Ceiling Collapsed. Rented Property. Asbestos?

carljamesrogers

hi all

A ceiling collapsed in one of our bedrooms last night. The property is rented through a notoriously bad agency who have taken ages to sort out previous issues.

How should we pursue getting this fixed and securing money back? We're also concerned of whether there is asbestos in the ceiling as we have no idea when it was last renovated. Is there a liability on the landlord to have a building inspector come out and complete a survey?

Any help would be appreciated in this!

Thanks

AdrianC

If the agent are slow, then just go straight to the landlord. It's his problem, the agent just act as a middleman.


What money do you think you're "owed back"? If the property is uninhabitable, then the landlord has a responsibility to provide you with alternative accommodation while the repairs are done. If that's not feasible, then the tenancy can be deemed "frustrated", and terminated.


No, there's no responsibility on the landlord for any kind of survey. If you're worried about asbestos, then get a sample tested - less than £50, and there was a thread here which touched on the subject just yesterday. Although apart from academic interest, I'm not sure what difference it'll make except in your decision as to whether to wear protective gear to recover your possessions from the room.

Comms69

carljamesrogers wrote: »

hi all

A ceiling collapsed in one of our bedrooms last night. The property is rented through a notoriously bad agency - who you chose to engage with?... who have taken ages to sort out previous issues. - given it's the landlords duty, not the agents, to sort out repairs; I fail to see how the agent can be responsible in your eyes

How should we pursue getting this fixed - write to your landlord and securing money back? - what money? We're also concerned of whether there is asbestos in the ceiling as we have no idea when it was last renovated. - given that almost no-one is stupid enough to remove asbestos for a simple renovation, it's either there or it isn't. How old is the house? Is there a liability on the landlord to have a building inspector come out and complete a survey? - what reason do you have to think there is asbestos?

Any help would be appreciated in this!

Thanks

It's fairly straight forward; you let the landlord know, they organise a repair, it would probably take 4-6 weeks in total

babyblade41

Are you concerned because the ceiling was artexed?

LL is the person who ultimately sanctions repairs so go through him/her. Give them a timeline of when this has to be done.

Collapsed completely , ie the whole ceiling or just a small piece come down ?

How did it collapse ?