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

jennifernil

You are welcome! When buying a dehumidifier make sure you get one that is suitable for the size of the flat. Running it immediately after having a bath or shower will help, but you do need to give it a few hours to do its job. It will have settings on it for humidity levels, these are useful if you want to leave it running all the time, but do watch out for how much electricity it uses. Some also have 2 fan speeds. You will need to experiment to see what works best for you. Leave all doors open as much as possible to allow air to circulate freely.

LuciferTDark

The roof leaks & they say it's your fault the walls are damp & need repainting? Generali was spot on, demand your deposit back & sue the b*ggers if they refuse.

yatin123

Thanks very much for all the quick replies and help! When I read the mail from the agent about money not being refunded, I was literally in tears because I just cant afford to loose this huge amount. But, now after all the advice and support from you guys, I have gained confidence and am going to fight them back! I will keep you posted of my progress.
Many thanks to all the MSEs.

jonathon

we have the same problem with damp and mould. the landlord says its because we dont open the windows the condensation on the bedroom windows is allways very bad. dont know what we are going to do. and from a previous post of mine i still dont have a gas certificate.

olly300

jonathon wrote: »

we have the same problem with damp and mould. the landlord says its because we dont open the windows the condensation on the bedroom windows is allways very bad. dont know what we are going to do. and from a previous post of mine i still dont have a gas certificate.

If the windows are single glazed then you are liable to have lots of condensation in winter. The only way to prevent this is to sleep with the windows open and when it gets below freezing you still end up with condensation on the windows!

Some double glazing also gives this problem as Silvercar mentioned.

The only way to deal with it I found is to lie j-cloths along the bottom of the window and wring them out regularly (a minimum of every 2 days), and use moisture traps like these http://www.wilkinsonplus.com/invt/0135521 (you will need minimum of 2) as well as open the window every day even it it's cold outside.

This stops the condensation running down the walls under and along the sides of the window and growing mould.

If the mould is growing elsewhere then check there is no furniture very close to the exterior walls as this prevents air from circulating.

poppy10_2

Whether it's the double glazing, or a problem with the roof, it was the landlord's responsibility to fix it, and any damage resulting is their responsibility. You will get your deposit back in full, just stick to your guns.

SquatNow

Sue the landlord. After you win, contact the new tenant, local papers, local radio etc and tell them about the landlords behaivour.

If possible, bankrupt your landlord... it's the only way reasonable human being get got shot of these t0ssers.

takoo

Do the agents belong to a professional body, eg Association of Residential Letting Agents? If so you could enquire about any complaints procedure operated by the organisation and whether your problem constitutes one they would deal with. My hunch is that it won't but you never know.

yatin123

Hi takoo, yes, I rented it from an agent called Belvoir lettings in Belfast. Infact, the HR manager of my previous company only recommended the agent and now I have passed on my experience to my manager so that atleast in future my other colleagues will not be affected.

Also, I called up my neighbours and told them abt the landlord's behaviour. They were very furious and told me that they will make sure to inform the next tenant abt this landlord. As I moved to Scotland, may be the landlord might have thought that I may not take much pain in getting my money back.
I am going to contact the cab service today and am going to send a letter to the letting agency.

I was reading through EagerLearner's thread and it gave me a lot of confidence to fight back. I have decided not only to get my money back but also to make every possible attempt to inform others of this letting agency and of the landowners behaviour. Infact, I myself have recommended this agency to a couple of my colleagues...and I regret for doing this.

Let me keep you updated on how it goes!!

PasturesNew

Damp is an odd thing. I read once that you can have two identical houses next to each other: one very damp; one with no damp. Swap the people in the houses over and the damp follows the person ... because a lot of the time it is 'lifestyle'.

I am now over-keen on damp issues. I am living in a studio flatlet (bedsit) and when I have a shower I keep it brief, I then keep the light on so the extractor fan is on for about 3x as long as I was in the shower room for. I keep the door closed, then pop back a bit later, if I can still 'feel/smell' that I had a shower (room feels warmer/damp) then I put the light/fan on for another 10 minutes.

I have double glazing with trickle vents. This morning, as it was cold last night, I've gone round to each window and had to wipe the water off the windows/sills and I've opened each window half an inch for as long as I can manage (it's nippy!).

At some point there have been alterations here and a past owner has put in 3 vent grills on the wall. I ensure I keep these open at all times.

I take care cooking. I like to have the kitchen window open when I am cooking and leave it open while I am eating. This allows the cooking moisture to escape. On top of this, I am careful when boiling rice/potatoes etc and I keep lids on the saucepans and I keep the heat down as much as possible (so they're not boiling furiously).

It is easier to keep a property damp free than it is, after the event, to try to rectify the problems.

I moved to an area where the air is humid and a lot of people use de-humidifiers. I borrowed one for a couple of weeks and it's amazing just how much moisture they take out of the air (litres/day). It is certainly worth the investment. Although they can be pricey, if you look in the small ads you can get one at a reasonable price. They do come in all shapes/sizes and the modern ones can be quite light/small, whereas the older ones weigh the same as a fridge! You can search online to find out what capacity dehumidifier you would need for the size of your rooms, however, a small one is better than none at all. But, as was pointed ou earlier, watch the cost of running them. In terms of cost, you can probably ythink of them as costing the same as a fan heater.

Good luck.