Electricity Bill, Damp & Ceiling - issues with new landlord.

unreal83

Good afternoon all.

I received some electricity bills which were from electric used before we moved into our flat, which I passed on to the landlord.

He mentioned to me in a round about way this morning, that the bills were actually from when we were decorating in December (but didnt go on to say you can pay it, he just planted that seed that makes me think he wants us to pay it as he has been quite stingy) and he spoke to his friend about it bla bla....so obv brought it up with me.

He let us decorate in December, we had the keys from 12th, but our contract actually started from 1st January which was when we moved in. We did him a favour (and he obv did us one) by decorating the flat with the first months rent, which was 675, would have cost him alot more money if he had have got builders in!

He surely, cannot charge us for the electric we used during this time can he? It isnt even like we had anything in there, we were using a steamer and a cup of tea here and there.

Our contract states from 1st Jan.

*******************************

Another thing, whilst im here, where do we stand whereby there is damp in the flat? We have built in wardrobes in our bedroom which are on an outside wall, and along the same wall it goes into the living room, and then the other way along it goes into the spare room. Black lines are appearing up the wall, and the walls in the wardrobes are soggy wet constantly.

He brought us some foam and glue to stick to the wall, which we finally got around to doing (didnt see why it was up to us to stick it on but anyway) and have done that now, but as its so bad i dont see it working.

We have a baby on the way and the damp goes into the room where the baby will sleep, am a little worried about it to be honest, the damp is behind our bed on the wall (we have wallpapered) i am sure if i pull the bed out the wall will be black.

What can we do? Is he oblidged to sort it out for us, whats the right and wrongs of letting out a property that has damp?

****************************

ALSO

The ceiling of the spare room and the bathroom has those foam ceiling squares which i have been told are a fire hazard and illegal. Is this ANOTHER issue we have to put forward to him?

**************************

AND

There has been a leak under the bath for god knows how long, and it has been leaking so much it has made the floor boards rot. We are sure if it is left any longer it will go through to the shop downstairs. When i told him about it he kind of huffed as if i was giving him another problem, when im just trying to actually save him money in the long run, right!

He has had the place for 20 years, and seems to have done no work to it, and seems to want to do no work to it, yet wants tenants to stay there for a good few years now, has had quite a few people move in and out quickly.

Surely if he wants us to stay he could communicate a little better with us and explain what he can and cant/when he will do things, as so far everytime we speak to him or he comes round he just interrupts us when speaking and starts telling us stories about this and that, completely getting off of the subject, he is quite rude at some points but on the surface a lovely man.

We dont want diamond bannisters, just a flat that does not have damp and a bathroom that does not leak.

Where do we stand?

unreal83

Anyone? Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

poppysarah

Write down the repair issues. Keep a copy. Send one to him.

Electric. Did you have sole use in Dec? When did you read the meter? Is it for a lot?

unreal83

No the guys moved out end of November and we had the keys from 12th until 31st decorating.

Did not read meter, completely forgot, and i dont know how much for as the bills were addressed to him so i did not open!

Im more concerned about the damp really, what we can put on him legally.

poppysarah

Put a request for a repair in writing.

The elec can only be 15 quid or so tops?

unreal83

I will do, good idea, its just scary actually putting something in writing, kinda gets peoples backs up doesnt it, but if we want to get somewhere with this, will have to do that.

I know, it cant be much, I dont even know why he brought it up, if he wasnt exepcting us to pay it - the dates of the bills and what chargable period its for is on there so whats he on about! If he had builders in im sure he wouldnt charge them for electric.

Jowo_2

What's the cause of the damp - just the leaking bathroom? Is there any other evident ways that there is water ingress/damp into the property? Was it present in the property at the outset when you were in there painting or is it more recent.

Some damp is aggravated by building design. Some is caused by building defects.

Some damp is caused by tenant lifestyle - failure to adequately heat and ventilate the property, failure to minimise the quantity of vapour in the property that settles on cold spots and turns to mould.

Do a search of the term damp on this forum as there's loads of existing advice how to diagnose, prevent and treat damp, the causes of it, how to escalate it to the local council environmental health department if the landlord doesn't deal witn it, etc.

unreal83

No the damp has been in the fitted wardrobes for years, I believe its penetrative damp, black marks up the walls and beads of water like condensation. We keep the window on vent for most of the time, and have to keep the wardrobe doors open - so annoying.

We have a new boiler so heating isnt a problem, and as I said we keep the windows on vent and there arent any wet patches around window - its just along the walls at the bottom of the flat, we are on the first floor. Its funny because its only around one side of the flat.

Do a search of the term damp on this forum as there's loads of existing advice how to diagnose, prevent and treat damp, the causes of it, how to escalate it to the local council environmental health department if the landlord doesn't deal witn it, etc.

I really think thats up to the landlord to do, not us, am I right?

BitterAndTwisted

Not really because if the damp and mould are caused by insufficient heating and ventilation it won't be the landlord's issue to put right, it will be yours. Condensation will always settle on the coldest part of the room so usually windows and external walls. That your landlord has had tenants moving in and out of that property sounds highly suggestive of the damp not being caused by tenant lifestyles. Cooking without lids on pans, without the kitchen window open and drying laundry indoors is just asking for trouble. You don't do any of those, do you?

If you want your landlord to know you're serious about getting repairs and maintenance issues resolved you must communicate with him in writing. Having a paper-trail later will be useful should you want to go down the route of deducting the cost from rent if you have to get them done yourselves. Don't even consider doing this until you have read and understood what the Shelter website has to say about doing this.

superfran_uk

Sounds like our old landlord - had owned the place 17 years without doing so much as re-carpeting or putting new appliances in and when we informed him that the roof was leaking and water was coming in through the ceiling he didn't want to know - despite it being quite a small job (needed new roofing felt) and potentially costing him thousands in the future if he didn't fix it when the timber underneath the roofing felt rotted away.

He was a massive !!!!!! and although I can't offer advice I can sympathise, we moved out and am so glad we did so! LLs like that don't change!

I'd pay the electric though - it can't be more than a few quid. If it is then it probably wasn't you who used it, although it was a schoolboy error not taking readings and you'll never do that again!

Jowo_2

unreal83 wrote: »

No the damp has been in the fitted wardrobes for years, I believe its penetrative damp, black marks up the walls and beads of water like condensation. .. its just along the walls at the bottom of the flat, we are on the first floor. Its funny because its only around one side of the flat....

I really think thats up to the landlord to do, not us, am I right?

How is the damp getting into the wardrobes - are they against any external part of the wall or are there pipes behind them, are they next to the leaking bathroom?

You've indicated damp along one side of the flat which I assume is an external wall - again, how is the water getting in - are there leaks in the guttering or roofing outside that focusses rainwater down onto the outside of the property, is there cracks or missing cement in the bricks?

It may very well be a repair that the landlord requires to undertake to resolve it but tenants shouldn't automatically assume all damp is the fault and responsibility of the landlord to resolve.

This leaflet is aimed at landlords but is handy also for tenants to understand the very many causes of damp and mould.

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/pdf/Mould.pdf