UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi All,

In december last year we have moved into the property owned by a private landlord. Since the day of the viewing we had warning signs such as horrible smell (musky, earthy, mouldy) noticeable on the entry to the building, peeling and dirty wallpapers, severely damaged carpets (dogs urine, wine stains, yellowing and dirty (once beige or white). We've been told by the landlord that wallpapers are high quality and thick and even though carpet looks disgusting, the company has been here to professionally lift the bacteria off of it. 

We have agreed to rent the property if the landlord changes the floors and walls but as we knew she wouldn't do it or do it badly we agreed we'll do it ourselves. Upon choosing the flooring (we wanted dark wood laminate) the landlord told us she wont let us put dark wood as it's not what she likes and we've been forced to give her samples for her to choose the light colour of her liking. We then of course paid for the floors and fo them to be put down and proceeded with painting, we've spent several hundred pounds on specilistic paints (for built-in wardrobe, walls, woodwork around windows and all of the doors) as we were planning on staying there for several years and place was in dire straits. Upon painting the bedroom, the wallpaper fell down and uncovered severely damp (the wall is so soft you could put a finger through it), mouldy wall that has been water damaged for several years due to the leak in the roof. We've contacted the landlord via email and text message and included the picture with the description, the next day landlord arrived with a DAMP PROOF PAINT AND THE LADDER, and told us to paint over it and buy a new wallpaper to cover it up which we did. Since moving into the property, for the next 8 months I've been getting more and more ill with variety of symptoms and been admitted to hospital several times with symptoms and bloodworks baffling even the best doctors... One of the times I've been admitted to hospital with lactic acidosis with no apparent reason which is a life threatening situation. One of the best consultants has been assigned to me as a result of my first visit but even he couldn't find any good answer that would explain everything that keeps happening. It's worth noting that each time i was getting out of the house my symptoms after few days or even hours, would get better. Health issues including chronic fatigue, nose bleeds, difficulty breathing, dizziness, vertigo, loss of balance, blurred vision, joint pain, stiffness, inflammation, recurring infections, sinus fungal infections, POTS, and pains all over the body (all listed in medical journals as known effects of toxic mould exposure and chronic inflammatory response) as well as frequent hospitalizations led me to losing my job three months ago and left us with only one small source of income.

In the mean time, few other things happened
* plumbing under the floor in our kitchen burst as neighbors downstairs have been severely flooded and lost most of their possessions (theres also other several issues and leaks which had been reported to my landlord by them for several years to no avail)
- my landlord told the neighbor we flooded them with our washing machine (?!?) which had been proven to be untrue) and we should be held responsible
- my landlord also told us and several other people that the neighbors definitely thrown water buckets all over their own walls, furniture and carpets (as well as cracked the whole ceiling) to get money out of her for a new bed...

*In the winter we've noticed we were spending several hundred pounds on the bills and couldn't get the place heated up with the heating on full and after reporting it as well as radiators constantly full of air we've been advised by our landlord to use the electric heater that almost sent us bankrupt because apparently heating was fine.
since then, about a month ago we've had a visit from plumbers who said that in  fact its a backboiler that had been obsolete for the past 50 years and theres no parts for it so 90% of our money spent on the heating dissapeared into the thin air and they've told her about it numerous times, when confronted with the landlords she denied plumbers ever said such thing and the heating works fine.

*on one occasion she had texted my partner saying shell be coming in few hours with someone to look at the radiators, when my partner texted her to say she didnt give 24hrs notice and he doesnt approve of her entering the property on this occasion she decided to unlawfully let herself in when i was in bed and when confronted with me she said that my partner apparently told her its k to let herself in as noone is home. When confronted after the situation for unlawful entering and lying she refused to talk about it as she had a funeral (?)

Going forward with my health situation, last time i was hospitalized I had my brothers wedding abroad lined up which i promised myself to attend even if it was going to cost me life (of which quality ive lost several months ago anyway), so i boarded the plane and luckily arrived in one piece. To my surprise after probably 3 or four days my condition started improving and for the first time since December i felt at least 80-90% better I went to the doctor and he suggested the cause is environmental or poisoning.. so by the time we were leaving, we were sure I must've been miraculously cured. Unfortunately since the day one of being back i was getting progressively worse. We've notified our landlord to say that we're almost 100% sure the flat has toxic contamination by mould as everything including my health condition points to it. The landlord then issued a one months notice in which she said that because it's dangerous to stay here, we have to leave within a month and paint the walls to nice neutral colors (?). She also said shell be fixing (applying anther coat of paint) the damp issue which needs the entire wall going and rebuilding  as well as other things and in case there is toxic mould or any bad contamination, place need to be remediated.  My routine appointment with consultant at the hospital was coming up so when we arrived there we asked whether its possible for the all this to be the reason... BINGO! the doctor said absolutely it would explain every single thing - results nd symptoms but to run the more specific tests he needs to know what species of mould there is in the house so therefore throughout Mould inspection with lab tests is needed in order to run the tests against those species in my blood. After doing the research through medical journals and other sources we found out that there is a difference between different moulds and their effect on health (mycotoxins produced by mould were used as biological weapon) and that indeed it can cause caners, deaths, organ failures, permanent neurological damage etc. Of course we're gonna have to get rid off all of our belongings as if the mold is toxic, it'll cross contaminate the new place and we'll never get better.

We've spoken to the landlord and she basically said my health problems are caused by using Wi-FI (?!) and my test results are caused by me thinking that im ill, she also said that every person that is ill including little children with cancers had brought it up on themselves as body is dictated by subconscious and little children are forcing cancer on their bodies subconsciously thinking about it. Therefore she said she won't do any testing and we need to move out.

At this point I've lost my job, my health, my quality of life, all of our belongings when we move out and  we're pretty much left in a situation when we're paying for the rent here, have to pay for rent, deposit and agency fees for another place, i cant get the treatment without the specific diagnosis based on the lab works from this place which we cannot afford at this point.

I'll also say our deposit is not protected in any scheme, we were not supplied how to rent guide, we were not given epc rating.

We are aware that even though she said she'll fix the problems after we're gone (rebuilding the whole wall, addressing leaks, heating and other damages as well as remediation) she wont do anything more than painting over cracked ceiling filled with water and soft wall as she already told us to paint flat to nice colors and seeked for the property agent to advertise this property for rent as soon as we go.

Please help and advise, shall we go with the lawsuit? We are most of all scared for another person to go through the hell we've been through and most of all get severely ill but also we feel we should get some sort of justice for what happened to us and the losses.

Have you approached your local council? They can inspect the property and issue the landlord with an improvement notice. The landlord then can't evict you until the works are complete.

Indeed, with the deposit not protected, the prescribed information not issued and, I'll wager, no gas safety certificate either, she won't be able to issue a valid Section 21 anyway. She certainly can't throw you out on a month's notice.

If you sue her for her failure to protect the deposit, you will undoubtedly win, but you can wait until you've vacated the property.

I have to ask,why on earth did you take the place on to begin with? Just the things you noted when viewing would put anyone right off. It sounds like an absolute slum.I think you should see a solicitor,but your first priority surely should be to find somewhere else to live.She may be made to pay for alternative accommodation for you while you sort this out.Why would you want to stay there a moment longer than necessary? Ignore her requests for painting etc. Get your health and your life back on track.Even if the council ordered work to be done (which they certainly would by the sound of it) you could not continue living there for all manner of reasons.

Hi Simon,

Yes we have approached council but they've contacted her and she of course lied saying that she tried getting it fixed but we wouldn't let her whilst still living in the property which is partially true (although we informed her in december and its taken her 8 months to come up with this lie), the issue here is, that if there was just a one time damp somewhere from a one time leak - her repairs would do but as the flat had been continually soaked (water sitting in walls, floors and ceilings) another layer of damp-proof paint and another layer of wallpaper won't do the work on soft walls that literally fall apart. Especially in the case of black toxic mould (which is highly possible) the exposure to the spores that release biotixins is deadly ( death, multiple organ failures, permanent neurological damage etc.)  ripping the wallpaper off would just release billions of spores up in the air and probably land us in hospital within a day.... The only thing to do in this situation is to appoint specialist who does the tests on kind of biotoxins that are present, removes the cause and remediates so us other tenants don't drop like flies.  Unfortunately our landlord is known to appoint herself or her family as specialists from everything and shes also known for never paying anyone for any work being done - not even her friends whom us and our neighbors spoken to.

Hi Heavykarma,

We've been looking for a place ever since we found out (going through referencing now) but flats or houses we applied for have been continuously snatched from us, more so, to have any kind of recovery we need a healthy place with no signs of any sort of mould or dampness and it is quite hard to find... Also, having only the one of us working at the moment we have one source of income which makes it more difficult to find something appropriate and get accepted.
To answer your first question, when we first saw  the place online it looked lovely, with determination and plans to get we went for a viewing and to our surprise it was in a horrid state, but being young, healthy, eager and having lots of savings we decided we loved the building (massive beautiful windows and high ceilings) and our vision of it so much we'd spend few grand on renovating it as to our knowledge it only needed floors and painting. Obviously leaving here is our main priority but the landlord still expects us to pay rent to her for it even though as she said is dangerous to live in... she definitely wouldn't organise or help with paying for a hotel, let's be real - this is a woman who is fully aware her flat could be killing people and mking hem bedridden but refuses to do the tests on it...

If the council condemn the building,she can be forced by law to pay for other accommodation.You really should have allowed your environmental health dept.to use the means at their disposal to force her to get in professionals.She will also have to pay you up to 3 times the deposit,for failure to protect it. To lose your health and livelihood over this is foolish,to put it mildly.This is a really bad landlord,and she will keep getting away with it unless tenants use the considerable laws they have to protect them.

Obviously wed love enviromental health to help but this is their reply :

Good morning,



I have spoken with your landlady who states she has offered for works to be carried out to fix the affected areas but these works have been declined whilst you are living in the property. She also states she has offered a dehumidifier but again this has been declined.



If your landlady is offering to resolve the issues but access is being restricted than I am unable to help. I would suggest contacting your landlady to discuss a way moving forward to get the issues resolved.''

Environmental Health would either be on the side of the Tenant, or totally objective. They are not known for siding with Landlords in cases like this, where there is obvious shortcomings. Therefore, possibly reluctantly, I would conclude much the same... the problem lies mainly with the Tenant's actions, or in the head of the Tenant. If I was the Tenant I would just focus on leaving the property and, hopefully, starting afresh somewhere else, somewhere better.

There are undoubtedly bad Landlords out there who let bad properties, however, we only have one side of this story (obviously) and it reads like someone who has a persecution complex to me. There are also bad Tenants who don't make good decisions... for example - at the viewing some of these problems were apparent, yet the property was still taken.

If it doubt, walk away... yes, it's a Landlord's market still, but Tenants are not forced to take properties that are unfit for Human habitation (as this sounds like it is, but Environmental Health does not seem to be saying).

I would have to say that my experience as a tenant reporting a slumlord to Environmental Health was really frustrating and I very much felt they were on the side of the landlord. This is despite having a damp problem so bad that there were literally maggots coming out of the walls. The Council did nothing. In the end, all the LL did was serve me with a S21 at their earliest convenience.

What council was this? Did they visit? If so they should  have sent you and the landlord their report,listing any work that the landlord needed to do,within a time limit.Likewise,if they thought it was tenants's lifestyle they will have made suggestions.The landlord would not have been able to serve 21 for 6 months while this problem was unresolved,if this was in recent years.I had some lousy tenants who failed to heat and ventilate,then called in EH.Nonetheless,the council were very open-minded until they could confirm the tenants were at fault,leaving me free to issue 21.I have never heard of them being on the side of landlords,rather the opposite. 

Hi All,

Not sure this is a known fact but there is as many cases against council being at fault of disrepair as there is against landlords, i think it all depends on the area and your local council. We have discussed and agreed with the landlord that the moisture issue is not caused by humidity as it is not caused by lack of ventilation or condensation but by structural defects and a lack of maintenance on her part (water damage in the ceiling, wall and floor, not properly addressed at least since last year when we reported it) hence comment about our lifestyle has nothing to do with the real life, we spent thousands on renovating, fixing, painting, heating and always had the place ventilated with windows fully opened throughout as we could never breathe with them closed and smell was disgusting.

Heavykarma - no they didnt agree to visit, they've just taken our landlords word for it - she was saying that shell fix the broblem even thought shell just make it worse...

Hi,I was replying to the experiences reported by Vanessa,not your case.

It was Exeter. I had two independent reports from damp specialists saying that the problem was not generated by me: for one it was way too serious. The council were utterly disinterested in helping. I do wonder if it was because it was a private let in an ex-LA flat and acknowledging the LL responsibility would have an ultimate bearing on the council too. Who knows. Anyway, the point of my comment was simply to say that the Council are not defacto on the side of the tenant in these issues. Perhaps in your experience, but certainly not in mine nor the OP by the sounds of it.

Hello, I know that this is not the answer but I need urgent help. Me and my girlfriend moved into the room in the house of multiple occupation, we used to live in the smaller room(temporary for 1-2 weeks) as the landlord said and then we will move into bigger room. The room that we were supposed to get was closed because we were waiting for the keys.
My mom drove from London to leicester to bring my other stuff such as desk, chairs, computer and many other things but I had to keep them in our small room. There was no space at all. To get from one side of the room to another we had to roll over the bed.
Next day when we came back to the house from the shopping we have seen another person who apparently is our landlords boss. He told me that I can move into the bigger room as soon as it will be open. After 2 days I pulled the handle and doors of the bigger room were open and I found the keys on the top of the wardrobe, so we thought that we are allowed to move into that room as the landlord told me. To make sure that we can actually move in I called the person that I signed the contact with, he wasn't picking up my calls but he replied me with "wait I'll call you", didn't call me since then.. We got a little bit mad because we had no space in the small room so we decided that as the bigger room is open and both of the landlords told us in person before that we can move in, we took all of our stuff and placed it in the big one thinking it will be okay. The next morning someone pulled the handle and it was new tenant. He told me that it's his room and I was shocked.. I called to both of the landlords and they told us that we have to move back to the small room, because new tenant is moving into our room. I got really mad because I signed the contract week ago and now they are telling me that I have to stay in the small room until they will find me something else, but they can't tell me how long it will take. They have also told me that they will lower my rent by £25 which is ridiculous as the difference between those two rooms is massive. After few hours he called me to come back to the house because new tenant has to move in. I got back home and told the landlord that we can't move back to the small room as its way to small. He barely looked inside the room and told the other tenant to stay in the small room for 2 days. I don't know what to do. I would appreciate any help in this case.
Regards