Am I the person to be blamed for the dampness on the roof - Agent not refunding the m

yatin123

Hi,
I had rented an apartment in Belfast and the apartment was newly painted when I moved in. After two months, we started getting dampness in the apartment over the windows, on the walls, in the kitchen roof and almost on every ceiling. When it was raining heavily, water droplets used to form on the ceiling and started to get fungus. I reported it to the agent, they came and looked around and said, it could be a problem with the roof and said they will fix it. I also told the landlord and even he came and looked around…but nothing was done. One of the agent kept on insisting that it was due to no proper ventilation and blamed us for not keeping the windows open. It was winter and it was snowing in March…it was not a sensible statement from him..but he kept on saying this. But, when we moved in,though it was paited, we noticed a small patch in the bedroom which was not painted..and it looked like the fungus problem was an existing one.
I vacated the flat on 16 Nov and after making a series of phone calls and emails, I couldn’t contact the agent for almost 2 weeks. Now, after sending a series of emails to the letting agency, I finally got a reply from the agent saying that the owner will not return the money due to the fact that the house had to be repainted.
I had taken photo copies and videos of the dampness…and also had a video taken on the day we moved out. If I take the agent to the court with the evidences of fungus on the roof, will there be a chance of winning the case? Can they say that the dampness was caused because of no proper ventilation and can they win the case?

Pls could you kindly let me know your thoughts so that I can send a reply to the agent at the earliest??
The advance amount is £530 which is quite a big sum for me which I cant afford to loose.

Many thanks

Generali

1. Write to them to say you want your deposit back.
2. Write to say they have 14 days to return it or you'll sue.
3. If you still don't have it, write to them again (registered post) saying if you don't have the deposit back in 7 days you'll sue.
4. Sue.

Your local CAB or Shelter (http://northernireland.shelter.org.uk/advice/index.cfm or call 028 9024 5640) will be able to assist with the process but it's very cheap and simple to take someone through the small claims court.

Stick to your guns, don't be fobbed off ('Only [head office/our accounts administrator/the Wizard of Oz] can sign that off') and stick to the timetable. These people rely on you getting fed up and giving up. Oh and when you sue, go for a few hundred quid in punative damages - it helps concentrate minds when there's a real loss for the other party at stake rather than just returning what's yours.

PS Good profits on the Betfair stakes. I've had some success on the cricket - betting against Eng is usually a good strategy!

yatin123

Thanks very much for your immediate advice generali. Am I responsible for the fungus on the walls or is it a problem to be fixed by the house owner? I am really confused as the agent kept on blaming me for not keeping the windows open. I come from India and so, he kept on saying that as you come from a warm country, you are keeping the house very warm and is not letting any ventilation in. But, it doesn’t make any sense to keep the windows open all the time during winter isnt it?? I noticed that even in summer, dampness forms on the walls during rainy days…though the windows were open.
So, can you pls assure me if that is a problem with the house itself or not? Do I have a strong point if I take them to the court??

Strapped

Agree with above reply. Also ask for a retrospective reduction in the rent due to your loss of amenity caused by the damp. Doubt you'll get it but as above reply says, if the LL thinks they have nothing to lose then they are not not incentivised to return your deposit. (Rented a house last year which was actually dripping water into our bedroom, threatened to take to small claims and LL backed down).

ETA: in our case, the problem WAS a problem with the house. We opened the windows every day (winter) for ventilation but the roof was leaking. OP, if you never opened the windows, then yes, you may have contributed to the problem and the LL may have a point. But it sounds as though there was an underlying problem, initially masked by the paint job.

yatin123

If the LL claims that the dampness was caused by me, then how will I be able to prove the case? I don’t have any proof or evidence to show that its an existing problem…though I really doubt that the house was in a newly painted condition when I moved in. If I submit the photos of dampness and if the LL claims that the dampness was caused due to no proper ventilation, I am worried that the case will turn against me.
Kindly adive me.

silvercar

There could be a problem with the roof; there could "just" be a complete lack of insulation in the roof. If the ceiling is warm on one side (your room) and freezing cold on the other (the roof space), you will get condensation forming on the hotter side.

This is why you get condensation on the inside of your windows, the glass is a cold surface in a hotter room. The moisture in the air and condenses on the cold surface.

It is definitely made worse by a lack of ventilation. Opening a window allows the moisture to escape not just the heat! That is why a lot of new double glazing has trickle vents that allow the flow of air without making a noticable difference to the room temperature.

I would say that opening windows in every room for half an hour each day will make a big difference. Having said that I think that the amount of water you describe sounds like there is a problem (even if its only lack of insulation) with the roof. Your refusal to open any windows (if that is what you have done) has made the problem worse, rather than caused the problem.

yatin123

Thanks very much for your explanation silvercar. It was very informative and helpful. The apartment was close to the Laganriver in Belfast and one of the agents who came in to look around last december told me that as its close to riverside and as the apartment is double glazed…that is causing the problem…I could see water dripping from the roof…during rainy days. I do open the windows for few mins a day..to get fresh air and I don’t put heating all the time. So, from what you say, I understand that there is a real problem with the house.
On an other note, I recently moved to an apartment in Scotland end of November…and its only 3 weeks now in my new apt. I notice a few problems in my new apartment - the bathroom has no windows…and has a ventilating fan only. Now, the bathroom ceiling has some moisture formation and I could see some brown colour formation on the roof…it could be because of moisture formation. Also, I notice a decoloruing on the window walls in my bedroom. Now that I have a bitter experience with my past agent,how do I take it with the new agent. Kindly advice. I am trying to be cautious and cannot afford to loose my deposit money.

Horace

I moved into my rented flat in August last year, in around November, I noticed that mould was growing above my windows in the kitchen, living room, bathroom and bedrooms. I immediately contacted my landlord who sent out one of his workmen to paint over the fungus with some special paint. My flat is double-glazed but has vents above all the windows which I leave open to let some air in. During January, this year, I kept noticing a really bad mould smell everytime I went into the front bedroom (I use it as a store room) plus the heater wouldn't work in there so once again I called my landlord, he sent his chaps in again and they removed the heater and found a huge patch of mould behind it - again, it had the paint treatment and I was given a new heater (one that worked).

My flat was refurbished as it had previously been lying derelict for 10 years (the council were going to demolish them and then my landlord came along with a spare £3million and bought them). It seems to me that the flats weren't allowed to dry out properly following re-plastering but thankfully I don't suffer from damp now. To help with the damp, I bought some of those de-humidifier trays to catch the excess water and these helped enormously. I think my landlord was a bit more co-operative especially after I wrote to him to advise him that I would be withholding part of my rent.

How can a faulty roof be your problem? I would write to the landlord and his agent demanding your deposit back and tack them to the small claims court if you have to.

jennifernil

Yatin......................It sounds like the extractor in the bathroom is either too feeble or not set to run long enough after the light is switched off. The "run-on" time may be adjustable, you would need to ask your landlord or open up the fan and look.
You also need to minimise the amount of moisture you are creating, don't dry clothes on radiators, use lids on pots when cooking, use the extractor in the kitchen, put some cold water in the bath before adding the hot, don't take long showers.

It would also be a good idea to invest in an electric dehumidifier, you should get one from somewhere like Argos for about £80. Connect it via a time clock to run a few hours per day, that way it will not use too much electricity. Position it in the hallway near the bathroom and leave doors open, you will be amazed how much water it collects. Remember to empty daily.

Is this a modern property? If so it should be well insulated, but you do need some ventilation. If there are vents on the windows leave them open during the day. You could leave them open all the time in the bedroom, just breathing generates a lot of moisture!

yatin123

Thanks very much Horace. I am really gaining my confidence and I am not going to let the agent and the LL get away with my money. Could you pls tell me more abt the de-humidifier trays? What are these and how do u use them to avoid dampness? This might be very helpful for me in my new flat.

yatin123

Thanks very much Jennifernil. Your advice is very very helpful. I will try to get a de-humidifier for my new apartment. Now that I have learnt a lesson, I am planning to document each and every fault and am planning to follow it up with my new agent.
Thanks very much for your advice again!