Advice needed about disrepair and slugs

blckbrd

anotherginger wrote: »

housing officers are usually, but not always, qualified environmental health officers.

I'm afraid that's not even remotely accurate however well intended.

Fire_Fox

sparkswillfly wrote: »

A month later the weather turns and the whole front wall is covered in mould and our mattress is mouldy. Theres also condensation on the windows all the time.

So I called environmental health who came out today took a quick look at the mould and said its a ventilation problem and the windows need to be left open for an hour a day. Bearing in mind the bedroom is ground floor on a main road and its december!

In any house I have ever lived in I could leave the windows shut all winter and not end up with everything covered in mould so surely its not right? Something must be wrong!

Condensation, especially in a flat, is invariably a lifestyle/ ventilation issue. The average flat has a completely different layout to the average house - no windows in the bathroom or hall, windows all on one facade and fire doors throughout, so no way for the air to flow through the property. In a house cooker hoods and bathroom extractors are usually vented outside, in a flat they are often vented into the ceiling void. :rolleyes:

The solutions are to (a) amend your lifestyle - lids on pans when cooking, open windows after showering, never air dry laundry indoors (b) wipe then open the windows daily year round and/ or (c) use a dehumidifier all winter. You will usually need to do two of the above to get a 'cure' for the condensation.

sparkswillfly wrote: »

Does everything need to be by post or is email acceptable? He has responded to us once by email so I know its correct.

Ive saved on the emails and they are all dated. I even sent him pictures of the problems. He never replied... Ill look into the recepit thing, Im using hotmail not sure if it does that. I just sent another email if I dont get a response from that Im going to switch to recorded post.

You asked for advice, we recommended you send a recorded delivery letter, you admit your landlord has ignored your previous e-mail so why would you want to take the lazy option??

sparkswillfly_2

Theres no need to be rude is there?

Its not the lazy option. He travels. I know he responded to the last email when he was in India.

tbs624

sparkswillfly wrote: »

Theres no need to be rude is there?

Its not the lazy option. He travels. I know he responded to the last email when he was in India.

Don't take the huff - people aren't necessarily being rude and its too easy on a forum to misread things.

Do you actually have an address for this Landlord? On your tenancy agreement there should be a paragraph about S48 of the Housing Act. If he is out of the UK for long periods he has to give you a UK address at which Notices relating to the tenancy may be served. If he doesn't do this then he cannot lawfully collect rent ( doesn't mean you can spend it , he can ask for it once the address has been provided).

It does sound as though the property had pre-existing damp problems, but you have to keep the property aired and heated. Having windows open for an hour a day is no big deal. You mention that in previous properties you could keep your windows shut for the whole of the winter with no problem but the fact is that buildings do need to get a change of air. Even breathing produces moisture.

On slugs, you need to check out the rooms at night to see where they are coming from - are there holes near doorways, airvents, under kitchen units, near wastepipes? Do you keep floors clear of food debris? Use some beer traps and get them shifted first thing.

LLs have legal repairing obligations but you have to have notified them in writing. If you have a leaking toilet and a boiler that cuts out your LL should be getting someone out to look at the problems within 24 hours. The LL is legally obliged to keep the space/water heating system in safe working order. If s/he cant get it fixed within 48 hours max then s/he should provide water boilers/heaters which s/he can hire by the day. The law says that the LL has a "reasonable" period of time in which to get things fixed but at this time of the year if the T has young kids (and/or elderly relatives living with them) then clearly they need to be getting it sorted pronto.

You can request that the Council's env health officer has this property assessed under HHSRS ( Housing Health and Safety Rating System) as damp/mould is recognised as one of 29 "hazards" in housing.

You can ring Shelter 0808 800 4444 for advice on how to deal with repairs issues

snowbear21

Check your lease. In all of my past leases, there has been a clause basically stating if the house is uninhabitable, you do not have to pay rent until it is made inhabitable. Go out and buy or rent a damp meter reader and take readings throughout the house - in your RECORDED LETTER to your landlord, give him the meter readings from the various rooms (at various levels), enclose photos of the mould, and tell him you will be invoking (name the clause) in your lease stating you will not be paying rent until the house is made habitable.

Don't fall for the nonsense that you and you alone are causing the problem - you have lived other places without a problem. The ACTUAL problem is the landlord knew there was a damp and mould problem in the property, did NOT treat it properly, but just relet the property. There are lots of despicable landlords out there and you were unfortunate enough to get one.

Despite what some council "officials" may say, mould can be extremely dangerous to your health - that's why you are not to attempt to clean up areas of mould greater than 10 foot square by yourself. Yes, any new bed will mould again - along with every other item in the room.

While you are forced to live there: pull your furniture away from the walls. After taking photos, wash everything down with a solution of washing up liquid and water - wearing rubber gloves. Dry it. Then mix 1 part bleach to 5 parts water, add a drop or two of washing up liquid, and wearing rubber/latex gloves and having the windows open, wipe all surfaces that were mouldy down thoroughly. That includes floors. And don't forget - salt kills slugs and other nasties. Keep that dehumidifier going 24/7 and VENT the house - a few windows open an inch for an hour a day isn't too bad!

Don't count on the Council's help - they only are concerned about social housing, unfortunately. After your first missed rent payment, your landlord should do one of three things: try to intimidate you (stand up to him), fix the place (mostly unlikely), or ask to mutually terminate your lease (your very best option). If you agree to terminate the lease, immediately send another letter by RECORDED POST to verify that it was mutual, you are moving as soon as possible, as the house is uninhabitable, you will not be paying furthur rent and that you are contacting your insurance to claim for damages to your personal possessions.

tbs624

snowbear21 wrote: »

.....Don't count on the Council's help - they only are concerned about social housing, unfortunately. After your first missed rent payment, your landlord should do one of three things: try to intimidate you (stand up to him), fix the place (mostly unlikely), or ask to mutually terminate your lease (your very best option). If you agree to terminate the lease, immediately send another letter by RECORDED POST to verify that it was mutual, you are moving as soon as possible, as the house is uninhabitable, you will not be paying furthur rent and that you are contacting your insurance to claim for damages to your personal possessions.

:rolleyes: My Highlighting. Not so, as mentioned in my post above the Council can, and will if the conditions justify it, take action under the Housing Act and the HHSRS. You are confusing council provision for social housing with their responsibilities to tenants who rent within the private sector - separate officers for either type.

You are giving the OP very poor "advice" - rent and repairs/maintenance issues are separate matters. Shelter provides guidance on how to get a LL to complete works, or how to get them done and offset against a future rent payment but there is a specific procedure to be followed. Not paying rent can lead to eviction, and being deemed to have made yourself " intentionally homeless". LLs tend not to suggest to Ts that they "terminate the lease" in such circumstances lest they find themselves accused of tenant harassment and illegal eviction.

No-one has suggested that the damp problems are caused entirely by the OP herself but it is worth her taking on board possible ways of improving things for herself. It is irrelevant whether she managed to live without damp whilst hermetically sealed in at previous properties.

OP - seek help from Shelter in the first instance or from Community Legal Advice.

Fire_Fox

sparkswillfly wrote: »

Theres no need to be rude is there?

Its not the lazy option. He travels. I know he responded to the last email when he was in India.

If I was being rude I would have used the :rolleyes: smilie instead of the smilie. Your landlord should have given you an address in England or Wales upon which you can service notices - this is the address you should send the recorded delivery letter to. You are aiming to create a paper trail, it is difficult to prove receipt of an e-mail. If the landlord is travelling I would suggest you send the letter by e-mail AND recorded delivery AND snail mail with a proof of posting. If you then need to go to court you will be able to show you have made every effort to keep the landlord appraised of the situation.

Blackpool_Saver

I am really sorry you are in this position and I know this doesn't help, but why did you move into a flat which was so bad? was it really cheap or something?

Can you see your MP/free solicitor's advice?

I would try to move out, if it was me.

dippey_daisey

I have had similar problems with my rented property, its so damp in all the downstairs rooms that I can't decorate, paint just falls off the wall, black mold appears in shower room within days of me bleaching it all off, I have slugs coming in gaps around the back door, not to mention the draft that comes in there too, food goes damp in kitchen cupboards, have found mice droppings on my 8 years olds bed, My landlord is useless, he will fix things like the boiler if it breaks because he knows he has to by law but he is not interested in all the other things.
I had enviromental health out and they said all the issue's I had were just normal house problems, the only thing they could enforce him to fix is one socket that is hanging off the wall.

I have old sash windows that fall open as they need repearing, my landlord screwed them all shut so now we have no windows in the front of the house that open at all ..... enviromental health said they could not do a thing because he has promised to fix them, he can promise for the next ten years and they can't do a thing until he refuses to fix them.

Airing the house does not help, and it costs a fortune to heat so the last thing i want to do is let all that heat out by opening windows (the ones that can be opened) all day, I too live on a busy main road and the car fumes that come in give us all sore throats and makes us feel sick but again according to enviromental health thats not a problem!!

Our only option is to save a deposit and rent another place but being a single mum of 3 kids thats not easy to do.

Good luck with your housing problems, I hope you can get them sorted.

sparkswillfly_2

dippey_daisey wrote: »

I have had similar problems with my rented property, its so damp in all the downstairs rooms that I can't decorate, paint just falls off the wall, black mold appears in shower room within days of me bleaching it all off, I have slugs coming in gaps around the back door, not to mention the draft that comes in there too, food goes damp in kitchen cupboards, have found mice droppings on my 8 years olds bed, My landlord is useless, he will fix things like the boiler if it breaks because he knows he has to by law but he is not interested in all the other things.
I had enviromental health out and they said all the issue's I had were just normal house problems, the only thing they could enforce him to fix is one socket that is hanging off the wall.

I have old sash windows that fall open as they need repearing, my landlord screwed them all shut so now we have no windows in the front of the house that open at all ..... enviromental health said they could not do a thing because he has promised to fix them, he can promise for the next ten years and they can't do a thing until he refuses to fix them.

Airing the house does not help, and it costs a fortune to heat so the last thing i want to do is let all that heat out by opening windows (the ones that can be opened) all day, I too live on a busy main road and the car fumes that come in give us all sore throats and makes us feel sick but again according to enviromental health thats not a problem!!

Our only option is to save a deposit and rent another place but being a single mum of 3 kids thats not easy to do.

Good luck with your housing problems, I hope you can get them sorted.

Wow my problems arent as bad as that!

Believe it or not the flats pros still outweigh the cons at the moment plus living in london I could never afford to find another deposit to move.

I just checked the tenancy and there is no mention of a clause about reduction in rent if uninhabitable, I had that in my last tenancy and got a reduction when the lights didnt work for a month.

Im just confused as to why the damp is only in one room and one wall of the house which made me wonder if there is something wrong with that wall? I have gone back to environmental health to get them to do that check that someone mentioned above just waiting for them to arrange it. Ive also got a building contractor to do a free damp survery on the house next week, he mentioned something about vents in windows to help solve the problem. If they both say theres nothing structurally wrong then I guess I just have to lump it and continue with the dehumidifier and windows opening.

With regards to the slugs I cant work out where they are coming in, theres two air bricks on the outside where I guess they are coming in but I cant see any holes on the inside. Ive got some pet friendly slug pellets Im going to put around the airbricks and some copper tape stuff for the inside of the house.

As for the toilet, citizens advice sent me details of the procedure of getting it fixed and deducting it out of the rent. I basically need to give him time to fix it and then get 3 quotes and then give him more time to act on them quotes before going ahead. Will take a few weeks doing it that way but at least I would have done it properly.

I have his address, he lives in Glasgow and we live in London so that doesnt help matters. After the weekend if he hasnt answered my final email Im going to write to him with regards to my intention of getting the toilet fixed.

The boiler seems to be working again today. Ive had the heating on and it hasnt cut out once. Im not sure why it was doing it before.