UK Landlord Forum / Life

So I bought a house in august and put it to rent at start of. September. This is only to rent for one year then I'm moving in, so I planned not to do anything to it.

Anyway, prior to purchase the house was vacant for about 4 months, and no designs of damp. I've had a few builders come out and none suggest any structural issues of damp.
At this point 5 of 7 rads worked (on microbore pipes) I supplied 2 oil rads to help with heating.

My tenant had found large amount of mould mid December and I checked, and had someone fit a piv unit. Which I have turned off as for some reason it was taking £10 worth of electric a week.. meant to be 10p.
So that's been a wasted £300 till I can get a refund or exchange.

Since then 2 more rads stoped working so now 4/7 don't work. So I've had a plumber out and after £250 cost.. they all slightly work.

So my questions..

Is the mould my responsibility as it may be caused by rads not working properly?

Am i obligated to making central heating work or can I provide oil rads for rooms where I can't get it to work?
And can the tenant seek compensation for electric bill increase?

Am i obligated to pay for damage to furniture due to the mould?

My tenant has pointed out that the furniture is being damaged and I don't want to compensate if that is an admission of responsibility

So... you've intentionally let out some kind of slum property, intending to only do remedial work, you know is absolutely necessary, once you wish to inhabit.

Bravo.

Quote from: Hippogriff on February 01, 2017, 06:37:34 AM
So... you've intentionally let out some kind of slum property, intending to only do remedial work, you know is absolutely necessary, once you wish to inhabit.

Bravo.

Wow, maybe my bad wording has helped me find such a useful comment so I'll clear it up a bit.

When I said "prior to purchase" I didn't mean the part about 5/7 rads not working. the gas and electric were on meters so I didn't test them and was only informed by the tenant. Considering 1 rad was 1 of 2 in a room and the other a bedroom rad, I supplied 2 oil rads to help.
Along side I went to the house several times to drain the system and clean the system hoping that would fix it.

And regarding the mold. there was no mold for months before the tenant moved in.

And when I do move in, I will be redoing electrics, plumbing, water pipes, skirting boards, carpets, moving walls... that doesn't mean it's all necessary, it's just what I want to do.

Quote from: Sunil237 on February 01, 2017, 09:39:51 AMAnd regarding the mold. there was no mold for months before the tenant moved in.

It's to be expected... it's people that are the biggest creator of condensation and that can lead to your mould. An empty property, or one with a single person in, will be much less susceptible to these issues. If you now have a family in there then you need to look at coping mechanisms and, yes, I do very much include Tenant lifestyle in there... but a Landlord has a responsibility to ensure a property has adequate levels of insulation, heating and ventilation - it sounds, to me, that you're failing on at least one of those measures.

What's cool (sic) about a central heating system is this... you set your boiler going and it creates hot water which it pushes out into the pipes, the warmth travels around your house, and through the radiators, creating benefit and a lovely feeling as it goes... then the water returns back to the boiler and it is heated again, and the cycle continues - sweeeeet. If some of your radiators aren't emitting heat then they're detrimental to that 'system' because you're still heating the water, or is it sometimes sludge?, but not getting the benefit - and if you're adding an additional, secondary, means of heating like your oil radiators - then that's extra cost for the Tenant to bear - all because you're, really, not doing what you're supposed to be doing.

Don't be worried about any harsh comments - you're a [slum?] Landlord, you can take it. It's winter - you could decommission the boiler, I suppose?

P.S. - I'm having a laugh, of course... but you aren't doing your job.

Wow.. you're a dick..

I've spent upwards of £500 to fix the issues, which I wasn't aware of before letting out.

No wonder this forum has noone on it. Enjoy moderating yourself.

Ah, a thin-skinned slum Landlord. Worth pointing out that Sunil237 was not moderated in any way. Sunil237 just didn't like the fact that there was some, unexpected, expense associated with being a Landlord and they'd actually prefer their Tenants to live in a hovel where 4 out of 7 radiators weren't working in winter. Oh, and when they'd decide to take the property back for themselves... there is full refurb. on the cards, of course. What a sick outlook.