UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hello,

I am looking for some advice about whether I have a case to go to a small claims court. I rented a property in August 2013, when we first made a complaint about damp. There was no action made on this complaint, and soon this damp turned into mould in all rooms of the 3-bedroom flat. The company finally excavated areas of damp 3 months after the initial complaint. However this did no rectify the problem- folders, clothes, furniture all started to grow mould. We were given the "broken record" of heating and ventilating our flat, and not drying our clothes in doors- very impractical due to the English weather, and the bills of constant heating. However we applied this advice, though we continued to complain about the issue until January 28th.

At this point, as we received no further support, we sent a final email saying that we were cleaning the mould. In May, my doctor told me a rash that I had been getting a rash across my face and eyes was due to damp/cold living condition so I noted that I was leaving the property- it was completely unmanageable during my final year of my degree.

As a student, I feel like I they have taken advantage of my inexperience- I was not aware I could with hold rent, and demand further action was taken for payment to be made. Also I do not believe the property should have been let in the first place, it is clearly not watertight, especially during such a damp and mild winter.

Does anyone have any thought on whether I have a case? They feel it sufficient to challenge my request for partial reimbursement of my rent, because we stopped complaining in February. However, this was as a direct result of their poor advice, and lack of co-operation - we made it clear the problem had not been resolved.

Personally I would move on.

I think the biggest issue with mold is the cold. If you are not heating your house adequately ( so the walls are warm all the time) then you will get condensation forming. This either needs drying or spraying with bleach daily to weekly.

It is why modern insulation is so wonderful.

I can also understand that as a Student you may not have the £1200 to keep a house warm over a winter! Or £300 to dry your clothes at a launderette.

We live in a house at the bottom of a valley, which is always damp, and struggled with mold until we undertook the above. Initially just oil filled Rads left on the lowest settings in bedrooms showed us it only needed to be a small amount of heat to keep the black spores at bay. I also  have a lovely range of clothing with the tell tale signs of Bleach stainage all over the arms and waist!

Normally, I would expect damp to be in a specific location in a property... not something that spreads everywhere, to all rooms. However, mould caused by condensation (due to inadequate ventilation) easily could.

Damp is always a toughie... you say the Landlord (or Company?) attempted to treat the damp after your initial complaint (3 months) and this surely goes some way towards providing evidence they wanted to rectify this for you. It can take time to arrange things like this, as any home owner knows (Tenants sometimes seem to think that Landlords have a bunch of tradespeople and John Lewis vans parked at the end of the road, ready to fix the slightest of problems).

The fact that it didn't resolve the issue isn't something that can be pinned on the Landlord... I know, from personal experience, that resolving damp can be a real challenge... if you get it sorted on the first time, maybe you can count yourself as being rather lucky.

The "broken record" of heating and ventilation you refer to sounds like it offended you - but many Councils produce specific advice on this that says if the property is well insulated, heated and ventilated then the responsibility for things like condensation and mould lies with the Tenant. So, it's not really a broken record... many Landlords have examples of Tenants not being able to live properly and follow simple instructions on how to avoid things like this. I'm not saying this is the case here, but it might be - and the Landlord can certainly assume that until a real problem is identified.

Regarding your comment about not being aware you can withhold rent... you really can't withhold rent... not unless there are extreme circumstances, and the procedures are quite complicated and - even then - it should be 'cos the Tenant has decided to undertake repairs themselves and offset the cost. You can't just withhold rent on a whim. You certainly have to give your Landlord chance to remedy the situation, and - it seems from your thread - that your Landlord gave it a go. Maybe not as urgently as you might have wanted, and not completely, but he didn't put his hands over his ears and shout "la-la, I'm not listening".

Take a gander here for some useful info...

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/repairs_and_bad_conditions/tenants_repairs_and_improvements/tenants_doing_repairs - you will see how the overall process is quite well defined, must be followed, and can take a rather long time. Be clear on this aspect "Tenants do not have the right to withhold rent, and most tenants can be evicted if rent arrears build up, regardless of why the rent arrears exist."

I don't feel you have a case here... maybe if the Landlord had completely ignored the situation for all this time, but they did not - they absolutely tried to rectify it. There could easily be a counterpoint that you, as an inexperienced Tenant, aren't following simple lifestyle instructions and are partly to blame as well. It could come down to this expert saying that and another expert saying something else. In addition to this - the winter we are coming out of (is it raining where you are today? It is here - again) has been really wet and really long... a perfect - but rather special - situation for damp problems.

As per boboff, I would move on. Life is too short for Court and claims. I would like to hope you have better things to concentrate on... and you'll learn when you rent next time... we all do, Landlords learn mistakes from letting to people we should not have as well. All the best.