Is this the landlords responsibiliy?

michelefauk

My DD and her boyfriend have just moved into a privately rented 2 bedroomed end terraced house.
We decided to have a look in the loft yesterday to see about storage etc, and not only is is extremely damp and black mould everywhere up there, it is FULL of stuff, obviously from previous tenants, such as boxes of newspapers (from 1999!) Xmas tree and decs, bags of photo albums, clothes, bedding, a chair, about 20 empty boxes, an old carpet,all thick with mould and damp. As soon as you stick your head through the hatch it feels damp, although the rest of the house is nice and dry and warm. It looks like nobody has been up there for years.

What we were unsure of is it the landlord's responsibilty to a) clear out all of the rubbish that is up there and b) to see why it is so damp up there?

Landlord seems lovely and is a local guy who owns a couple of houses that he rents out. It is my daughters first home and I have never rented before so am not sure whose responsibilty it is?

snapping_crocodile

I would get your daughter to mention both the damp and the stuff to the landlord and see what he says. It doesn't sound like your daughter would want to be storing her own stuff up there at the moment though

michelefauk

Hi, thanks, yes have told her not to put anything up there for now.
Will give the landlord a ring today and see what he says about it. We also found a watch up there, brand new still in its box! Sadly there was also an album of baby photos, would hope they can get back to their owner too

N79

Definately report the damp in writing as this suggests that the roof vents are blocked and will eventually destroy the roof supports if nothing is done. The letter ensures that your DD will not have any responsibility because it fulfils her duty to inform the LL of maintainance issues.

As for removing and disposing of the items legally this is a grey area but if you ask the LL to arrange disposal then any good LL will do so.

Colincbayley

The damp sounds like a lack of air vents in the loft, a really easy problem to fix and won't cost much.

Have a look at the barge boards under the gutters and see if you can see any air vents ( this is where they normally are )

Report the matter to your LL, if no vents then it is just a case of a 70mm hole saw to cut the vents then a fivers worth of vent guards from Screwfix to stop the birds getting up there to nest.

Should solve the damp problem overnight.

youngie

report the damp in writing to the LL also report the the fact that the loft is full of stuff (and keep a copy) your daughter doesnt want to be held responsible for leaving stuff in the loft when she moves ,she could lose her deposit to pay for loft clearence

moromir

Just to clarify - the tenancy agreement does include use of the loft? (if it doesnt this is usually clearly marked on the tenancy agreement, if it is included it usually isn't specifically mentioned). Just that if its not - just wondering if those are the LL's possessions?

michelefauk

Hi, thanks for all your input. Not sure if the agreement states anything about the use of the loft, will ask my daughter to check. The things in the loft I am pretty sure have been there for a long time, as there all mouldy or damp. Would it be better to ring the landlord first or put it straight in writing do you think?
I am more than happy to clear out all the rubbish that is in the loft if the landlord is happy for us to do so, just leaves the problem of the damp to address with him! The rest of the house is fine, all recently been redocorated and redecorated throughout so it seems odd that nobody has put their head up in the loft and seen the state of it up there!

Thanks again

Colincbayley

michelefauk wrote: »

The rest of the house is fine, all recently been redocorated and redecorated throughout so it seems odd that nobody has put their head up in the loft and seen the state of it up there!

Thanks again

Does beg the question, was an Energy Performance Certificate provided with the tenancy?

BitterAndTwisted

I'd advise your daughter to put it in writing so that should the landlord agree that the items can be disposed of they can hardly claim later that they'd not given permission. The issue of the damp up there DEFINITELY needs to be raised in writing in any case. It's not unknown for certain landlords to make a property cosmetically attractive to entice tenants but to be entirely aware of damp issues and just to cover them up with a lick of paint. I hope your daughter's landlord is not one of those