deposit deduction question.. re damp

shykins

we rent out a flat and our tenant has just moved out .. i should point out they had signed a new contract taking them up to october but as they split up wanted out earlier which i allowed (cos i am nice lol)

anyways we just took possession back of the property and there is damp mold all over the walls, we were astonished cos no one had said anything and we last checked the property in january and it was absolutely fine then

this has obviously been goin on for some time to have got so bad .. anyways my question is can we make some deductions from the deposit because they didnt tell us and now we have had to spend out a fair bit of money getting this sorted?? the deposit is £675 what do u think would be a fair deduction

and yes i could probably make some sort of insurance claim but we all know how long that will take and we have a new tenant coming in next week and i dont want that held up

thanks for any advice

real1314

What's the cause of the damp? How bad is the damage?

If it 's caused by a problem with the property then it's at your cost to solve the problem, but it was the tenants responsibility to report it to you, therefore any damage caused by non-reporting could be claimed from the deposit. (subject to the necessary clauses in the tenancy agreement).

shykins

i believe its caused by block guttering which i am getting the management company to sort out

the damage is quite extensive and is needing several coats of damp block and everything needs cleaning cos of the smell and we will have to repaint the whole flat too

poppysarah

And it was fine in January?

Did the tenant have a contact number for you?

Perhaps they thought it was something they'd done - not having windows open enough or something.

I had damp in a flat once and had reported it to the landlord who told me it was my fault for using the kettle too much. (Cos I often brew up in my bedroom! NOT!)

Explained why he was painting the entire flat when I viewed it though.

scorpio_princess

Uh oh, now i'm worried about my deposit! There was mould around the windowsils and the living room ceiling, plus some other places, but it wasn't horrendous (if it was I wouldn't have moved in) and it hasn't got any worst. I had to do my own inventory on which I documented this mould (and took photos), so would I be ok?

poppysarah

If it hadn't got worse - and you can show that with photos before and after.

Does it not scrub off with bleach? Black mold isn't very good for you to breath in the spores.

barnaby-bear

poppysarah wrote: »

And it was fine in January?

Did the tenant have a contact number for you?
.

I thought that about the Jan. comment too, mould can sort of bloom and explode very rapidly particularly if property empty for a few days. I fail to see how it could cause expensive damage - mould/mildew spray and quick wipe perhaps a lick of paint.

To be honest mouldy damp flats are the kind of thing tenants want to get out of, some properties seem to just be disposed to such things... if I was living in a flat prone to mould and you tried to withold my deposit I would kick off, environmental health try and prevent you renting out again, (is the deposit correctly registered with scheme if not claim the compensation), small claims etc....

The tenant didn't damage the property nad I'm dubious as to what damage a bit of spot mould could do - I do wonder if this is a LL believing in the deposit funding their wannabe carole smilie redecoration scheme...

pennylane99

shykins wrote: »

i believe its caused by block guttering which i am getting the management company to sort out

the damage is quite extensive and is needing several coats of damp block and everything needs cleaning cos of the smell and we will have to repaint the whole flat too

if its caused by blocked guttering....

(Section 11, LTA 1985)


The Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (LTA) states that where the landlord has granted a lease of less than seven years, or a periodic tenancy, the landlord will normally be responsible:

(a) to keep in repair the structure and exterior of the dwelling, including drains, gutters and external pipes

barnaby-bear

shykins wrote: »

i believe its caused by block guttering which i am getting the management company to sort out

the damage is quite extensive and is needing several coats of damp block and everything needs cleaning cos of the smell and we will have to repaint the whole flat too

This clearly isn't the tenants fault, you didn't maintain the building fabric properly and you have no way of telling how quickly the mould bloomed etc.

"Several coats of damp block" - that's for rising/creeping long term issues... ???

Just give the deposit back and pay for it out the maintenance budget.

I can't believe small claims would uphold keeping the deposit as the tenant has done no damage (the mould has) and it's debatable how long it took to bloom. The size and extent of your redecoration and cleaning claim sounds greedy. Whereas the poor tenant only has to counter-claim for the poor maintenance of the flat, throw in a respitory complaint, bit of asthma (even better if a kiddy/tot involved).....

real1314

barnaby-bear wrote: »

This clearly isn't the tenants fault, you didn't maintain the building fabric properly and you have no way of telling how quickly the mould bloomed etc.

"Several coats of damp block" - that's for rising/creeping long term issues... ???

Just give the deposit back and pay for it out the maintenance budget.

I can't believe small claims would uphold keeping the deposit as the tenant has done no damage (the mould has) and it's debatable how long it took to bloom. The size and extent of your redecoration and cleaning claim sounds greedy. Whereas the poor tenant only has to counter-claim for the poor maintenance of the flat, throw in a respitory complaint, bit of asthma (even better if a kiddy/tot involved).....

If the tenant didn't report the problem, the LL couldn't act on it, hence they cannot claim for it. However by not reporting a problem, the tenant leaves themself open to a claim for damage caused beyond the point when they should have notified.
But, in this case I can't see that a blocked gutter would have lead to such extensive damage that it would require complete re-decoration?? Seems unlikely, should only be (as others say) a bit of bleach / cleaning, maybe some stain block. Some of that would have been needed even if the tenant reported it, probably most of it.

barnaby-bear

real1314 wrote: »

If the tenant didn't report the problem, the LL couldn't act on it, hence they cannot claim for it. However by not reporting a problem, the tenant leaves themself open to a claim for damage caused beyond the point when they should have notified.
But, in this case I can't see that a blocked gutter would have lead to such extensive damage that it would require complete re-decoration?? Seems unlikely, should only be (as others say) a bit of bleach / cleaning, maybe some stain block. Some of that would have been needed even if the tenant reported it, probably most of it.

Would a tenant necessarily look for or spot a blocked gutter, it's also something the LL can see for themselves being exterior? Very dubious as to whether the tenant was aware what was causing it and since these things can explode (mould really can cover an entire wall in a few days - particularly if house empty).