Uninhabitable flat- Urgent help needed for kids in first flat

orangefusion

I have just returned from dropping my son off at his first flat as a tennant- he is in his second year at uni having had halls last year. The flat was found by his friends while he was away over the summer and he did not see it until today.
The place is unibhabitable. There is six inches of damp above all the skirting boards, one bedroom is "being treated" the floor is soaking concrete, the whole place stinks of damp- the air is so humid that nothing will dry, it is insecure and the windows need to be open to breathe but it is a basement in New Cross- there are no bars or proper window locks so the windows have to be kept shut. The b*****d landlord has taken 6 months rent off the boys, and a £2100 deposit- in total more that £12k. There was a dead rat in the bin which had clearly been a live rat when it climbed in. I had to leave him there but I wanted to bring him home again or check him into a hotel.
What rights have these poor kids got? The place is disgusting and I am at a loss to know how calling the agent is going to make any difference because they knew it was like this when they let it. They will fob me off with platitudes but they do not have to live there.
I want to cry- he was so excited about living out of halls but this is just so awful.

silvercar

Contact the university accommodation office.

duchy

They aren't kids - they are over 18 so adults and entitled to make their own decisions about how and where they live.

If the flat is legally uninhabitable then the council can become involved but they may decide they'd rather live as it is than end up homeless.

Presumably one of them at least viewed it before they paid out.

You say they don't have to live there....... No they don't -but they may prefer to do so rather than pay rent for somewhere else too (assuming they or you can afford to pay rent on two London properties) or be forced to abandon their studies and move home.

The agents knew whayt it was like when they let it- but presumably so did the young men. No-one held a gun to their head to move in. The landlord didn't "take money off them" it was a legal agreement between two parties .

The uni will have staff who can advise them the best way to legally deal with the landlord but ultimately the flat can't have changed that much between the time they signed the legal agreement and today.

Unless either of them have compromised health six months sleeping in these conditions may be rubbish but won't kill them - and it'll be a learning experience for like about committing to unsuitable contracts and dealing with consequences and making sure they know what is and isn't acceptable to them as places to live. Plenty of students choose to live in flats that would horrify parents but would rather stay central ... or just aren't as bothered by damp etc as their parents think they can be.

Realistically they probably left it too late to find somewhere to live and had little choice but the bottom line is they've now paid and signed so unless envbiromental health are interested they are probably stuck with it.

You are obviously very bothered by it- but how bothered are these two adults ? (remember they've seen other student flats where their fellow students live and may feel they could have done worse)

orangefusion

Duchy; Yes they are 18 but none of them have ever rented before, they are total innocents in the world of tenancies.
The place has rising damp in every room. One room is a building site.
I have been a student and lived in squats and all kinds of poor housing- this is the worst I have ever seen. Your response is very harsh, what we need is help to get their money back and moved out of there as quickly as possible. I was rather hoping for some sympathetic suggestions. Would you live in a place with rising damp and mould? Would you let a place in that kind of state?

orangefusion

I shall contact EH on monday. It is not fit for habitation and they are all upset about it but a bit bewildered by being so badly stung.

nearlyrich

Really you should let your son and his friends do the contacting just be available for consultation if required.

specialboy

Did you check the place out before you signed for it? Did you check the place out before you handed over 6 months rent and deposit?

orangefusion

No special boy I did not. I was working hard to earn the deposit and rent, I live 300 miles away. One of his friends did all the checking and he is as upset as I am. Why are you so unhelpful- telling me what I SHOULD have done is not helping. I need to know what we can do now to move on from this and get them sorted into somewhere dry and get their money back.
Of course I should have checked, all the parents should have, but we didn't and now we need help to retrieve the situation.
Please dont bother answering with any more responses if they are going to berate me for trying to find ways to move forward, we are were we are and I am trying to find solutions right now.
Thanks to the suggestion of the Uni accom office- I will tell the boys to do that on monday along with EH-they will have to do that too- I agree that its best if they do it.

G_M

Either it is legally habitable, or it is not.

Envirommental Health will assess and decide. However, be aware they are under-staffed and over-worked.

If it is deemed habitable, then they are stuck with it via the contract they signed.

If it is deemed uninhabitable, then either
* the LL must repair to make it habitable, and re-house them elsewhere while this takes place or
* the contract can be deemed 'frustrated': neither side has any further obligation to the other. Any advance rent paid (but not rent due to-date), and deposit, should be returned. The tenants would then need to seek alternative accomodation

duchy

I suspect you'll find the uni offers advice on what to do to find accommodation and what not to do but the London housing market especially at the cheap end is full of bad landlords and bad properties. Sounds like the advice wasn't taken.

These are not children but young men of nearly nineteen who have attended university classes with other students for a year (and all uni students talk about moving out in the second year and the pitfalls ) and the person you should be annoyed with is your son for not finding out exactly what the flat was like before signing a legally binding agreement. It may not be what you want to hear but they may be stuck with it. The fact he didn't bother viewing it isn't a reason to void a contract . Getting the money back may be a bit unrealistic although I in your position would try too. It may take time though- and even a couple of months would make difficulties in finding a shorter or unusual length tenancy for the rest of the academic year.

I don't know anyone who would commit to that amount of rent without seeing the place or at least getting the person viewing to take photos for me. Not difficult with mobile phones now days.

Pixie5740

How many of them are sharing this flat? I'm wondering if it would be classified as a HMO and if so, has it been registered with the local council? Has the boys' deposit been protected correctly with the prescribed information being issued? I'm just wondering if there's something that legally the LL hasn't done that he should have which could give you some leverage.

Shelter details the process for getting repairs carried out.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/repairs_and_bad_conditions

Step 1, write to the LL using the address given in the tenancy agreement for the serving of notices. Get the boys to read Shelter's website and then get writing. If they can't get out of the tenancy they might as well try to get the repairs done.