Central Heating in rented accomodation

coldbekah

I live in a 2 bedroom house in rented accommodation. Every winter it gets incredibly damp to the point where out clothes and property are being ruined. We have been here for 2 winters and this year will be our 3rd. I have spoken to the landlord about the damp problem and was told that they didn't have a damp problem before. The heating doesn't work very well and takes a long time to heat the flat up and so this year I've decided to demand that the problem is fixed. Unfortunately I haven't kept a record of contact regarding the issue with the landlord and so have no evidence that I have addressed the issue before. I'm pretty sure that the problem lies in the fact that the place is cold due to poor heating and am thinking I need to tell the landlord to replace the heating. How do I do this and also how much does it cost to replace 5 radiators and whatever else??

Ally74

coldbekah wrote: »

I live in a 2 bedroom house in rented accommodation. Every winter it gets incredibly damp to the point where out clothes and property are being ruined. We have been here for 2 winters and this year will be our 3rd. I have spoken to the landlord about the damp problem and was told that they didn't have a damp problem before. The heating doesn't work very well and takes a long time to heat the flat up and so this year I've decided to demand that the problem is fixed. Unfortunately I haven't kept a record of contact regarding the issue with the landlord and so have no evidence that I have addressed the issue before. I'm pretty sure that the problem lies in the fact that the place is cold due to poor heating and am thinking I need to tell the landlord to replace the heating. How do I do this and also how much does it cost to replace 5 radiators and whatever else??

Hi,

If the property is being ruined then it would be in the best interest for you Landlord to help you out. We had a damp problem in our rented property and asked our housing association to help, which they did, thankfully.

They replaced the walls with a thicker insulated plaster board & fitted a new heating system ( we had storage heating before).

As i said, we never had any problems with our association helping us out but we did the following before we contacted them:

Took pictures of the damp to provide evidence
Contacted our Doctor who supported us in getting help by writing a letter (my son has asthma).

You must also remember to open your windows whenever you can to ventilate the property.

Good luck.

ihateyes

coldbekah wrote: »

I live in a 2 bedroom house in rented accommodation. Every winter it gets incredibly damp to the point where out clothes and property are being ruined. We have been here for 2 winters and this year will be our 3rd. I have spoken to the landlord about the damp problem and was told that they didn't have a damp problem before. The heating doesn't work very well and takes a long time to heat the flat up and so this year I've decided to demand that the problem is fixed. Unfortunately I haven't kept a record of contact regarding the issue with the landlord and so have no evidence that I have addressed the issue before. I'm pretty sure that the problem lies in the fact that the place is cold due to poor heating and am thinking I need to tell the landlord to replace the heating. How do I do this and also how much does it cost to replace 5 radiators and whatever else??

i hate these landlords that never want to make an outlay against their OWN PROPERTY.... instead jsut want their rent and thats it....

Personaly id be looking for a new rent....

pinkmami

Definately find somewhere else to live for your health's sake.

Pincher

Students depart around June, and house hunt around September.
It's a bad time to be looking.

coldbekah

We're probably going to stay. I am worried that any repairs or work might be reflected in the return of our deposit. Last year I contracted a really bad chest infection so I know it's not good for my health, but I am worried that my lack of pro-activeness in reporting the problem might sting us when we leave. We've only ever reported it via phone calls and text messages which are all on phones which I no longer have. I guess my next question is how do I cover myself? When I leave the property, I have no evidence that I have kept them up to date on the problems over the previous 2 winters, so what do i do now to ensure that they don't try to keep my deposit? We're using it as a cheap alternative to renting (we share the flat and it's cheaper) so we can save and move to Cornwall.
How much would my landlady be lookin at spending? The actual boiler is only 3 years old, so it'd be the 5 radiators that need replacing I imagine...

G_M

'Damp'is a very generic term Water has to originate somewhere and the solution depends on this. As jeepjunkie says

it will have an underlying problem e.g. rain penetration, stack pipes leaking underground, roof leaks, DPC failed, poor heating etc...

but often it is a condensation problem.

The RLA has a useful factsheet for both tenants and landlords on the subject here.

chris1973

Make sure you keep any written communication between your landlord and yourselves in relation to this aspect. Some LL's will attempt to retain their tenants deposit on the basis that the tenant caused the damage by not heating or adequately ventilating the flat during their tenancy, or by drying washing on radiators etc.

It sounds to me that your LL isn't taking either his responsibilities to yourselves or his own property seriously, so i'd seriously consider the advice about looking around for another property, after all, if he skimps on this, what other things is he skimping on?