As I put another log on the fire, and push a blanket against the bottom of the door to stop the draught, my mind turns inevitably to the Housing Heath and Safety Rating System and excess cold.
As you will all know, Local Authorities have a responsibility to check up on all properties in their area (if asked) and test them against the standards of the Housing Health and Safety Rating System.
This checks a property against a number (29 actually) of specified hazards. Hazards range from damp and mould growth, radiation, falls, and food safety, but perhaps the most important one right now is excess cold.
If a property does not have adequate heating this is a danger to the health and safety of all who live there, particularly if they are very old or very young. It will be the duty of any Environmental Health Officer who inspects it to serve an improvement notice on the landlord ordering him to bring the property up to standard.
So if your rented home has three inch gaps under all the doors, no insulation and only a small one bar electric fire, you might want to give your Environmental Health Officer a ring (our Local Authority Directory can help you contact them) and ask him to come out and do an inspection.
If he can get there through the snow and ice that is.