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Student Rental Problems

runnersbeen
Posts: 40 Forumite
My daughter and her friend moved into a student private rental at the begining of July. Since then the bedrooms appear to have a condensation/damp problem with puddles of water on the floor and mould on the wall. It is a basement flat so I would expect some sort of damp but the weather has been so hot. The agent sent in a contractor who has advised better vents be put in. They have had builders upstairs working from 7 in the morning until 5 every day including weekends. and to top it off they have woken up this morning to 3cm of water due to what the agents says is an act of god from the storms last night.
The contractors have vacuumed up the water and put 2 dehumidifiers into the flat but I have no idea whether this is satisfactory? They have said the drain out the front was blocked and have unblocked it but say that it is not the builders fault.The girls are stressed and I am over 2 hours drive away. I am not sure if the flat is liveable. Can anyone advise of their rights as I have a feeling the agent just wants them to look for somewhere else to rent now. But there is no where else.
The contractors have vacuumed up the water and put 2 dehumidifiers into the flat but I have no idea whether this is satisfactory? They have said the drain out the front was blocked and have unblocked it but say that it is not the builders fault.The girls are stressed and I am over 2 hours drive away. I am not sure if the flat is liveable. Can anyone advise of their rights as I have a feeling the agent just wants them to look for somewhere else to rent now. But there is no where else.
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Comments
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They need to go the the local Council's Environmental Health Officer who can asses whether the property is habitable and instruct the LL to do repairs if necessary. They should also speka to the pPrivate Tenancy Officer at the Council and the Welfare and Accomodation Officers at their university.
They are big girls now; point htem in the right direction and let then learn how to look after themselves.If you've have not made a mistake, you've made nothing0 -
Given how little rain we've been having, I'd be surprised if even a blocked drain was the cause of new water appearing. It's possible it was an "act of God" if there was a bad storm, but even if there was, how did all that water get inside the flat? Any LL worth their salt would want to know if there's a leaking pipe somewhere or damage to the fabric of the walls or window frames that allowed that amount of moisture in.
Tell your daughter to write to the actual LL, not the LA (there should be a correspondence address on her tenancy agreement). As politely as possible, explain the situation and ask them to respond within a reasonable timeframe (e.g. 14 days). The LL may be blissfully ignorant to how the LA is dealing with issues like this, or on the other hand they may know full well but choose not to do anything about it. At least give them a chance to rectify it. If she doesn't get any response from the LL THEN go to Environmental Health.0 -
Thanks, apparently the LA sent an email to the Environmental officer and copied my daughter in on it, saying that they were going to do the vent work as suggested by the contractors.
Since typing this this morning a rep from the LA turned up at the flat and asked my daughter to tell me not to contact them. Considering I am the guarantor surely I have an interest. They would soon want to speak to me if she didn't pay her rent!
Anyway, they are running 2 dehumidifiers and waiting to see what happens next! but think it was a blocked drain and it came in under the front door but are not really sure...... I think there are more storms expected tonight so will see what happens.0
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