Holiday cottage - dry rot, not fit for purpose - legal recourse?

thegamebird

We booked and paid for a holiday cottage over the Christmas period. On arrival the owner showed me around the property. During this time he drew my attention to an area in the lounge where "here had been a leak in the past - all cleared up, but we haven't had time to repair the skirting board here, so we've put this box in front of it - just so you know". Fine.

He left the property, and I started looking for a place to plug in my laptop. I got on my hands and knees to see if there was one behind a console table, and to my utter shock found behind the console table the most extensive amount of dry rot, mould and fungus. It crept under the furniture on the carpet, was along approximately 1.5 meteres of the lower wall and spread up around 6 inches. It had clearly been there, undisturbed for a long time.

Travelling on my own with a five year old child, I was not going to stay there. I would never expose my son to this at home, and why would I do this is in a cottage. I took photographs and contacted the owner immediately. I also emailed him images. After careful thought, my son and I left the property for the night and stayed with family whom we were visiting in the area.

The owner came back the next day, told me it was dry rot and not harmful. I told him I was not happy with this (him nor his builder not being independent experts) and that unfortunately we could not stay on the property unil the issue was remedied. He told me he would issue a full refund and totally understood.

Fast forward to last week. Still no refund. I chase via email - twice. No response. Eventually after much chasing today, he mails me back to say that on reflection he will not issue us a refund as we left the property of our own accord and that he had taken expert advice and the rot was not harmful. Therefore we had cancelled "last minute" and under his T&Cs did not owe me a refund. It's wrth noting his website has been taken down and I have not been issued with a copy of T&Cs.

I have asked him again to look at his position. My question is what legal recourse do I have? It seems to me that the property was not fit for purpose. Your advice greatly appreciated.

Hintza

I think you might struggle on this one. Many older properties will have dry rot somewhere and it could be seen as an over reaction on your part. If the owner won't shift your only course of action will be to try the small claims court. If you rented it via an agent you could try them.

thegamebird

Hintza wrote: »

I think you might struggle on this one. Many older properties will have dry rot somewhere and it could be seen as an over reaction on your part. If the owner won't shift your only course of action will be to try the small claims court. If you rented it via an agent you could try them.

Thanks for your response. i get where you're coming from, but when there's a littl'un involved you put them first and this stuff was truly gross - really quite shocking. I suppose I was more shocked that they had no idea it was there. Any decent cleaner would have come across it... The house is Victorian, so not really old, and having lived in old houses all my life, I would know if there was visible rot & mould and have got rid of it, I'm sure.

We will go the leagl route if we have to - more out of a point of principle as the owner rescinded on his offer of a full refund.

Hintza

thegamebird wrote: »

The house is Victorian, so not really old,

Could be 175 years old.........:D

The fact he offered a refund is what you want to get your teeth into.

thegamebird

Hintza wrote: »

Could be 175 years old.........:D

As my Welsh husband would, "s'pose" !!!!

lincroft1710

If an expert in fungal growth can confirm from your photos that there was a toxic presence in the cottage, then you should have a fairly strong case for a claim via Money Claim On Line see https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome. You should add the cost of the expert's fees to your claim.

You will need to send a Letter Before Action to cottage owner, sometimes just this will persuade people to pay up.

If you can't get the toxicity confirmed, then it may be doubtful that the cottage was not fit for purpose.

visidigi

...how did you pay? And did you pay him direct?

thegamebird

visidigi wrote: »

...how did you pay? And did you pay him direct?

Unfortunately, paid him direct and not via CC, otherwise we'd be exploring a claim via Visa. The owner wanted a 2% CC surcharge, so used the debit card.

The_Pedant

At what point did you discuss that you couldn't stay there? Whilst still in the property?
Also, at what point did he say he would refund?

on reflection he will not issue us a refund as we left the property of our own accord

To me, this confirms that an agreement was made that he agreed the situation was unsatisfactory and that some arrangement was reach to refund.

If all that was agreed whilst you were there then to me there was a verbal agreement was made that a refund would be given and therefore, given that decision you felt no need to stay. If he is now going back on that agreement then I would say it could potentially strengthen your case?

Do people think that may be an argument of merit?

thegamebird

The_Pedant wrote: »

At what point did you discuss that you couldn't stay there? Whilst still in the property?

I told him that same night that we would not be sleeping there. I also sent him the images of the problem and he said he'd ask his builder "who's refurbed lots of my propertes and is an expert in these things". He came back to me during the afternoon of the next day.

At that stage he told me his buidler's prognosis, I said I was still unhappy staying at the prperty with a young child, he said he understood and offered me a refund. He then asked when I would be back to pack up and I at this stage advised him that I had already removed my belongings.

lagoslife

You did the right thing by taking photographs to support your case.

However, the owner could argue that you didn't give them chance to rectify the problem.

One solution is the small claims court, but due to the costs involved this path is rarely taken in small disputes.

I would try to resolve the matter amicably - a % refund for the unused nights maybe?