Stuck Renting // Bad condition

T4i

Hi,

Any advice on what to do next would be welcomed.

We are stuck renting, cheap rent so it could be worse. Or could it? the house is really peeving me off due to its condition. I mean its not falling down or nowt but its the other little things that worry me.

The house suffers from damp, front and back walls. To the back of the house is a churchyard, trees growing pratically up the rear house wall. It looks like the branches are growing into the roof and lifting tiles at the same time. You can see a green line from top to bottom obviously because of the tree so close to the wall. We have had things we bought for our unborn baby ruined because they have been stored near the walls. The baby matress is now covered in mould, cool eh...

We can not store ANYTHING in the celler or it goes very moudly very quickly. Leather jackets, bike helmets, high-chairs, christmas tree etc etc.....Today as its been raining quite hard I noticed how its raining in the celler onto the mains electric and gas supply. Another cause of the damp I would presume...

We have been asking for a bedroom door for over a year now, he has been twice to measure up........still no door. We have pleaded with him to get the door fitted by end of July before the baby is due.

The house also suffers from poor drainage. What do we do now? He is in my eyes breaking the law. I'm not on the tenancy agreement so I dont know if i'm in a position to moan. My girlfriend is so nice she will not have a bad word about him. She is worried if we moan he will kick us out and we will have nowhere to go. Surely he has to provide a legitimate reason for evicting us?

She is going to call him round 2mrw, not sure if he will turn up. I've told her to write down all the things u've asked him to do (2 copies) and he should provide her with a date of completion. If he doesnt want to do this what do we do? Or in my case what should I do?

T4i

Post count was 666 on the above post........ :eek: _pale_

paddycr

Hi fella

Sorry this reply is so late and i hope you have sorted the house prob out by now. As an Env. Health Officer, what u have described to me is a potentially 'unfit' house and therefore, the landlord MUST take action or he will be forced to through the court.Give your local Env Health Dept a call and ask them to come round (they dont charge)-they will make an assessment of the house to see if it complies with legislation and if it is unfit, they will take action on your behalf (chances are, they prob already know of this landlord).Although you say you are paying cheap rent, the fact that you are paying means that he is obliged to at least provide a habitable property.

Good Luck

T4i

Hi,

Thx for the reply..We have not got any further the landloard finally turned up and left a de-humidifier in the cellar.

This was full of water within 2 hours of operation. He basically called me a liar with regards to the water 'raining' onto the MAINS electric/gas. He says it doesnt smell like rain water..............

I've just been looking on both shelter, calderdale council and CAB. Its all very confusing as what to do. Where do I start looking for a enviromental health dep?
Would that be throught my local district council?

rchddap1

To be honest my concern would be for the baby. I would suggest that you contact your council, explain that you think it is unsuitable for your soon to be born baby and ask about what options they can give you. Do you really want this child to grow up in this house? The baby is bound to touch everything. How can you stop this child touching the mould / damp walls and then sticking that hand into their mouth?

Sorry if I'm going a bit far, but these would be my concerns if it was my own child. Personally I would want to move.

T4i

We want to move too. But we have no money. Only what is avail each month for bills.

I know exactly what you are saying with regards to the baby. The damp could see to it that my ickle girl has asthma or other breathing abnormalities for the rest of her life.....If that happens I will personaly hold my landloard responcible and kick 10 bells of **** out of him.

Seriously though, this is crazy, he knows of the dangers but just chooses to ignore it.

Think i'll ring the council now!

T4i

Rung the council, they are sending Enviro Health Officers to us. :j

Now I need to know;-

Obviously our landlord will not be sendign Christmas cards to us now, do I need to do anything to 'be one step ahead' of him?

Can he just put the rent up to cover costs of any work?

Can he kick us out if he feels like it?

---

To paddycr,

You obviously see this kind of stuff daily, where do we stand? In my opionion there is so much work needed on the house can it be made back into a fit condition?

Phonix

Can he just put the rent up to cover costs of any work?

Can he kick us out if he feels like it?

This will all be covered in your contract.

There are legal conditions that contracts must meet, I "think" one of these is that a landlord must give at least two months notice if he has legal grounds to evict you.

From what I've read of your situation it looks like he's the one likely to be breaking the terms of the contract.

roger56

A damp house and baby are not a good situation.
The environmental health officer will assess the property and make recommendations if it is not in a habitable state. Are you on the councils housing list? Might be a good idea to get on the list with baby on the way.

Do you have a signed written contract for the rental through an estate agent, or is it direct with the landlord? If an esate agent is involved, raise the issues with them also.

Lastly, you posted the following comment
"I've just been looking on both shelter, calderdale council and CAB. Its all very confusing as what to do. Where do I start looking for a enviromental health dep?
Would that be throught my local district council?"
Can I suggest you get to a local CAB and talk to someone - maybe call first and make an appointment? Take rental documents etc with you to help explain the situation. Any chance of taking photographic evidence of the problems with the house (damp / mould no door on bedroom etc?).
This will all help to get action out of your landlord. And remember, if he does try to end the rental, he will most likely have difficulty re-letting if the house is damp and in a poor state.

I wish you all the best and hope it gets sorted

surfcat

Also remember that if you have a contract the landlord will have to go to court to issue eviction proceedings. If you have been paying your rent the court will not evict you unless for a very good reason. The landlord cannot just ask you to leave unless (assuming mentionned in the contract) by giving 2 months written notice.

T4i

Thx all for the advice.

I've already contacted Env. Health to come visit the property. We have taken photos of the problems. The photos make the mould look even worse than from the eye.

I'm basically just waiting for Env.'s to come round now, see what they say.

I'll post back when I've had some feedback.

Thx again.