I'm Guarantor on uninhabitable daughters flat

Catbells

Last year I agreed to be guarantor on the flat my daughter shares with 4 other. (my daughter is at university). Everything was ok until a couple of months ago mould appeared on the external wall of my daughter's room and that of another girl sharing the house. It looks like rising damp. We got a de-humidifier and the problem was alleviated but the mould hasn't gone. I contacted the letting agents who said it was nothing to do with them - even thought they were the ones chasing me for my signature as guarantor last September. They put me onto the landlord who said she had the walls injected with something before the girls moved in. This indicates she knew there was some sort of problem. She seems concerned about it though. My daughter has had a course of antibiotics - her first in years in the last few months and I suspect there may be a connection between this and the mould. Can I legally cease being a guarantor on this property on the grounds that it is a health risk?

poppysarah

Speak to the local council about the state of the property - environmental health or the tenancy officer - might take a couple of calls before you get someone who can help.

Do you have dates when you've contacted the landlord/letteing agent about the problems?

neas

So term time runs from September to Mid July.

I guess you have 3 months left on the tenancy anyways. It wouldn't be that big of a loss if you had to pull out illegally but still, Student digs are always horrible, next time dont become a guantor :P.

tbs624

The mould appeared around Feb/March at the end of winter?

It's clearly not acceptable for anyone to have to live in damp conditions but damp and mould growth can be caused by several things (or combinations of several things) - leaky pipes, poor maintenance of walls/roof, guttering/downpipe problems, lack of/failure of DPC, and/or excessive condensation etc .

Under the Landlord & Tenant Act (1985) a LL does have to keep his/her property in a state of good safe repair ( including providing means of adequate ventilation and heating) but tenants also have a responsibility to keep the property properly aired. Individual lifestyles can also cause condensation which can also lead to a build of mould.

Do the girls regularly hang wet washing on radiators or elsewhere in the property, or cook or shower without opening windows for ventilation?
Is the heating system efficient and could the girls afford to keep it the property properly heated during winter?

If furniture is kept slightly away from walls there will be an increase of airflow.

You cannot simply withdraw as a guarantor - bear in mind that you may have signed to say that you will guarantee that your daughter keeps to all the Terms of her contract, including those that include taking care of the property and reporting all repairs issues promptly.

The fact that your daughter had to have anti-biotics is not unusual - students exposed to new environments do pick up all sorts of bugs during their first few months at Uni (including the infamous Fresher’s Flu). However, if your daughter’s doc thinks there may be a link then it may be worth getting a letter from him/her to that effect.

A LL/LA has to be given a “reasonable” time to deal with the problem, and you should get your daughters and her fellow tenants to ensure that they put all repairs issues in writing and keep a copy for their own records. If they have not already done so, they should now write to the LA and copy it to the LL, sticking only to the facts: we first drew your attention to………on………..,. the response to date has been …x, y z ( include names /dates if you have them) and we would like you to arrange to call at the property as a matter of urgency within the next 48 hours (rec delivery or hand deliver).

The Tenancy Relations Officer (Private Sector Housing Team at the local Council) can help, and also liaise with the EHO (Environmental Health Officer). Ring first for an appointment for an “advice interview”, and take photos and all paperwork along.

The Uni Welfare Adviser should also be able to help. Many private LLs have to sign up to a Uni-approved Code of Conduct in order to be listed at the Uni accomms
office.

And if the LA is signed up to ARLA but is being obstructive , make a formal complaint.

tbs624

neas wrote: »

......Student digs are always horrible....

Some may be, obviously, but most are maintained to a high standard these days, as the student lettings market is a highly competitive one.

As with all rentals, the best properties get rented out soonest: LL start taking bookings for the following academic year as early as Christmas and many are simply taken on as a result of other students recommendations. Always aim to use a LL who is signed up to the Uni's Code of Conduct, and if you get the chance to talk to the previous year's tenants do so.

michaels

I lived in a house for 3 years and had no signs of damp and then rented it out and really bad damp occurd the following winter - turned out there were 10 people living in the 3 bed maisonette and they dried all the clothes indoors and never opened the windows to keep the heating bills as low a possible. Don't think there is anything you can do to stop damp in this scenario? There were extractors in the bathroom and kitchen but they had turned these off as well and closed the vents in the double glazed windows.

Catbells

Thanks to all. Condensation has been mentioned by the LL and also the fact that there are 5 young people having showers and there is very little ventilation as its a ground floor flat and windows tend to be shut for security (Deptford SE London). Its something I've never experienced so I just never even thought of it being a possibility. Also furniture against the wall might be a reason. She will need to explore these possibles before we can do anything further.

Trollfever

Uninhabitable = Local Authority Environmental Health.

clutton_2

i have more arguements with my tenants about condensation than anything else ......

scorpio_princess

clutton wrote: »

i have more arguements with my tenants about condensation than anything else ......

I bet.

I just don't understand why people don't get the whole ventilation thing. I live in a flat so need to dry clothes indoors, but no matter how cold it is outside, I open a window at least for a little while! There's nothing like a nice blast of fresh air (except if you live an inner city of course lol)

The previous tenants of my flat had a problem with this, and i'm sure that's why there's damp and little patches of mould around windowsils. I can even see where they used to dry their jeans (nice beginnings of mould on the carpet beneath the radiator). Even the little vents in the UPVC windows were all closed :rolleyes:

Bungarm2001

clutton wrote: »

i have more arguements with my tenants about condensation than anything else ......

<sigh> we do too. :mad:

I don't know why, no matter how many times we advise the students to open the window in the bathrooms after they have showered, they never do, then they complain about water running off the walls, damp, mould patches etc etc.

We are slowly, as each property becomes vacant at end of year, installing time delay extractors to help ease this problem. We have already installed trickle vent dble glazing, but the silly s0ds block it up with loo paper!! :mad: We will, where space allows also be adding vented driers so they have no excuses to use the rads to dry clothes, but you know I bet next years income that they will continue to do it, and nobble the extractors somehow for one reason or another.

We are also thinking about adding a clause to the contract stating that if they don't use the facilities correctly, they will be charged for the mould removal and clean up, but again, I wouldn't mind betting that someone will shout 'unfair unfair illegal' etc Sometimes, you just can't win.

I hope your daughter gets better soon, it must be a worry what with her being away from home and all, but if she/they all take on the points raised here, you might find they will all benefit from better health