Damps problem in rented flat..

[mypocketsarevide]

Hi,

I hope you can help me with this problem. We have been rented a flat for 6 years, we are moving out in April. Not long after, we moved in that flat, we started getting lots of damp in our bedroom, it took the landlord 6 months to do something about it. Then for a couple of years, it was fine but it came back about a year ago and it's actually worst. We complained but nothing has been done, it really put us done. We want some compensation towards as they really did nothing to fix that problem. Do you think we have a leg to stand on ? We have been really good tenants, never paid the rent late and took care of the property as expected but we feel we have been let down. Will try to post picture of the damp.

[Crutchlow35]

What did the landlord do first time round?

I have to ask- is it definitely damp and not condensation?

[mypocketsarevide]

They re-painted the room..the windows are not double glazed windows..so it's all mouldy/damp because of condensation. We have been trying to keep on the top of it by drying the windows and using a humidifier but it did nothing.

[mypocketsarevide]

damp

[mypocketsarevide]

bump

[specialsubject]

you don't get compensation. If a rented property is not good enough, you give notice and leave. Any damage to your things is covered by your insurance.

do you heat it? ventilate it? use extractor fans if any? not dry washing on radiators?

you've been there at least a year with the problem that wasn't fixed. I don't know if it was damp (LLs problem - but painting doesn't fix damp) or condensation (yours) but as always in these cases, I struggle to understand why tenants stay in bad places.

paying the rent on time and living like normal people is...well, what normal people do. This is like saying 'we haven't been criminals'.

give notice, clean up, leave.

BTW it is 30 mins since your first post. Patience!

[mypocketsarevide]

Yep patience is not one of my strongest point ...we couldn't afford to move before now...We heated it, not dry washing on radiator...etc..

It's not always easy to save for a deposit when you have deal with job loss and the like..

So what you are saying is that fuck us, it's too bad it was full of damp, you should have left and not accepting the situation. We wish we could have left when we saw they had no intention of doing anything.

[cestlavielife]

you wont get compensation - well unlikely anyway.
if it happens again you can report to environmental health in your council - they will have team which looks after private rented housing.
they then decide what cateogry of hazard it is and can put enforcement notice on your landlord.

[Onesleeptillwembley]

Of course you won't get compensation. You stayed.

[mypocketsarevide]

not a compensation but "an effort" when we are doing the check out and they give us our deposit back, we want it all back.

We called environmental health and we were told that it will be unlikely someone can come and check it as they are understaffed.

We stayed because we had to sign a 1 year contract, and it got really bad after it was signed..surely we have right not to sleep in a shit hole of a bedroom...we told them, they preferred doing nothing and left it like that.

[PatriciaHolm]

Have they given you any indication that you won't get the deposit back?

You won't get compensation for damp; you haven't suffered any financial loss that the landlord is liable for, and you won't get anything else I'm afraid. You need to focus on getting the full deposit returned and move on .

[mypocketsarevide]

Patricia - it's exactly to what I have said just now to dh, we arer going to do everything to get our deposit back then move into our lovely new home

[maggiemight]

It took 6 months to get deposit back when my DD moved out of her rented student flat, I kept on at the agents and eventually they paid up. They had probably just been trying it on to see if I would give up, just be persistent.

[specialsubject]

if the deposit is in a protected scheme (as required by law) the return period is 10 days. The landlord (not the agent) has to prove any deductions are authorised.

the fact that the damp vanished after painting shows that there was no building problem at the time, because painting doesn't cure damp. Doesn't mean that something else hasn't gone wrong since of course. If the windows weren't double glazed when you viewed the place, no point complaining about that.

no need for toys-out-the-pram swearing. As others say, move on.