Renting privately - damp

Pamela1705

Hello all you lovely moneysaving experts

I wonder if I could ask for the benefit of your collective experiences about renting privately. Basically, we live in a really nice area of Manchester, in a former council block of flats. The flat itself is lovely and spacious, and we were really chuffed with the landlords - great guys who live round the corner and really looked after us when we first moved in. They brought us wine and flowers, and even just the other week, they brought us a houseplant.

We only pay £400 a month for the 1-bed property, which I know sounds like a lot, but it is in a lovely area of Manchester and that was two years ago - we had just moved from London where we paid double that!

But the flat has really really bad damp. There is black mould on the walls, which I clean constantly, and the windows are constantly steamed up. It's pretty minging. We know that they are aware of the problem because there was an electric dehumidifier in the cupboard when we arrived, but it costs a fortune to run on electric and doesn't make that much difference anyway.

I dropped them a really nice email a few weeks ago making them aware of the extent of the problem, but I haven't even had a reply.

We don't want to rock the boat, especially because they have been so good to us over the past two years, but we are really unhappy and want to ask for a rent reduction. Is this advisable and if so, what's the best way of doing it to retain our good relationship?

barnaby-bear

Pamela1705 wrote: »

Hello all you lovely moneysaving experts

I wonder if I could ask for the benefit of your collective experiences about renting privately. Basically, we live in a really nice area of Manchester, in a former council block of flats. The flat itself is lovely and spacious, and we were really chuffed with the landlords - great guys who live round the corner and really looked after us when we first moved in. They brought us wine and flowers, and even just the other week, they brought us a houseplant.

We only pay £400 a month for the 1-bed property, which I know sounds like a lot, but it is in a lovely area of Manchester and that was two years ago - we had just moved from London where we paid double that!

But the flat has really really bad damp. There is black mould on the walls, which I clean constantly, and the windows are constantly steamed up. It's pretty minging. We know that they are aware of the problem because there was an electric dehumidifier in the cupboard when we arrived, but it costs a fortune to run on electric and doesn't make that much difference anyway.

I dropped them a really nice email a few weeks ago making them aware of the extent of the problem, but I haven't even had a reply.

We don't want to rock the boat, especially because they have been so good to us over the past two years, but we are really unhappy and want to ask for a rent reduction. Is this advisable and if so, what's the best way of doing it to retain our good relationship?

Use something that kills the spores
http://www.ciao.co.uk/Reviews/Dettol_mould_mildew_remover__6645129
http://www.ciao.co.uk/Reviews/HG_Mould_Spray__6376510
Take away the moisture so they can't multiply - ventilate and use the dehumidifier
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=638349
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1120901

If the flat is cheap then it's because of the problem if not move to somewhere without the issue.

Geenie

Hi OP. I'm afraid some properties are prone to damp and there isn't much to be done apart from having the dehumidifier going. It would appear to have something to do with the structure of the building, not having a cavity possibly and the thickness by what I have heard over the years. My mother and brother live in 1930's built properties and they have to use them. They both have open, log effect gas fires, which create a lot of condensation, and have tried various things over the years but to little effect.

I'm not sure if the doubling glazing makes any difference, as I remember my mother wiping down the windows all the time as a child, when they were metal and single glazed. They just seem to open windows when possible and get on with it.

I rented a flat once where we had to use Calor gas heaters, and the walls and windows would be streaming by bed time!!!