Renting Problems, Damp.

clairehi

I Just wanted to echo what other people have said - please, please go on the DFW board and seek advice. If there is any way to save money to find that extra £180 to enable you to rent somewhere better, they will find it. You have nothing to lose by asking, please try it, as you could be waiting a long time for a council house. This damp problem is only going to get worse come the winter.

T4i

It was the EH who actually talked me out of them coming. I find them really unuseful everytime I speak to them anyhow.

I asked about if we would be able to live here whilst the work was going on, she assured me that no chemicals dangerous to health would be used, I asked about the silverfish and she said they would go after a short time of the house drying out.

She said all 'we - EH' can do is make the LL carry out the needed work, they can't have any influence on my local council houses - and thats what I was hoping for.

LL said the wall injecting would take about 3 days and has said we need to move stuff away from that wall but we would still be able to live there with no problems.

We have given the LL our letter to him and the bloke who actualy owns the houses and that way if he doesnt carry out the work then we will be taking it further.

We could afford another place to live but the going rates are around £360-410, that would take half my wage just about in rent, after food, gas etc it would leave us with nothing to buy the kids clothes, shoes etc.

I'm kicking myself bigtime because of the work I do, I really do wish i'd gone into welding, plumbing, electrician or plasterer.

DAMN LOW PAID LAB WORK! :mad:

clutton_2

""We could afford another place to live but the going rates are around £360-410,"" - surely you will qualify for housing benefit if you are on a really low income ? or Family Tax Credit ?

i have just installed a damp course for a family in a house i manage, and did my utmost utmost utmost to persuade them to move out whilst it was being done, (I had another house for them for a few weeks) but they refused - and it was truly truly awful for them, and they wished they had moved out.

all the plaster up to 3 feet up the walls has to come off, and the mess is undescribable.

if your landlord does this, you are perfectly entitled to not pay rent during the period of refurbishment - but do write to him and let him know what you are doing.

please try to get some help with the deposit, and move on, this house is not good for you or your family.

bw

amboy

I am really suprised that the EH are not getting their teeth in to this armed with the new powers they have, they would be obliged to carry out a full health and safety check on your house.

However i do agree with the others in that I think your best course is to move

clairehi

We have given the LL our letter to him and the bloke who actualy owns the houses and that way if he doesnt carry out the work then we will be taking it further.

Im confused - the person you have been dealing with, is he the landlord or an agent. You need to talk to the owner of the house direct, he should be concerned about the damage to his asset from the damp even if he doesnt care about your health!

I'm kicking myself bigtime because of the work I do, I really do wish i'd gone into welding, plumbing, electrician or plasterer.

Stop kicking yourself, its pointless and is just going to bring you down. You said that your DP cannot work for personal reasons/childcare. Have you really considered all the options, what about weekend/evening work. If this isnt possible, is there anything she could be doing from home to bring in extra cash, look at the bit on the side board for help.

it seems like youve already decided to stay, but having the DPC put in will be a pain in the a** and will not solve the problems in the cellar - which was your original concern re electrical safety.

please dont give up and feel you have no options but to stay in this dump!!!

T4i

Raining today, called LL and asked him if his builders would be coming....

He said if they can come they will, but made pretty clear its not upto him as he is not a builder and its the builders that need to come to look at the problem....

I'd love to move out, but we would srtuggle to have any sort of life paying the prices LL's can get from most tenants, its just out of our league. It would be interesting to know how much help we would get with rent but as I don't know how much working tax credit I will be getting after april I can't say what my income would be....

I started work again in August 2006, and when applying for working tax credits the bloke said its worked out from April to April and because I started in August I will qualify for more money than if I'd of started in April (very confussing!)

So I would imagine I will be getting alot less next year. I can't really work out any finances not knowing how much I would be getting next year, and therefor aint a clue if we would get help with rents.

No point moving into a new rented property if I can't afford it, that would be even worse than living in a damp house.

Our LL does not own the house, he is a employee of the bloke who does actualy own the house. We have never actualy seen or spoke the bloke who owns the house.

Thank you aall for your good words and advice but i've now just completely given up! I'm getting nowhere, and I really CBA going round in circles anymore.

I shall keep looking for better paid work or even try get a second job (means i'll never see the kids ) but maybe I could afford something better then.

Keep my fingers crossed for a council house and just hope it doesnt effect our health any more than what it does now. Oh, and hope for a dry winter lol

Thanks again all.

clutton_2

"" but i've now just completely given up!

no no no no no no no !!!! hope will NOT solve this for you - YOU have to act. take a few days off, and come back to this thread again, re-read it from start to finish, and make notes of all the helpful suggestions which folks have made, and do them one at a time. For sure this is hard, but, you must not give up !!!!! There IS a way to get help. We can offer you all the ideas in the world, but you have to actually follow them up .... come ON-- chin up, think of the kids and winter. Dont let them, and yourself down, (and us btw) -- you CAN do this.

lazy_girl

T4i wrote:

It would be interesting to know how much help we would get with rent but as I don't know how much working tax credit I will be getting after april I can't say what my income would be....

No point moving into a new rented property if I can't afford it, that would be even worse than living in a damp house.

Our LL does not own the house, he is a employee of the bloke who does actualy own the house. We have never actualy seen or spoke the bloke who owns the house.

Keep my fingers crossed for a council house and just hope it doesnt effect our health any more than what it does now. Oh, and hope for a dry winter lol

Thanks again all.

You can't give up Go and see the CAB or the HMRC about your tax credits, you may be entitled to other benefits such as housing benefit or income support - you don't know until you try. Try the entitledto website for tax credits - at least it will give you an idea.

Have you contacted the council about your situation? There will be a department who deals solely with private rentals - phone them up and tell them about what's going on, they can take action.

If you come on here and ask for advice - be prepared to follow it, no one ever said this would be easy, there's loads of landlords out there who are unscrupulous and willing to take advantage, but we can't do this for you, if we could, we would!

clutton_2

there are also some great landlords, and your council private lettings officer, will have some accredited landlords on his/her desk, and she may have access to bond-schemes, as previously mentioned,

COME ON !!!!!!! perk up, hope will get you nowhere at all - and next time you want some help on here, folks may just recall you as the person who was given a lot of help, but, was not willing to act upon it (I am not being unkind, just trying to Will you into getting angry about your situation, and using that angry to make changes. )

keep going - we're all rooting for you, but only you can actually do it.

xx

T4i

Still trying.......

LL has been round today to do a bit more of his professional bullying. Told my partner that it would be best if we found somewhere else to live and won't be renewing our contract in Febuary.

He is very annoyed and upset at my letter I presented him (as instructed by EH) and says this propery IS well maintained as he has fitted a new boiler, tanked out the garden (as instructed by last years EH) and he fitted a door to our bedroom after a year of asking.....sorry begging!

My partner has asked him for what he said in writing, hopefuly he will do this and we can use it to out advantage.

Still trying to find somewhere else to live, just not finding anywhere within our budget.