepayment account, a meter without credit is not a repair.
• Ask the building. The concierge or a neighbour may know if the whole block has lost heating. Tell us what they say.
• Send a photo. The boiler or heat interface unit display, with any error code, helps us send the right engineer first time.
• Keep the appointment. Be at home, or have an adult aged 18 or over you have named in writing there for you.
• Leave the repair to an engineer. Don't attempt plumbing or electrical work yourself.
• Smell gas? Leave the home and call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999 from a safe place, then tell us.

What's the point of renting through a managing agent, then?

You get a home, not a stay, and you pay rent rather than a rate that also funds a guest team, linen and weekly cleaning. Normally your tenancy rolls on with no end date, and your landlord can raise the rent only once a year, never in the first 12 months, and only with at least two months' notice on Form 4A; you can challenge the increase. Your landlord has a legal duty to repair the heating, the hot water, the plumbing and the structure. And you have a team that takes your report at any hour, treats an emergency as an emergency, instructs the engineer, gets the landlord's approval, checks the work and keeps you updated until it is finished. You pay nothing for us to organise a landlord's repair; our tenant fees schedule lists everything we can ask you to pay.

We won't promise you a hotel service we don't run. We won't tell you an engineer is coming tonight when the first slot is tomorrow morning, and we won't call a temporary fix finished.

Sources

• Harvey W James, Essential Terms and Charges 2.7.0, issued 9 November 2026: sections 5 (access), 10.2 (repair authority), 15 (company lets), 32.1 and 55 (a voluntary purchase for the landlord, agreed in writing first), 47.1 (quotes), 47.6 (an unsafe home: keep receipts; not every expense is reimbursable), 48 and 48.1 (urgent repairs), 49 (appointments), 57 (day-to-day care), 63.1 and 64.7 (prepayment meters and heat networks): https://www.harveywjames.com/essential-terms
• Harvey W James, renting with us (how to report a repair, emergencies, appointments, Awaab's Law): https://www.harveywjames.com/tenants
• Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, section 11: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1985/70/section/11
• Renters' Rights Act 2025, section 1 (inserting section 4A into the Housing Act 1988): https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2025/26/section/1
• GOV.UK, Private renting: your rights and responsibilities: https://www.gov.uk/private-renting/your-rights-and-responsibilities
• GOV.UK, Private renting: repairs: https://www.gov.uk/private-renting/repairs
• GOV.UK, Renters' Rights Act overview for tenants (updated 1 May 2026): https://www.gov.uk/guidance/renters-rights-act-overview-for-tenants
• Shelter, Landlord and tenant responsibilities for repairs: https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/repairs/landlord_and_tenant_responsibilities_for_repairs
• Shelter, How long should a private landlord take to do repairs: https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/repairs/how_long_should_a_private_landlord_take_to_do_repairs
• Shelter Legal, Heating, hot water and power problems: https://england.shelter.org.uk/professional_resources/legal/housing_conditions/responsibility_for_repairs/heating_hot_water_and_power_problems
• Shelter, Compensation for poor repairs and conditions: https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/repairs/compensation_for_disrepair_and_poor_conditions
• Property Redress Scheme, Boilers and heating (case study, 27 January 2026): https://www.propertyredress.co.uk/resources/boilers-and-heating
• Wandsworth Council, Broken boilers in private rented accommodation: https://wandsworth.gov.uk/housing/private-housing/private-housing-tenants/private-housing-repairs-and-maintenance/broken-boilers-in-private-rented-accommodation
• Association of Serviced Apartment Providers, Operator Members Code of Conduct: https://www.theasap.org.uk/code-of-conduct
• Serviced apartment terms and services, as examples: Locke terms and conditions, clauses 11.1, 11.3 and 12: https://www.lockeliving.com/en/terms-and-conditions · GPO short lets: https://www.gpo.london/short-lets/ · Cheval Gloucester Park: https://www.chevalcollection.com/cheval-gloucester-park/contact-us/ · Urban Stay relocation and extended stays: https://www.urban-stay.co.uk/our-service/relocation-and-extended-stay/ · Hybrid Resi: https://hybridresi.com/

Every page above was read on 13 November 2026.

Renting with us? Report a repair to James on WhatsApp (+44 7463 580011) or call 020 3865 1500, at any hour. The renting with us page sets out the whole process. Looking for a home? Our current flats are at homes to rent.

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