Landlord blaming me for causing damp?

the_madhouse_2

Hi,

I am about to move out of my pretty old 2 bedroom house, I have lived there for 3 and 1/2 years, when i moved in the house had just been purchased by the landlord to rent out so he knew no previous history of the house expect from the normal house survey required to get a morgage. When I moved in at the end of July 2007 the house didn't appear to have damp and didn't smell of damp. Since living there for as stated 3 1/2 years damp has appeared on the walls that face the outside expect the kitchen but in the front room, my bedroom and my sons bedroom! Also the house smell strongly of damp. When I moved in there was a tumble drier left behind (which didn't work) I bought a tumble drier about a year ago (a condensing one so no outside pipe needed). When I told my landlord he didn't really take much notice and didn't do anything about the problem I managed to bleach and re line the wall wilth lining paper to keep the mould in check this helped for a while but the the damp stated to come back through the paper, we alo have mould in the cupboard where i kept my shoes which meant I was always having to throw away shoes due to them being covered in mould, so I bought a wardrobe to solve this problem. On a couple of occasions he has given me notice to quit as he was going to sell the house as this wasn't happening he decided to wait. The last time he gave me notice I was due to have my second son around the time he wanted me to out, but again the house didn't sell and he stated he would put it back on the market in April this year. Well I have had enough and I have given him notice to quit not realising he was on a 3 week holiday to Austrailia! I managed to txt him saying I was moving out due to the really bad damp and my baby son was becoming ill from it. So he sent a builder friend of his round 2 days later to spray the loft which was coveed in mould and to fit more insulation, but it was too late I had already arranged to move out. He came round today to inspect the house and has already put it on the market (I found this out when the estate agents called me to arrange a viewing!!). I am due to move out on Friday and he is now trying to blame my way of living ie having the heating on (not all day) and using the tumble drier and not iopening the windows enough, he has even stated that he has got his builder friend to write a report stating this fact and won't repay my deposit. Does anyone know where I stand as I really can't afford to lose me deposit.

Thanks in advance for any advice
Tracy

mrs_baggins

I think he is trying it on. Yes the reasons he stated can cause a condensation/damp problem there is no doubt about it but so can lots of other things. Personally I would get in touch with your private housing section at your local council and they should be able to give you the help you need and if needed they will call round and do an assessment of the property and they also should have access to damp metres for the wall etc. is the builder freind basing his assessment on a 10 minute one off visit? would not stand up to scrutiny if this is that case so get to your council

Steve_xx

Even if you did use a tumble drier without opening the windows it would cause condensation, not damp. In other words, if you move out, and the mould is due to tumble-drying, then the problem will stop.

It's nice that he told that he was seeking a report from "his builder friend". There's no bias there then!

I don't think he willl be able to withhold payment of your deposit on this basis as the problems that there are there are due to a fundamental problem with the fabric of the property rather than anything you've done there.

Your deposit will be held by a third party no doubt and the third party will operate in an unbiased way. I suspect that your landlords complaint, on the basis that you have stated here, will fail.

lizzywig

First of all your deposit should be in a payment protection programme, if it's not you can take him to a small claims court if he refuses to put it into one. At court you would get your deposit back and can get up to 3 times as much as your original deposit, just for him not paying it into a scheme - fact. My friend has just gone through this.

If he has put it into a scheme then it's protected. So don't worry just yet but do deal with issue immediately.

Let me tell you, we have horrific mould. We live in flats which were built in the 80's, they're all joined and built with low cost materials and there is no insulation and so all have mould. Our landlady regulary has to arrange for people to deep anti mould clean the flats, I don't know why she doesn't sell up. We thought we were doing something wrong until we found out that the other flats had it. She won't buy a washer/dryer, she would only buy a washer and there is no room for us to get a dryer. She says don't dry clothes on the radiators....the mind boggles?? Anyway we bought a freestanding collapsable dryer which works wonders, we thought perhaps this was causing the mould, it's not, we checked with the mould people. They say it's the bad build of the property. A friend of mine lived in a place that was so bad she had mushrooms growing in her bedroom, her baby was getting ill all the time and the landlord did nothing, she got an independant person out (sorry I can't remember who) and when they assessed it they said it was not her fault - when her landlord got someone in he said it was. Surprise surprise!!

Get an indenpendant person in, go to citizens advice straight away. You've been telling him for months so he should have known, in fact her did know, he's been avoiding it, knowing he would blame it on you.

the_madhouse_2

Hi

I have been doing some reseach with regards to deposit scheme and I am 99% certain he hasn't done it oh dear is he in for a shock if he thinks he will be with holding my deposit! As I have found out I can take him to court if he refuses to do this and they he might be liable for 3 x times the amount!! I have also spoken to the council I they can send someone from the Enviromental Health dept round to do a proper check. We are meeting him at the house on Sunday so will update then, thank you for your replies sometimes it helps to write it down :-)

Tracy

the_madhouse_2

Good news we got a cheque for the full ammount, that is going straight in the bank first thing tommorrow morning hurray, thank you for all the replies :-)

Tracy