Student rental problems

VanyaHargreeves

Hi,
I'm currently in my first year at Uni, and because my uni has a shocking lack of halls we had to rent a house. As none of us knew the area, we ended up renting from an absolutely shocking estate agent (it has a very bad reputation and is well known for being awful in the area) as we were charmed by the very charismatic salesman (I suppose that's his job though, isn't it!).

Because we were all clearing students, we had about 2 weeks to find a house and as such were panicking! We were shown a few houses and picked one on the day. When we were shown the house we picked, we noticed a few broken things and a bit of a mould issue, which we were assured repeatedly would be fixed by the time we moved in.

Surprise surprise, on move in day, nothing was fixed. We had a plethora of problems, ranging from dirty water coming out of the kitchen tap to a big pile of glass in the garden. From what I remember:
- my bed was broken so I had to sleep on the floor for the first night.
- the sofa was (and still is) broken
- the first time we tried to open the living room window it fell out completely. As in, my housemate was left holding the handle to a completely detached window. We're lucky it didn't smash.
- There's a hole in the living room wall that they've tried to disguise by gluing - yes GLUING, not even drilling in, a vent in front of it.
- The water coming out of the kitchen tap was dirty.
- The big pile of glass in the garden was still there.
- The shower curtain was filthy and covered in mould, and the shower dripped constantly.
- The entire house was utterly filthy.
- The bathroom taps were loose and spun all the way around.
- The vent in the bathroom was blocked because someone had painted over it in their haste to cover all the mould.
- Mould on the bathroom ceiling was coming through already.
- 3 of my drawers in my bedroom were broken - the front panel was loose and when I tried to open the drawer the entire front just came off.
- Mould began coming through in all the bedrooms after a week or so. The mould in my bedroom was so bad that I just gave up waiting for them to deal with it and scrubbed it all off, but it's coming back again after 3 weeks.

^ That's before I cleaned it off. I moved my chest of drawers forward and that was the back of it.
I left a glass of water on the side for three days and it had started growing mould, and earlier this evening I took out one of my £200 black tie dresses and it's covered in grey spots of mould. In my housemate's room, the entire ceiling was covered in brown mould, to the extent that she was unable to sleep in there because the mould dripped occasionally . Anything she left in there became white and furry very quickly.
- We found out that there was a hole in the roof leaking water in and they sent builders to come around (saturdays and sundays at 8.30am) but we're not certain they've fixed it.
- No insulation whatsoever, resulting in a very chilly winter.
- Sink in the kitchen leaked so nothing could be kept in the cupboard under the kitchen unless we wanted it green and furry in two days.
- We have mice that we were told would be dealt with before we moved in (found rat poison under a cupboard when we moved in so it was clearly a pre-existing problem), but they weren't. The mice started coming in our kitchen cupboards about three months ago, we informed them, they told us it was our problem, then told us they would deal with it because it's their problem, then after a month we asked them what was happening, they said it was our problem again, and last week someone from the council came and inspected it and informed MTM (the agency) that it's their problem. And they're putting off doing anything about it again.

Look at this baby that we just caught in one of our kitchen cupboards (one that they've "already dealt with"):



- Our garden wall fell down. My housemate was sitting by in when it was sunny, and it just crumbled and fell. He could've gotten seriously injured.

Even better, we were informed a couple of weeks ago that our house will be inspected a few times, as the agency had classified our house as a "family-rented house" rather than a student house. We were told that for the size of the house, there should be a maximum of 3-4 people living there, and there are currently 5. Apparently this is probably a major factor in the amount of mould we have; there isn't meant to be this many people, and the condensation from everyone's general living activities is what's feeding the mould growth.

We've been emailing and calling at least twice a week for the last 7 months but they won't do anything substantial. When we shout at them for it, the response we get is "with all due respect, we're doing the best we can..." or "with all due respect, you're wrong.". Nothing we say seems to encourage them to work harder, even when we informed them that our housemate's mum is gathering evidence and is fully intending to take them to court over the frankly disgusting living standards that they've left us in.

Does anyone have any advice about what we can do? We've spoken to environmental health, we've spoken to the uni housing team, but nothing seems to phase them.

BitterAndTwisted

PUT ALL OF YOUR OBSERVATIONS IN WRITING! To the landlord at the address which is quoted on your tenancy agreement under the bit where it says "for the serving of notices". And keep copies of all your correspondence. Please stop emailing and phoning.

Your beef is with the landlord: if they won't sanction and pay for any maintenance or repairs the agent's hands are tied.

When you spoke to Environmental Health what was their response? Mice will visit and take up residence as long as food is freely available to them. Consequently you must put all foodstuffs in sealed containers, keep the bin empty and clear up spills and crumbs everywhere.

Make plans for your onward move as soon as your fixed-terms ends. A squat wouldn't be worse than what you're enduring now.

Dippypud

Is the house listed as a HMO with the local council ?

BigAunty

The Shelter website has good info on how to get landlords to undertake repairs - are the local environmental health undertaking a hazard/safety inspection of the property?.

They also have info on how/whether you can legally do the repairs yourself and then deduct the cost of them from the rent. There is a specific process to do this and the Shelter website will tell you the steps.

Sometimes mould/damp problems are caused by leaking pipes and roofs, non-working extractor fans and so forth, for example, and get worsened by building design, and sometimes mould/damp problems are caused or aggravated by tenant lifestyle issues - for example, drying clothes indoors, not opening windows/using extractor fans when cooking or showering, not adequately heating the property.

So, yes, while your agency sounds a nightmare, tenant behaviour can be a primary cause of mould because of the condensation they generate - what they have termed general living activities, but it can be a bit more than just that if there are maintenance issues.

This leaflet is aimed at landlords but is also informative for tenants as it details how best to prevent and deal with mould and its affect on health.

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/pdf/Mould.pdf

You say, you involved your student union/reps/accommodation office in this so what are they doing?

If you feel your local council isn't serving you right on this issue, contact your local MP.

BigAunty

VanyaHargreeves wrote: »

...
Even better, we were informed a couple of weeks ago that our house will be inspected a few times, as the agency had classified our house as a "family-rented house" rather than a student house. ...

This is meaningless to me - what does this mean to you?

There is no such formal classification of a property as a designated 'student house' or 'family house' other than estate-agent speak that I know of - it has no status in housing law, for example.

There are HMOs and non-HMOs, some of which have to be licenced. Ask your local council if it is a HMO and whether it requires a licence, and if so, if it has a licence. The council website should give you info on their HMO schemes.

EDIT - it is the norm for landlords or their agents to periodically inspect their properties which is supposed to be a proactive way of checking the condition of the property and identifying any issues with it that haven't been reported. It's actually unusual (and seen as a sign of unprofessionalism and neglect) for an agent/landlord not to undertake a few checks during the tenancy. However, you have the right, enshrined in housing law, to refuse entry because you are entitled to quiet enjoyment of the property. The Shelter website has info on this. An agent/landlord is supposed to give notice and gain consent before entering the property. In reality, most just give notice and think that as the contract may state the tenant's obligation to cooperate, they don't need permission at all but that's not the case. Perhaps you'd welcome the chance to show them all the current defects anyway.

dimbo61

So you have been living in a total dump for the last 6+ months and may have a contract until the end of june YES?
Cal the local council and ask for an inspection by the EHO
Contact the university and ask is this Landlord on the list of approved? accreditated landlords ? MY GUESS NOT A CHANCE.
If you only have one bathroom then its overcrowding with 5 tenants.
Look now for a place for next year !!!!

Dippypud

Dippypud wrote: »

Is the house listed as a HMO with the local council ?

BigAunty wrote: »

This is meaningless to me - what does this mean to you?

There is no such formal classification of a property as a designated 'student house' or 'family house' other than estate-agent speak that I know of - it has no status in housing law, for example.

There are HMOs and non-HMOs, some of which have to be licenced. Ask your local council if it is a HMO and whether it requires a licence, and if so, if it has a licence. The council website should give you info on their HMO schemes.

Great minds and all that ...

BigAunty

I understand your frustration with the apathy of the agent (in reality the landlord, too, as they merely act on their behalf) and their failure to meet their minimum obligations.

However, for issues like the broken sofa and chest of drawers that are not getting addressed, nor are likely to at this rate, I would simply get free ones off websites like Freegle, Freecycle/Freeshare, gumtree freebies, assuming that it wouldn't conflict with anything that you signed for on the inventory (did you sign one?) or if the agent gave permission in writing to replace them. It isn't your responsibility to do this, and it is your right to have the furniture replaced or repaired, but this is one solution anyhow.

I don't believe there is any obligation for a landlord to insulate their properties. However, you can get ideas from the other forums on MSE on cheap/free ways to cut down on drafts and increase insulation, find cheap energy tariffs and so forth.

I once made the mistake of accepting a 6 month let in a property (room in a shared house) over autumn and winter that had no heating - I managed not to notice the lack of a heater until after I signed the contract, it never even occurred to me to check it was heated, I just assumed it was. It was also single glazed. I never made that mistake again...

VanyaHargreeves

Thanks everyone for your replies.

I can't say I fully understand the student housing/family housing thing, it's just purely what I've been told by the people who come to inspect the house. They said it's something to do with the amount of condensation caused by everyday living and if the property is suited to that.

We have been told that the mould IS our fault and responsibility, but we don't know what else we can do. We keep the hallway window open whenever there's someone in, the bathroom window is always open, the living room window is almost always open and we don't dry clothes in the house, they fixed the extractor fan in the living room so that works too now, and we use the kitchen extractor fan whenever we cook. We also have the heating on constantly, which is awful because the open windows means that it's absolutely freezing no matter what, and the heating is so expensive. But that's what we've been told to do by Environmental Health so we're following instructions. We don't really know what else we can do to reduce condensation - besides stopping breathing!

However, I literally just got an email from the agency informing us that they've booked a damp surveyor to come and look at the problems of the mould and damp.

Furthermore I informed them about my dress going mouldy and asking if they're going to reimburse me the money to get it dry cleaned, or to replace the dress (£200!) and the response I got was:


"Please may I remind you as per your welcome pack information that we recommend all students to get personal contents insurance to cover any belongings you bring into the property."

I don't know if I'm just making this up - but am I right in thinking that they have to reimburse me for this? I mean, who puts a dress in a wardrobe and expects it to go mouldy?

I spoke to Brighton Pest Control about the vermin, and they said that all that they can do is come and sort out the problem for a £50 fee payable to us, or we can continue to badger MTM in hopes that they will sort it out eventually.

VanyaHargreeves

dimbo61 wrote: »

So you have been living in a total dump for the last 6+ months and may have a contract until the end of june YES?
Cal the local council and ask for an inspection by the EHO
Contact the university and ask is this Landlord on the list of approved? accreditated landlords ? MY GUESS NOT A CHANCE.
If you only have one bathroom then its overcrowding with 5 tenants.
Look now for a place for next year !!!!

I have already found a new house to live in next year! Thank god

VanyaHargreeves

BigAunty wrote: »

You say, you involved your student union/reps/accommodation office in this so what are they doing?

If you feel your local council isn't serving you right on this issue, contact your local MP.

They are "looking into the matter and seeing what they can do".

We have sent the agency a written letter requesting our landlord's contact information, as we were not given this when we moved in - in fact, our contract states that we are not under any circumstances to contact the landlord personally. But we've been told that legally they have to give us the landlord's information within 21 days of receiving written notice, so we're waiting for that..