Rental disrepair enviromental health

wrightk

I wondered if anyone had any advice.....

I have rented for nearly a year in this property.
It has rising damp and damp through all the walls, single glazed drafty sash windows and an old front door with holes in it,paint flaking off the ceiling dropping onto our work surfaces in the kitchen, a debateble legal bannister on the top floor which only comes up to my knees ( we have children i dont want them falling down three flights of stairs)

Mould has destroyed all our childs toys the rising damp goes across the entire length of wall.
We are on the list for social housing and have had an assessment from the enviromental health.

Does anyone know specific laws regarding this? The bannister is not very high,on the top floor(3 floors up) there is single paned windows which are at floor level, they are loose and if you push them the window wobbles. The enviromental health lady said we are not allowed to board off the windows because they are classed as a fire exit (think i would prefer to burn than jump out of a top floor window), neither is she reccomending the window to be replaced. Im very scared about the top floor level you cant watch your kids every second of every day he could easily just walk up to the window and push it open, we have blocked the window up but this is just temporary

The house is very old and there is strutural problems im sure. None of the floorboards are fixed to the joists, the joists are sagging and ceilings sagging as a result of this, is there any way i can get the property surveyed struturally?

The walls were also tested with a damp meter and all the walls i asked her to check the meter was off the scale, maximum number

Any advice would be greatly appreciated i can also provide additional info sorry for such a long post

olly300

There are no specific laws regarding this except that the property has to be in reasonable state of repair, have a means of heating and proper sanitation.

What you need to do is talk to the private renting officer of your local council or a person in the environmental health department. Alternatively go and see your local CAB.

However what generally happens is:
1. The landlord does nothing as any legal process has to give the landlord reasonable time to act, and won't start until the landlord has been completely obstinate and refused to co-operate with the council.
2. The landlord drags the process out until he knows your tenancy is ending in 2 months.
3. The landlord says he can't repair the property with you present so gives you notice to quit 2 months before you tenancy ends.
4. You have to find a new home at your own cost.
5. The landlord knowing you are out knows the council will forget about him so rents the property out to someone else in the same condition.

Personally instead of having a fight with your landlord if you know your tenancy is up in 4 months or less start looking for somewhere else to live.

EDITED TO SAY: If you have talked to environmental health already ask them to write a letter to your landlord listing the structural problems. However don't expect anything to happen.

ILW

I would just move.

sooz

Why did you rent the flat if it was that bad?

Google HHSRS. There you will find the specific standards for housing.


Can you not move out into a better place, & stay on the housing list?

wrightk

like all places you buy or rent you dont know the extend of the damage until you move in. The rising damp wall was sneakily concealed, when i discovered it i was told it was because the house had been empty it will dry out when you heat the property. a year later the wall is sodden.

We had the enviromental officer out today with landlord and letting agent. Landlord accused me of heating the property too much! which was contributing to mould, officer said that was nonsense if anything it has helped dry the place out and we obviously ventilate the house and are good tenants have never paid not even one day late.

I think the officer is in the process now of serving a notice to the landlord under the housing act. the property has been classed as in a medium state of disrepair (high would mean we would have to vacate immediately)

However am really not happy with the bannister and top floor windows, just wondered if there was some sort of appeal process.
Would love to move us all out but i just cant afford it, and now im scared she is going to kick us out. Just want this sorted. We have two babies in the house one with lung and heart problems the other who constantly gets sinus infections

wrightk

oh and forgot to say our rental is assured shorthold of 6 months we have been there nearly a year so they can effectively give us 30 days notice to leave

sooz

They have to give you minimum 2 month's notice to move. You need to give minimum 1 month's.

Damp may have been concealed, but how did they conceal the windows & bannister?

wrightk

at the time partner was 8 months pregnant and were desperate for a place to live. Its only now that our child has grown up you see the dangers of everything- partly my fault for not being this aware before she gave birth, but am paying for it now

Owain_Moneysaver

wrightk wrote: »

IThe enviromental health lady said we are not allowed to board off the windows because they are classed as a fire exit (think i would prefer to burn than jump out of a top floor window),

You don't jump out, you wait for the fire brigade to put a ladder up and a firefighters climbs up and carries you down. The windows have to be big enough to allow a firefighter wearing breathing apparatus to get in, not for you to get out.

tbs624

wrightk wrote: »

I wondered if anyone had any advice.....

I have rented for nearly a year in this property.
It has rising damp and damp through all the walls, single glazed drafty sash windows and an old front door with holes in it,paint flaking off the ceiling dropping onto our work surfaces in the kitchen, a debateble legal bannister on the top floor which only comes up to my knees ( we have children i dont want them falling down three flights of stairs)

Mould has destroyed all our childs toys the rising damp goes across the entire length of wall.
We are on the list for social housing and have had an assessment from the enviromental health.

Does anyone know specific laws regarding this? The bannister is not very high,on the top floor(3 floors up) there is single paned windows which are at floor level, they are loose and if you push them the window wobbles. The enviromental health lady said we are not allowed to board off the windows because they are classed as a fire exit (think i would prefer to burn than jump out of a top floor window), neither is she reccomending the window to be replaced. Im very scared about the top floor level you cant watch your kids every second of every day he could easily just walk up to the window and push it open, we have blocked the window up but this is just temporary

The house is very old and there is strutural problems im sure. None of the floorboards are fixed to the joists, the joists are sagging and ceilings sagging as a result of this, is there any way i can get the property surveyed struturally?

The walls were also tested with a damp meter and all the walls i asked her to check the meter was off the scale, maximum number

Any advice would be greatly appreciated i can also provide additional info sorry for such a long post

Whilst you are waiting for the Env Health officer to push things along, look at what you may be able to do as a temporary measure yourself.
Could you use stair gates to stop your kids getting to potentially unsafe areas?

Can you buy a dehumidifier to help dry the property temporarily ? ( or ask the LL to provide one )

As the EHO has already been out they have presumably done their inspection under the HHSRS ( Housing Health & Safety Rating System)?

Unfortunately, just as LL s get frustrated by Ts who fail to pay their rent and can then spin out the proceedings so do the many Ts who *do * pay their rent but find themselves in situation like yours where progress towards enforcing repairs is a long drawn out process.

You say that you are on the list for social housing but if the property is really that bad then you perhaps need to have a hard think about what you are prepared to put up with ( & for how long) in order to arrive at "being made homeless" . Many would rather look at finding another (better) private sector rental than stay put in a property where the LL seemingly has no interest in maintaining his property in a decent condition.

If you are on a low income you can get help with deposit guarantees via local charities and/or the council.

wrightk

thanks for your help tbs624. Like i said im really unable to afford to move out. I know there are funds around like the social loan etc but i really dont want to end up oweing more money by lending. Were only just coming out the other side of really bad debt,we wouldnt be able to get another guarantor which is required for us because of bad credit. Weve always paid on time and in full for a year now.
What annoys me more than anything is the complete incompetence of landlords. This is our second rented house. The first one our landlord didnt pay the deposit into the dps then refused to pay it when we left-took them to court and won. Now this.
The house really needs a damp proof course but the landlord is trying to get away with just pointing the exterior wall where the rising damp is?i dont understand how they think pointing a few marks on an exterior wall is going to help a wall with 3 foot high rising damp along a ten metre wall?