Flooded cellar in a rental property

jertum

We're about to move out of a house we've rented for the past 7 years. Unfortunately the cellar - where we kept a lot of our sports stuff and other personal belongings - has flooded with about 3" of water. To make things worse, green and blue algae is sitting on the top of the water, so pretty much nothing is salvageable.

As the property is rented, is the landlord responsible for the damage to our belongings? To be honest we're not too bothered about a lot of the stuff anymore as our new house is too small to accommodate it, so we'd be fine with leaving it behind for him to sort out (rather than being recompensed). Is it our responsibility to clear the cellar of our stuff, even though it's been ruined by his negligence?

To give a bit of background; he's known about the problem of water occasionally rising through the foundations for years and has done nothing about it, but it's worse than ever this time. We tried to protect things as best we could by placing them in higher positions and wrapping them in plastic, but mould and algae seems to have gotten to everything despite our best efforts.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.

System

Cellars are generally damp places and can have water ingress, unless they have been tanked don't really make great storage areas for those very reasons.


Were you also aware of the issues when you started storing your belonging down there, if so how was the landlord negligent.


Yes you are responsible for removing your personal belongings, ruined or not they are still yours.

AnotherJoe

Given that you knew it could be damp and that there was water ingress from time to time, yet you persisted in storing items there long term, I'd say you havent got a webbed foot to stand on.
Does this cellar have natural daylight? Otherwise i doubt its algae.

jertum

I should probably correct myself here, as it's only partially underground and is accessible via double doors at the rear of the property, so I guess it's technically a basement?

The basement was dry when we started storing our belongings down there - the water problems have gotten worse over time. When we first rented the place we were advised by the landlord that it would provide good storage. In fact, we had to clear an enormous amount of stuff from the cellar when we moved in as the landlord had filled it with rubbish, which he'd promised to remove but didn't, so we ended up paying for a skip to remove it all. A lot of the stuff is also inaccessible as every time he's done work to the property - usually to a very low standard - he's dumped any materials/waste from the job down there. He's a plumber, so there's even old radiators, boilers and spoiled bags of cement blocking access to the back of the basement.

He had some local builders install double patio doors with a view to tanking and making the basement usable a couple of years ago. Unfortunately they never actually finished the job so we've been left with double doors that are 6" below exterior floor level, meaning that water collects when it rains and makes its way into the entrance to the basement.

Yes you are responsible for removing your personal belongings, ruined or not they are still yours.

They've been ruined because he hasn't looked after the place - despite us pestering him to do so. The house is small and we've had nowhere else to store the stuff - we've also not been able to get to it because of the trade waste he's left there.

Davesnave

jertum wrote: »

To give a bit of background; he's known about the problem of water occasionally rising through the foundations for years and has done nothing about it, but it's worse than ever this time. We tried to protect things as best we could by placing them in higher positions and wrapping them in plastic, but mould and algae seems to have gotten to everything despite our best efforts.

I expect the landlord wouldn't want to spend tens of thousands having the cellar tanked, just to create dry storage. Most owner-occupiers never do it either. That would be the only option, as there is no intermediate position. Many cellars flood periodically and it's not a building defect.

Mould and algae will usually get to anything stored in a cellar. Maybe you didn't know this, but that's not the landlord's fault. Often it's learned via experience.

You are supposed to leave nothing in the property when you vacate it, unless you have the landlord's consent. Don't abandon your stuff, or it will result in a deduction from your deposit.


Edited to add that the above was written before we were drip-fed more info, so it stands.


It now sounds as if you didn't have exclusive use of this basement/cellar and it isn't clear if it formed part of the property in your rental contract, or if the storage facility offered was just a favour, albeit not a very useful one as it turned-out.

AdrianC

The water level rose just 75mm... and the stuff you put "in higher positions" (because you were aware of the issue) still got soaked?

Yes, you have to clear your rubbish from the property, and the landlord can charge you for any costs he incurs in doing so.

jertum

The water level rose just 75mm... and the stuff you put "in higher positions" (because you were aware of the issue) still got soaked?

I never said it got soaked - it's ruined from the mold/algae that's recently formed.

Yes, you have to clear your rubbish from the property, and the landlord can charge you for any costs he incurs in doing so.

In which case, I guess we'll also have to charge him for removal of the rubbish he left behind when he rented the place to us? As you'll see above, we literally can't get to most of it because of waste materials he's put there in recent years.

Morbier

House contents insurance? (Although I think you'd have trouble convincing an insurance company to pay out when you were aware of possible flooding and still left your belongings in the room).

Get rid of it, don't leave it behind for someone else to clear up or you may find it will cost you.

YOU are responsible for your belongings.

markin

Just make a claim on your contents insurance....


And i would just leave it down there.

Davesnave

jertum wrote: »

As you'll see above, we literally can't get to most of it because of waste materials he's put there in recent years.

This has been going on for years, so people might legitimately ask if you have a paper trail detailing the times you've asked this landlord to remove their stuff from the storage space you rented .


Or is that not how it is?


The time to complain isn't when you're leaving the property. If there is an issue over your deposit, or a claim and counter-claim for compensation, these are the sort of awkward questions which will be asked.

AdrianC

markin wrote: »

Just make a claim on your contents insurance....

What value to claim for on some rubbish that they don't even want any more, 7yrs of unaddressed mould accumulation notwithstanding?