Damp coming in from next door

hev_2 · 30 May 2008 at 10:23AM

I mentioned in a previous post (which I can't find) that we were going to get in touch with the council re damp coming into our home from next door.

Turned up yesterday, didn't really look at anything much (except the paper hanging off only one wall of the living room :mad: ) and said, well, the hard bit is getting access to next door.

Spoke to the neighbours (tenants who are lovely people) who let in the nice man from the council. He came back and said he was raising a separate complaint about the house because:

Tiles missing off roof, velux window leaking, other velux window incorrectly fitted, leak in bathroom incorrectly repaired, no ventilation in kitchen, only half a ceiling in kitchen, no heating in three bedroom house except one small electric heater (he had been told about the ineffective gas fire that kept going out because there was no chimney pot, but perhaps it was just as well because there was a gas leak on the fire, the fumes going up the chimney stack so gas fire disconnected).

This may account for damp coming through to my house :rolleyes: - he said he would keep me posted, and I will pass it on for information, just so those who have decent landlords can appreciate how lucky they are, and just out of the need to vent somewhere:rolleyes:.

poppysarah · 30 May 2008 at 10:29AM

You do know though that your council tax for the next twenty years will get swallowed up by the private rented grants to bring that property back up to standard?

It'll solve your damp problem but the landlord won't pay for it. They should though and they should be fined for keeping tenants in poor conditions.

hev_2 · 30 May 2008 at 10:56AM

Thanks poppy, I didn't realise this.

I don't know how it works around here, but the landlord owns loads of properties and is currently building extensions to both his own house and a pub he owns, so I don't know if that will make it harder for him to get a grant.

tbh, if he had been a reasonable person I would have maybe even contributed to getting the roof fixed, because I would be getting the benefit, but the landlord said that there wasn't a problem :rolleyes: Anyway, according to him, rain coming into his property couldn't possibly affect mine :rolleyes:

I'm also hoping that the people living there who are really nice get some help, perhaps even rehoused by the council, because the living conditions they have are pretty poor.

What I don't want is my DS being affected by damp when I am running two dehumidifiers 24/7 and opening windows and putting on heating to try and keep the place aired.

poppysarah · 30 May 2008 at 11:55AM

He might not get a grant - but if he does it just seems unfair that he's running a business and can get work done for free.

The council might need to be involved for his tenants to bring their standard of accomodation up to a sensible level.

Good luck with getting it sorted out though - it'll make two families life better so well worth all the hard work and effort!

hev_2 · 16 October 2008 at 3:08PM

You wouldn't believe how long it took for me to find this old thread.

I finally managed to get the nice man from the council ring me back, finally ringing me back today. He said, 'hasn't the landlord done anything then?'. Sigh.

So tomorrow he is going to come and have a look at the extension to the landlord's own house (in our street) which may or may not have planning permission, the half built extension to a local pub he owns which has almost certainly not kept to planning permission, the huge pile of bricks that have been sitting around since May on the road and the state of next door, which now has added a dangerously dilapidated porch because no-one has fixed the leaking roof and the chip board that was the roof is dissolving. All these issues have arisen since May, plus the house next door is still in no better state.

The thing is, the nice man from the council have said that last time this particular landlord was challenged like this he evicted the tenants. Now, on one hand it will not stop my complaint about damp coming through to my property so the landlord can potentially be prosecuted, but on the other hand my lovely neighbours could end up homeless. I haven't managed to speak to the neighbours about this, I will as soon as I can, but I wondered if there was any suggestions from the collected wisdom on this board.

Any suggestions and help appreciated.

poppysarah · 16 October 2008 at 3:19PM

If you have a rogue landlord the best advice you can get is to report him to everyone possible and then move. But ask the local paper if they'll do a story on your problem. Highlight the problem so other tenants of his can be aware what he's like.

hev_2 · 16 October 2008 at 3:46PM

Thank you, poppy, I think I will seriously consider it.

And I am now going to start actively looking for somewhere else. Of course, we pay a mortgage on our house, so finding someone else to take the problem on may be a challenge!

hev_2 · 23 October 2008 at 11:45AM

Just a quick update.

Man from council came today, finally, after two missed appointments. It is really obvious that damp is coming through from next door.

The neighbours would not let him in. Last time anyone complained landlord evicted them. Now, it is my complaint, not theirs and he doesn't own my house where the damp is coming through, but he may still evict them out of spite. I don't think he 'gets' that the complaint will continue.

The nice man from the council is taking advice, plus looking at prosecuting on another property he was told was being left empty, piles of bricks, lack of compliance with planning permission etc

The landlord's wife is boasting about £4ks worth of botox, but they can't fix a roof. What I have seen of his other properties they are all likely to be in an equal state of disrepair. I could go on for ages about leaking toilet overflows, incorrectly fitted glass, rotting windows...

I told my neighbours that I understood why they didn't want to let the man in, and I do. After all, it is their home. I just wish the council had the stock to rehouse them.

I strongly suspect that the landlord will wiggle out of it, which makes me sick, and I am now going to actively look to start buying somewhere else (yes - bad time! but I am so tired of it all).

So it looks like the bad landlords are getting away with it.

Probably last post on here, as I have been targeted by some unpleasant people on the Arms, so I am going to be keeping well away and my head down, but for the benefit of anyone else, I don't think that the enforcement people have teeth.