Damage in rented property

cleggy88

Hoping someone here can help!

I'm currently renting a house with a friend, we have given our notice and will be leaving the property in about 2 months. We have lived there for 10 months.

We have had several problems with the house which we have reported to the letting agents. They sent someone round yesterday to check the house.

The bathroom doesn't have an extractor fan, even with the window wide open and the door wide open the room steams up, this is causing condensation on the walls and tiles. The condensation on the walls is then causing damp to grow. The letting agents are claming that this is our problem and any damage will have to be paid for. Surely this cannot be the case? The room doesn't have sufficient ventilation so how can any damage be our responsibility?

The other problem is a leak coming from somewhere in the bathroom, it's caused water to drip through the ceiling and down the wall into the kitchen below. Again the letting agents are telling us that we are liable for any damage caused but from my understanding on the landlord and tenant act 1985 the landlord is responsible for all incoming water pipes and fittings?

Hoping someone can advise me here as both me and my housemate will need the £400 we each have in the property as bond to move into another property in 8 weeks time.

Thanks
Paul

TrickyDicky

Basically - you are responsible for damp and condensation. Normally you should leave other windows open to let a draft through. If you cant ventilate then you need to get a dehumidifier.

As for leaks - thats LLs responsibility, unless you caused the damage.

moromir

Are you leaving this window open for a reasonable period of time after you finish using the room? I'm not sure I'd leave the door open into the rest of the property because the hot moisture laden air is simply going to condense on the next nearest cold wall it finds, leading to condensation and mould in other areas of your property.

On the latter problem, I'm no expert (and one will probably be along shortly with a good answer) but I believe you are correct provided you have used the premises in 'a tenant like manner', ie if you've been doing the hokey cokey in the shower and consequently the tray has cracked, then I can see the Landlord's point in asking you to remedy the problem, however he should be asking a plumber to go out and ascertain the source of the leak, and then if it turns out to be due to something you've done, persue it, not the other way around.

cleggy88

moromir wrote: »

Are you leaving this window open for a reasonable period of time after you finish using the room? I'm not sure I'd leave the door open into the rest of the property because the hot moisture laden air is simply going to condense on the next nearest cold wall it finds, leading to condensation and mould in other areas of your property.

The window gets left open as long as possible, it's winter and it makes the upstairs of the house pretty cold. Even leaving the window open all day the walls are usually still damp, presumably because it's cold outside.

Even when I've got the shower turned on to clean the bathroom with the window wide open and the door open the room steams up totally in less than a minute. Is it worth taking a video to illustrate this point? Pretty sure our bond is held with the TDS and any evidence in our favour would be a good thing?

cleggy88

TrickyDicky wrote: »

Basically - you are responsible for damp and condensation. Normally you should leave other windows open to let a draft through. If you cant ventilate then you need to get a dehumidifier.

I forgot to mention in my OP that my housemate has damp growing in his bedroom against the external wall. The room is properly heated and ventilated. Surely we cannot be responsible for that?

leitmotif

I have a very similar question, if it's OK to post here? We have been in a rented property for nearly a year now and will soon be moving out. The kitchen is more aesthetically pleasing than practical, shall we say, and the surfaces are wooden. We recently noticed that under where the dish-drying rack has been placed the wood has warped and there are tiny black spots that cannot be washed off. Varnishing over them wouldn't work. It's clearly caused by drops of water getting under the tray when washing up and getting into the wood.

Now there's going to be no way of hiding this, but whose responsibility is it? Surely if the kitchen surfaces are not fit for purpose (i.e. allowing a bit of washing up without warping) then we have a case?

BitterAndTwisted

If all the rooms in the property were properly heated and ventilated there should be no problem with condensation causing mould. Any vapour in the air unless ducted to the outside will condense on the nearest cold surface. I suspect that leaving the bathroom door open might have been the cause of this.

Anyway, the pressing issue for you now is to get that bathroom and bedroom washed down with a bleach solution and make good any paintwork while you still have time before your tenancy ends. That is where I would be focussing my energies.
The issue with the leek from the bathroom to the kitchen should be your landlord's problem IF you have reported it to the agent or the landlord and they have chosen not to given it any attention.

BitterAndTwisted

leitmotif wrote: »

I have a very similar question, if it's OK to post here? We have been in a rented property for nearly a year now and will soon be moving out. The kitchen is more aesthetically pleasing than practical, shall we say, and the surfaces are wooden. We recently noticed that under where the dish-drying rack has been placed the wood has warped and there are tiny black spots that cannot be washed off. Varnishing over them wouldn't work. It's clearly caused by drops of water getting under the tray when washing up and getting into the wood.

Now there's going to be no way of hiding this, but whose responsibility is it? Surely if the kitchen surfaces are not fit for purpose (i.e. allowing a bit of washing up without warping) then we have a case?

If you were not given any special instructions on how to care for the wood then I would take the view that the damage is normal wear and tear but you might have a struggle to get the landlord to accept this if they're not reasonable

MissLucy_3

I also have a question about damage if anyone here would be able to help? We have lived in our rented furnished apartment for two years now, and are due to move out in May. Last week, our couch broke and one of the springs under the seat snapped, poking out the bottom and making the seat sag a little. We've still been sitting on the seat as it is not uncomfortable, but we're worried to mention it to the LL as we're scared we will get charged for it. As far as I'm aware, nobody jumped on the couch before it broke, someone was sat on it when we heard a hiss of air and the seat sagged, which I assume was when the spring broke through the cloth on the bottom of the couch, but of course, it may have been broken for some time without actually damaging the exterior. I just wondered if we would be able to class this as wear and tear as we have been here quite a while, or if it is too excessive?

BitterAndTwisted

Was it brand-new when you moved in? Landlords should expect to accept normal wear and tear and there is a formula for calculating this but it depends on what the useful life of any particular item might be. The landlord cannot charge you for the value of a new replacement. If it was brand-new they should only be able to charge you for a two year old replacement at the end of your tenancy if they can prove it was damaged from misuse. Sitting quietly on a sofa minding your own business is not misuse.

MissLucy_3

Yes, it was new when we moved in so we were scared of being charged for a brand new sofa, however it is comforting to know they can't charge us the full price. This is our first home away from parents, so we've been a bit unsure of what is acceptable under 'wear and tear'. Thanks for clearing that up =]