Just want to leave and live somewhere else

[AlwaysDancing1234]

We moved in to a rented house earlier this year. Have had nothing but problems, especially with leaks/damp.

Landlord instructed a builder to sort it (turns out its a member of their family).
Builder makes repeated visits, is often over an hour late or turns up without the right tools and often cancels last minute, that's when we can even get him to agree a date and time in the first place.

Complained to estate agent but they keep saying "we can't do anything about who landlord uses to carry out the work" but surely this is not on??

It's now the case that there's damp and mould in the kitchen and one of the bedrooms so we can't use the bedroom as I won't put my children in there with damp mouldy walls.

Builder came again today and finally (after several months) has agreed to get a damp specialist in.

I've had enough, months of visits, disruption and still no nearer it seems to problem actually being rectified, in fact damp and mould is getting worse by the day.

Any legal people out there - We are half way through a 2 year tenancy, do we have grounds to terminate the agreement and move out? How hard/costly/possible is this?
Also as bedroom is unusable until the issue is resolved I want to ask for rent reduction, are we legally entitled to this? Would appreciate any advice!

[girlynut]

Check out the Pre-action Protocol for Housing Disrepair.

www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/protocol/prot_hou

[AlwaysDancing1234]

That's great girlynut thank you.
There is so much info out there on the web it's hard to know where to start

[SparkyLark]

Try your local Environmental Health Department.

I had a ***y landlord who refused to fix boiler - tryna evict us (illegally). Environmental Health took no prisoners and "sorted it out". I don't know if they are the "heavies" where you live, but worth a ring.

Good luck.

[AlwaysDancing1234]

Thanks SparkyLark I'll give them a try

[SparkyLark]

p.s. If you want to break your contract, I think you do need proper legal advice. The law supports landlords.

[AlwaysDancing1234]

Yes SparkyLark it seems to be a potential minefield, trying to research as much as possible myself as we don't have the spare money for a lawyer

[SparkyLark]

Also, it might be worth trying to get free "half hour" legal advice from mainstream solicitors, quite a few of them offer it. You could ring around. IME this varies from rubbish to brilliant!

You could also try to get an appointment with CAB in your local area. Again, can be quite hard to achieve, I could never get through - but might be worth it, once you do.

[Flimflammer]

Call Shelter. They advise on all aspects of housing,you don't have to be homeless. The call is free and their advice is excellent.

[AlwaysDancing1234]

Thanks all, didn't realise that about Shelter Flim, I'll try them too