Renting issues: LL needs to decorate, we want to move out.

dancingfairy

The other point is though that Shoegal is pregnant and believes the house is uninhabitable so while sorting out the correct notice is important the works are due to start on Monday.
The doctor has advised that the house is not suitable at the moment for Shoegal - the decorator has also advised this (although how qualified he is regarding whether a house is suitable to live in we do not know).
Shoegal appears to need to establish official whether the house is habitable or not - perhaps the council can clarify - if not then presumably the landlord has to provide an alternative - it doesn't seem right that SHoegal has to pay for a place that is unihabitable.
A call to Shelter might help on this one regarding what the landlords rights are etc.
df

BitterAndTwisted

In my opinion a property would not be made uninhabitable while being decorated. True, paint fumes aren't particularly welcome but if they rendered a property uninhabitable we'd see home-owners booking themselves into hotels while they did their own decorating and they don't, do they? It's normal to do one room at a time and to not use that room until the paint is dry and the room properly ventilated while it's being done. In my opinion the OP is making a big fuss about not very much.

shoegal26

Thanks everyone I rly appreciate your advice. Btw the doctor said I shouldn't be there for two reasons. 1) is the stress because of the lack of space and 2) the primary reason is that we're having mould treatment. Its quite exessive and they are using a fungicide and all sorts of dangerous chemicals that are designed to kill. Sorry if this comes up as 1 long line, am typing on my phone as internet has conked out too now to add to the list. Thanks again.

shoegal26

Does anyone know where we stand when it comes to paying the rent for the two weeks we won't be there for? If we have to pay rent for those two weeks that's fine, but we're going to have to pay to be somewhere else for this time and we're going to struggle to afford it.

I'm also having difficulty getting hold of LL, since the letter LL does not seem to be replying to emails about this decorating and I'm relucant to call and then not have things in writing.

G_M

shoegal26 wrote: »

Does anyone know where we stand when it comes to paying the rent for the two weeks we won't be there for? If we have to pay rent for those two weeks that's fine, but we're going to have to pay to be somewhere else for this time and we're going to struggle to afford it.

I'm also having difficulty getting hold of LL, since the letter LL does not seem to be replying to emails about this decorating and I'm relucant to call and then not have things in writing.

As per my post above, write to the landlord at the address on the contract for the serving of Notices. If there is no address, you do not have to pay rent!

If the property is uninhabitable, then the LL has to provide alternative acommodation. You still have to pay rent.

If the property is NOT uninhabitable, but you choose to move out, then the LL does NOT have to provide alternative acommodation. You still have to pay rent.

Engeroosi

Ok point 1 / not the lld fault ur pregnant
point 2 / mould is usually caused by a lifestyle issue, ie, drying wet clothes on heaters, not heating house sufficiently, not having windows open often enough and also having items of furniture up against an exterior cold wall.
Both these points direct the whole OP problem back to the tenant.
I had mould in a property i stayed in and when I tried to get damp experts out to assess they refused as damp causes rotting of wood and plasterboard but not mould!

Just something to think about before you go trying to get a hotel paid for!

G_M

RLA factsheet on damp for tenants.

shoegal26

I didn't say that we wanted the LL to pay for a hotel, I was just wondering if we should be paying rent for the two weeks although we won't be there, that's all. Yes it's a lifestyle choice to be pregnant, actually I like to call it a blessing, but I haven't fallen pregnant in spite of LL. I am just trying to look after my baby and the doctor advised that we shouldn't be there BUT if we have to pay rent then that's fine.

In terms of the mould, the person from the council who came was a serveyor who specialised in mould and has gone for over 30 years. He could see why the mould was caused, no insulation, extractor fan blowing into the walls rather than outside etc. We don't dry clothes on radiators etc, we sleep with the windows open and have them open when we are in, we do not have any furniture on outside walls. We're definitely not at fault, I'm not saying it's LL fault but we care very highly for the flat and have looked after it very well. When they surveyor came over he said that it's damp - 5 of the other flats she owns has the same thing.

Thanks for the fact sheet, helpful but we do most of this already.

dancingfairy

Since the flat is uninhabitable the landlord should provide you with alternative accomodation while you are paying the rent from what I can tell.
Have you got anywhere to go? since you want to leave anyway and the landlord probably doesn't want to have to pay to put you up elsewhere (which is tough for him) then you may be best trying to negotiate a mutually acceptable agreement.
I'm not sure what sort of proof you would have to have to make the landlord conform to regulations though - clearly the flat is not safe at the moment either in it's present state or with the chemicals being used.
It looks like you should pay him rent and he should find you somewhere else suitable or else come to some sort of mutual arrangement. I would speak to SHelter to see where you stand.
df