Cracks in walls - taken from deposit

MORPH3US

clutton wrote:

My tenants never believe me either when i suggest they open windows

Thats what I mean, we report damp to the LL and they say "you must be having too many showers, you need to open the windows...." HELLO, we do!!! They just always assume that any damage is the tennants fault because us tennants don't care as its not our property. Well we have respect for where we live, regardless of whether we own it. When we moved in, she said to us "Oh sorry, I meant to paint the bathroom but i've been ill, so i'll give you the paint..." so we even ended up painting the bathroom!

Just to clarify my earlier points, we ALWAYS open the bathroom window when we are showering and leave it open when we finish as long as we can, but we usually shower and then leave for work within half an hour. Also their is an extractor fan in the bathroom which works on the same circuit as the light. Neither of these helped, the place is just so cold in the winter that nothing dries it out!

As for the kitchen, again we always have the window open and use the extractor above the cooker. When we reported the damp in the kitchen, they first said we cooked too much (1 evening meal a day ?!?!) and then said that the extractor filter must need changing but then never did anything about it.

Maybe i'm worrying before I should do, but everything I have ever reported to them has been done over the phone of which I have no proof and the cracks in the walls, they're not from anything we have done but how can we proove it!

M

black-saturn

Have you tried a dehumidifier? I bought a cheap one from one of those shops all towns have with a load of plastic boxes outside (ours is called Bits and Pieces). I thought my house was quite dry but it's sucked loads of water out of the air. You can also buy electric ones which cost more money.

MORPH3US

lynzpower wrote:

sounds like you need to speak to your local authorities Private lettings officer. they can come round to undertake final inspection with you and tell the LL whats reasonable adn whats not .

Also give you guidance on small claims track if the landlord withholds deposit arbitarily

Do they charge for this?!?

M

WelshHybrid

MORPH3US wrote:

Maybe i'm worrying before I should do, but everything I have ever reported to them has been done over the phone of which I have no proof and the cracks in the walls, they're not from anything we have done but how can we proove it!

M

Quick question, but how do you crack a wall without causing some other noticeable damage? If you leant against it and it cracked then surely that is a structural problem with the building/wall - yes, even if it is plasterboard :rolleyes:.

MORPH3US

The walls in this place a seriously a foot thick solid stone (not sure what sort).

Its on ald mill house and is in quite a bad state of repair!

The ceilings are about 3m high ans most of the cracks are much higher than I can reach!!!

M

clutton_2

maybe we should all calm down here !! until you have spoken to your landlord and asked him/her to come and inspect the problem, all this worry is speculative, you simply dont know what their response will be. If they will not come, then, as already suggested write (recorded delivery) and take photos of the problems, so that you have a record. Talk of going to court at this stage is way tooooooo premature.

In September a new deposit scheme comes into force whereby landlords cannot hold tenants deposits themselves, but either have to deposit them with an independent body, or via an insurance backed scheme (yet more expenses for us Wicked Landlords ! ).

If your AST is due to be renewed within the next few months, my best advice would be to wait till the new agreement is signed, insist that the deposit is lodged, and if not, then you can legitimately complain to the local council (or whoever is over-seeing deposits - its not yet been decided).

Landlords who do not adhere to the new deposit regulations, cannot issue repossession orders on their tenants !!! So, they cannnot get you out if they have not lodged your deposit. Also if there is a dispute re damages these matters will be decided upon by an arbitration body and they have a legal duty to make decisions in a very short time (few days if memory serves me).

Whilst some landlords are not as good as others, as with tenants, we all need to communicate with each other !

Hope this helps

lynzpower

MORPH3US wrote:

Do they charge for this?!?

M

No, its part of the governments response to avoiding any rogue LLs etc. Ask in your local authorities Housing dept for your Private Tenancy Officer, or Private lettings officer etc. No fee.

At the end of the day, Im not saying that lets all presume our LLs are going to take us for every penny, and were going to go for court, and maybe OP is getting jittery unneccesarily. However, Id go with my gut instinct, and Im reckoning OP is too. Whats wrong with that? Im all for transparency if it comes down to my money being with-held.

I suspect your LL will not withold deposit for structural deficiencies, but if they do, and you have had your PLO with you on the final inspection that COULD be the difference between whether they can legally withhold or not.

Anyway, lets not argue about it shall we??!!

Good luck OP

code-a-holic

We have a simmilar situation. We rent a old stone cottage with walls that are over a foot deep. Then theres a more modern extension. whats was the original front door but is now a hall is cracking where the extension was joined on. The building is owned by a locally well known stingey farmer who did the extension himself - it shows! We moved in just over a year ago, before that it was a man who neglected the place for years. The house was completely renovated before we moved in - but on the cheap and now problems are arrising. It seems cheap plaster has been used to cover the crack and now its crumbling off. Th laminate in the kitchen was layed over carpet so over winter has raised in places and the boys bedroom which is part of the old building has black walls. We dont mind maintaining it and we have had the landlords son(does maintenance and lucky for us his wife taught me in school and now my son so we are all friends!) come to look at new problems - yet nothing has been done to fix them!

realwildone

The new law in August where landlords have to handover the deposits to an authority should stop this. In the meantime you must take control of your deposit and if in any doubt as to getting it back you must with hold your last months rent.

lynzpower

isnt withholding your last months rent illegal?

Say, I trashed the place and then didnt pay the last month, surely the LL would lose out big time? I dont think this is fair, many tenants will have damaged property beyond wear & tear, so surely the LL should have some recourse???