UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi the tenants have complained about damp in the property .on one wall he has taken the wallpaper off.my letting agent went round and said everything is OK so he has now gone to the council.I also took someone else round to have a look and he said everything is OK.can the council take action for being no paper on the wall ?.I have had 2 construction company's saying everything is ok and it is not damp.any advice please.

I believe there are three main causes of damp - rising damp, water ingress and condensation.

Do you know which type your tenants are complaining about.?

If it is the condensation, this should be made their responsibility to monitor and control with ventilation.  If you have solid walls condensation is not uncommon, especially in bedrooms.  I have made it clear to my tenant that it is his job to prevent it (it is in the contract) and that he should not put furniture against external walls if he can help it.

What is the specific situation with the damp at your property?

I had a similar scenario this year.

Don't worry, they are not out to get you, and they have a really detailed assessment criteria, which they HAVE to follow, it is in no way Subjective.

They will off course make a suggestion for improvement, often this is to do with air circulation pumps for £500 a pop up in the loft, or suggest you clad the outside of the house for £8000.... but I doubt they will make you.

Condensation will appear at the coldest part of the house, and I guess this corner is the external corner which get the prevailing wind, at ground level. This condensation is sorted with ventilation, and cleaning!

My own personal theory is, it is also solved by keeping the heating on constant at a low level to warm the walls!

You dont have to do this, just as your tenants dont need to dry washing indoors.

Just be professional, if there are real issues, you will need to sort them out, if there are not, I promise you the council is not out to say somewhere is not fit to live in if it is.

Good luck. Just remember most council workers are being pushed all ways, with budget cuts, often reapplying for jobs they have no clue how to do, and some of them are arseholes, they are not the professionals in the main you would hope for, so stand up for yourself and dont let them intimidate you.