Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Panicking over awful state of new rented house we're moving into

27 replies

Sleepyhamster · 23/10/2021 11:12

What the hell do we do!?

Got the keys yesterday for the rented house we are moving into on Monday. First of all, it is filthy. The landlord have now hired professional cleaners which is happening today, and DP is going to rug doctor the carpets. The bigger issue is the general state of the house. We viewed it two years ago, and It had just been renovated and was lovely. However, it seems yo have degraded an astonishing amount - cracked plaster and peeling paint everywhere, and it STINKS of damp. I feel devestated. We are leaving our current house due to damp that only became apparent after moving in.

We will have to move in as everything is booked, and we've given notice on our current house (that I now feel a panicky attachment to) we are going to speak to the landlord about what needs doing in terms of repairs.

I feel like the house has been misrepresented to be honest, and feel angry at the time and expense of moving when I imagine we'll be looking to move again soon.

I don't know if there's anything we can do on terms of being compensated for this. The landlord is surely in breach of their side of the tenancy agreement?

OP posts:
GrealishHairband · 23/10/2021 11:15

So you decided to move into it based on a viewing two years ago?! I think you might have to take some responsibility for being sold a dummy here OP.

Sleepyhamster · 23/10/2021 11:17

No sold, its a rental, and so I expected it to be in the same level of repair as previously.

OP posts:
Houseplantmad · 23/10/2021 11:19

But that was two years ago! Why haven’t you viewed it more recently? Anything could have happened and clearly has. You wouldn’t buy a car that you’d viewed two year ago.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Bigeggsinapackoften · 23/10/2021 11:19

You should’ve viewed it more recently than 2 years ago!!

dontgobaconmyheart · 23/10/2021 11:20

You didn't ask to view it again? Go in and measure up etc in two whole years?

I have no idea how that's even come about OP. When did you sign contracts?

Has it been unoccupied for two years?

The situation sounds very unusual.

BrilliantBulb · 23/10/2021 11:21

Two years is a long time. If it was just freshly decorated then that would have covered a multitude of sins.

The home we bought was a bit of a similar situation: everything newly painted etc. After moving in cracks and damp patches started revealing themselves. Don’t trust a newly decorated property.

Peeling paint and the smell of damp pretty much definitely indicate damp. If you’re leaving your current property because of damp then this isn’t the one for you.

CremeEggThief · 23/10/2021 11:22

In the nicest possible way, there's been far more wear and tear than normal on properties during the last two years, as we've all been home for most of it!

Do the best you can with the house when you move in and at least you know it will be clean. There's no point stressing and worrying about anything structural that isn't down to you to improve.

GreyhoundG1rl · 23/10/2021 11:24

I don't know if there's anything we can do on terms of being compensated for this. The landlord is surely in breach of their side of the tenancy agreement?
Confused
Just don't move in!

insancerre · 23/10/2021 11:25

I’m not sure you can expect compensation
You didn’t view it and presumably signed the tenancy without seeing it
The landlord is organising cleaning so at least they are doing something

Motnight · 23/10/2021 11:25

I don't understand. You are renting a house that you last saw 2 years ago? You didn't ask to see it again?

GrealishHairband · 23/10/2021 11:27

@Sleepyhamster

No sold, its a rental, and so I expected it to be in the same level of repair as previously.
No I know that. It’s a phrase.

You have no come back here. This is on you for not viewing something so important. You can’t expect nothing to have changed in 2 years in which the majority of us spent a large chunk of it unable to leave the house.

heebiejeebies45 · 23/10/2021 11:27

You viewed it two years ago and haven't viewed it since but still signed the tenancy to rent it for a period of time? Is that correct? If so is there any specific reason why you didn't re visit it recently, I'm a bit confused at that.

Surely you wouldn't just trust that the property would be in the same condition as it was when you viewed it back then?

RoseRedRoseBlue · 23/10/2021 11:30

You can’t be serious? Really?

LIZS · 23/10/2021 11:31

Has it been occupied in last two years, heated and maintained? Was it furnished on viewing as an empty property often looks and feels worse than when furnished.

HollyandIvyandAllThingsYule · 23/10/2021 11:34

I sympathise...but why on earth didn’t you view it before signing a lease??

Lesson learnt for next time.

Try not to panic too much. The damp smell can hopefully be sorted with bleach to kill the old stuff and then keeping windows on the latch and the heating on over winter.

Upsky · 23/10/2021 11:38

I wouldn't move. Ask for an extension on your current place rather than get locked into a contract on a damp house.
DS did this. Viewed a place which was in a state but the estate agent promised the landlord was going to fully renovate the following week. I went with him two days before he was due to move in and it was dreadful. Filthy curtains hung up, the decorator had painted round them, inside cupboards black mould, bathroom mouldy.
He lost his holding deposit but better that than be stuck in that house for a year.

Notashandyta · 23/10/2021 11:41

Can you contact your current landlord and ask if you can stay were you are? Look for something better?

PippaOwl · 23/10/2021 11:42

Is this a council property hence why you don't have an awful lot of choice or a private rental?

BrilliantBulb · 23/10/2021 11:43

The damp smell can hopefully be sorted with bleach to kill the old stuff and then keeping windows on the latch and the heating on over winter.
If the OP is moving from her place because of damp then I don’t think it’s going to be as simple as having a hopeful attitude and some bleach.

Sleepyhamster · 23/10/2021 12:01

@Upsky

I wouldn't move. Ask for an extension on your current place rather than get locked into a contract on a damp house. DS did this. Viewed a place which was in a state but the estate agent promised the landlord was going to fully renovate the following week. I went with him two days before he was due to move in and it was dreadful. Filthy curtains hung up, the decorator had painted round them, inside cupboards black mould, bathroom mouldy. He lost his holding deposit but better that than be stuck in that house for a year.
We've signed the tenancy agreement though, so we'd lose our deposit and our deposit for removals etc
OP posts:
Youngatheart00 · 23/10/2021 12:04

But why did you sign without revisiting?

I think you need to try and get out of this, explaining in writing the reasons why and revoke the notice on your existing home (do it today!).

GreyhoundG1rl · 23/10/2021 12:12

We've signed the tenancy agreement though, so we'd lose our deposit and our deposit for removals etc
How did you get to this stage before you discovered the problem? You obviously saw it after signing, but not before...

I can't actually understand the sequence of events here.

lynntheyresexpeople · 23/10/2021 12:20

Did you really not view the house in two years?? But went ahead and signed everything? Why on earth didn't you view again?
Landlord isn't in breach of anything, you happily agreed to move into a house you hadn't laid eyes on in 2 years Confused

OnwardsAndSideways1 · 23/10/2021 12:29

I don't think you can be compensated because it is 'as viewed' when you sign the actual contract- so if you have signed, then you have to take it or just lose the deposit.

I'd be thinking a) can I afford to lose the deposit or is this my one and only chance of getting a property? (if no chance of other deposit, then you kind of have to take this one) b) is the dirt/lack of cleaning clouding how I feel? c) what's the scale of any damp- both properties I've acquired in the past couple of years had a bit of a musty smell and one small patch of wallpaper looking a bit damp, but when I moved in, whacked the heating up, aired the place daily, there have been no issues. I would buy dehumidifier and clean down any mould in bathroom, bathroom windows always open.

If it's been left a little while, even a month, houses get a musty smell and this doesn't always indicate a full on damp problem.

In rentals, damp is a massive problem, sometimes for structural reasons e.g. water getting in, but often because when people aren't in their own homes, they can be more lax about the actions needed to block out damp or reluctant to do things like buy dehumidifiers or a tumble drier for clothes (for understandable money reasons). My agents are hot on making sure that tenants understand bathrooms have to be aired, otherwise there will be mould, within six months, it's just what happens. Also, things like air bricks, proper fans, ventilation, are less within your control as a tenant and landlords can be lazy at taking action over that.

You may know all this, and have tried everything in your prior property, but I wouldn't panic just yet that there's a huge damp problem when it might be very fixable.

Wear and tear and dirt, unfortunately a two year lived in house won't look the same as a brand new decorated one, but hopefully with some cleaning and some painting, this will be ok.

WallaceinAnderland · 23/10/2021 12:30

You signed an agreement on a property that you hadn't seen. What more needs to be said. You are going to have to either lose your deposits and find somewhere else, or move in and deal with it.