Renting flat help

roses_babe

hi peeps.. need a lil adivice plz... i currently rent a studio flat with my partner we were both made redundant so are on js and hb.

the studio we live in is disgusting we have mould/damp/ i currently have ezcema and asthma and this is being made worse by this damp never use to have it this bad in my old flat.

we cant move because no one will take us on benefits and will struggle for deposit

the lanlord brought us a dehunmidifier but this is not helping!!!!!

any advice would be great x

princeofpounds

Contact your council's environmental health unit. Damp is one of the 29 hazards that they can identify and issue repairing orders on. If your landlord is not totally evil, it's probably ethical to warn him first - I do not know how far down this route of negotiation you have gone.

http://www.communities.gov.uk/housing/rentingandletting/housinghealth/

Tenants also have a right to repair and claim back from future rent under case law, established by Lee Parker vs Izzet 1971. There is a precise procedure to follow. Search these forums or google for it and you'll get a wealth of information. The only difficulty is that damp repairs are often expensive and establishing the exact cause can be difficult.

Finally, you will get plenty of people on here telling you that most of the time damp is the fault of the occupiers. I'm somewhat sceptical of that, but it is very often a contributing or primary factor.

PS complain and the LL can end your tenancy at the conclusion of the fixed period if he is upset. That is just life. But if you are up to date with your rent and cannot get accepted anywhere else the council will have a duty to house you (though it might be in a grubby B&B or other private place they find before a real council place - scarce resources are allocated by 'need')

roses_babe

Thank you for your reply.. we told our landlord about 5 months ago about the damp and mould.. he expects us to keep our window open 24/7 now to me i think its a disgrace as we end up freezing. we put our heating on but nothing seems to be making it better. the dehumidfier is kept on 24/7 aswell. all our clothes go mouldy but he is so strict and just blames us.. we have always paid our rent ontime never missed a payment.

theartfullodger

Thank you for your reply.. we told our landlord about 5 months ago about the damp and mould..

Sorry to read your story.

Did you put your complaint in writing & do you have a copy?? I suggest you follow Shelter's advice (see my earlier post) and write to him (again hopefully). If he doesn't come back with a sensible plan within 5 days go the the local council environmental health dept...(tell him in your letter you plan to do this...)

Also talk to your local councillor about this (follow up with a letter confirming what was said) and get letters from doctor re. Asthma getting worse...


Cheers!


Lodger