Severe levels of mould, months of being ignored - My rights?

BennyB1

Hi all, i'm here to seek some general advice on my problem.
I'm going to try and keep this as short as possible, but hope you can all understand and let me know where I stand.

Myself, 19, partner, her sister, and my friend all moved in together to a 3 bedroom student apartment. We instantly noticed severe levels of damp and mold in one of the back bedrooms the day we moved in, as the landlord was around that day we confronted him and he just told us to not worry at all and it'd be sorted and to continue moving our stuff in. This was the 9th September 2011.

Now, cutting a long story very short, it is now 24/01/12. After almost 5 months, the mold still exists. Now when I say mold, let me ellaborate. This isn't just a small patch of mold, we have black/green streaks running from ceiling to floor half way around one wall. The wallpaper is crusted and falling off, the ceiling is peeling and dropping everywhere, black dust is falling through. The walls are green and black, and actually rather fluffy. It smells extremely bad, and in all honesty, it's uninhabitable. Now, within this time, we have made countless phone calls and sent countless emails and received no reply. The couple of replies we have had have stated somebody will be round that day, so to make sure somebody is in, or saying it will be sorted on a perticular date. Was it? No. It has been 5 months of this. They are now just not listening at all, we have spoke to them in person by going to the office, and they fob us off stating itll be sorted. In October, they gave us a dehumidifier and insisted we keep it switched on all day every day, this was left here for a month, as they said they'll fix it after this. They took the humidifier and we havn't seen them since. I can't even begin to imagine how something like this has affected our electricity bill. Recently, my friend whos room it was packed his things and left as it was too much for him. This didn't bother them at all. He now also refuses to hand over bill money as he states they didnt do anything to help him, so he'll leave debt on the property, but Npower state we still have to pay his share.

We have records of pictures from September, October, December & January. All showing how the mould has progressed, and obviously how it hasnt been sorted in a 5 month period. We have paid our rent every month, but now i've just had enough. If they can't be be bothered to sort this out, why should I pay my rent? I don't want to leave the property, as were settled in, and also in place for University. It just makes my blood boil that they feel they can just leave this and do nothing about it but take my money. This aside, we have had to have our washing machine replaced 3 times, the most recent, they left us without one for a month with clothes stuck it, after stating it'd be sorted a couple of days after letting them know. They havn't supplied any smoke alarms in any room, the toilet dosnt flush/has become detached from the floor and moves & the radiators are leaking some high levels of water.

So, the questions.
Am I legally allowed to refuse to pay my rent?
Am I allowed to request they pay for part of our enery bills/Should they be responsible for the tenants share who left due to the problem?
I'd just love to know where I stand in this whole situation. I feel i'm being made a fool of.

Thank you all in advance,
Ben.

Oneday77

I am in no way an expert but a big question you will be asked on here is have you sent any of your complaints by written recorded mail? Email, phone calls and verbal discussions don't count.
If not do one now and give a deadline of say 14 days. I can't advise on the rest, sorry

BennyB1

Oneday77 wrote: »

I am in no way an expert but a big question you will be asked on here is have you sent any of your complaints by written recorded mail? Email, phone calls and verbal discussions don't count.
If not do one now and give a deadline of say 14 days. I can't advise on the rest, sorry

Hi there,
I have proof that emails have been sent, in my email 'sent' box if that counts? This obviously has the date in which they were sent, and also shows no direct replies.

EDIT: Sorry, I just noticed you said mail, not email. The answer to that is no, I have not sent them any mail.

Werdnal

Sometimes, even in this modern age, only Snail mail will do. Emails, texts etc could end up anywhere - you have proof of sending, but LL can deny ever receiving.

Write - you know a letter? Keep it simple and do not get angry or emotional. State the facts, that you have raised this issue many times since moving in by text, email and in person, and now you are making a formal written complaint. List all the faults/problems with the property. Ask the LL to make arrangements to view and address the situation within 14 working days, or you will be taking further advice and approaching the Environmental Health Department to request their inspection of the property. Keep a copy and proof of posting - do not send recorded delivery or any route that LL has to sign for as he can refuse to accept it.

Do not withold your rent - there are specific regulations which do allow rent to be stopped in compensation for repair issues, but this is a last resort and can cause you more grief if you do not follow the procedures correctly. For the time being, reporting the faults in writing is the first step.

Regarding utility bills, if your other tenant has left without notice he has breached the tenancy and is still liable for his share.

However, remember that if your LL is one of those who flatly refuses to address these issues, you will likely be served with Notice at his earliest opportunity!

Emmzi

lessons to learn I am afraid

1. don't move in until it's fixed
2. everything snail mail
3. use environmental health

My bet is if you get an inspection done you will suddenly be released rrom the terms of your tenancy. But don't expect to see the deposit back, you will find the mould is your fault and the landlord needs to fix it.

lizzywig

My DH and I rented a property about a year ago which had bad mould, it wasn't aparent until winter came around. I had just fallen pregnant and the mould was giving me a very bad cough so we reported it to environmental health. Despite having informed the LL on numerous occasions they'd ignored us and when they heard from EH they asked us why we had gone to them. They tried to blame it on us and there was talk of court etc BUT environmental health were able to prove that the issue had been there long before we had. They instructed LL to amend the problems outlining how it should be done, costs were £4k+ to LL. We received a S21 within a week of contacting EH but to be honest we were sick to our back teeth of LL so moved out before the end of the tenancy (still paid the rent thoug). I couldn't stay there any longer anyway as the stress was too much, in fact my doctor even signed me off work so that I could rest and not worry about the baby. I was relieved that we were in the process of buying a house anyway but you have to be aware that by going to EH it is likely that LL will want you to leave.

As others have said I would write to the LL outlining the issues, the occasions you have contacted him/letting agents and the responses you have had. Then yes threaten EH....this should be enough to get him to take action. He could however still issue the S21 anyway. Maybe you should get flat hunting.

poppysarah

lizzywig wrote: »

but you have to be aware that by going to EH it is likely that LL will want you to leave.

But staying in a very damp house isn't good for you so it's not a total pita and if it means they are forced to do work so the next tenant doesn't have a problem then in the grand scheme of things that's better than just living in damp and mould.

rentergirl

Yep - snail mail recorded delivery. And also try contacting 3x damp removal contractors, asking for an estimate, and putting the costs in writing and politely stating that you are willing to sort this out if the bill van be sent to the landlord, as they are clearly busy. Take good, clear photos, and send these. Then go to Environmental Health. Damp and mould are very bad for health. Consider moving.

tbs624

Get a timeline drawn up of when you reported, what you reported and what, if anything, was promised to you and by whom.

Contact the local Council - they will have a private sector tenancy relations officer/ LL liaison officer, who together with the Env health officer, can arrange for this property to be inspected under what is called HHSRS ( housing health and safety rating system)

Understandable as it is that you would want to, do not withhold your rent payments.

As you are presumably all signed up to the one tenancy agreement , you will have joint and several liability for (a) the full rent and (b) any utility bills etc which are clearly stated to be the responsibility of the Ts. Your co -T who has moved out is merely landing all of you with additional debt. If he refuses to pay the rest of you have the option of pursuing him to the small claims court ( nice way for friends to have to sort this out)

Other posters will state that if a LL does not get necessary repairs completed within a reasonable time, Ts can get quotes and follow a procedure of asking the LL to pay up and get the work done, before the Ts organise the work and recoup the costs from future rent payments. Google Shelters "Guide to Getting Repairs Done" for more info. However, the potential costs/timespan in your case would make that a less viable option that going via the TRO/EHO.

You will probably need to prepare for moving on though because sadly there is nothing to prevent a LL issuing a retaliatory notice of intent to repossess times for the first available date.

Have you had notification from the LL that your tenancy deposit has been scheme registered ( assuming property is in Eng/Wales)/ If not check for yourself online at DPS, mydeposits, and TDS. Note that if LL has not both registered the deposit and given you the scheme's prescribed info then any notice of intent to repossess ( a S21 notice) will be invalid during the period of non registration.

BitterAndTwisted

Please bear in mind that mail sent by Recorded Delivery can be declined at the door and/or not collected from the sorting office, so you could be back where you started with the emails only being in your "sent box" with no proof of receipt.

I would advise you to send two copies by first=class post, sent from two different post offices on the same day retaining proof-of-postage for future reference.