to expect my Landlord to pay for me to be rehomed

[CopperHandle]

Landlord owns my property and the property next door. He is well known to be cheap, cut corners and grab money. I'm paying way above the odds for my house as it is and the longer I live here, the more problems rear their head.
My neighbour has been complaining to Landlord for months about damp and mold in her bathroom, to which he claims he cannot afford to fix. She rents directly from him, me through an agency.
I've been living here for 3 months and, so far, the boiler has failed twice, the washing machine has died and the house is just generally poorly maintained. Many of the doors do not close, for example, and the walls are stained.

I've come home from work today to find that the ceiling of the kitchen has collapsed. It is clearly from extreme damp and the pieces littering the floor and hanging from the ceiling are coated in black mold.

I call the agency who tell me I must report it online, with photos, and they'll take a look tomorrow morning and "hopefully" get a contractor out, after talking to the landlord.

I point out that its unlikely to be safe to be in the house, the kitchen at the very least. They just repeat to report online.

AIBU in thinking that Im going to have to be rehomed? Half the ceiling in the kitchen is gone and there's clearly a huge underlying damp problem.

Landlord will do anything he can to wriggle out of paying for anything, so I know this is going to be an uphill battle.

[LakieLady]

Definitely get on to environmental health. Once they've got on to the landlord, he'll be happy to release you from the tenancy.

They can also stop him from re-letting the place until the work is done.

[Mummyoflittledragon]

If water is getting into the electrics, this could be very dangerous and the house isn’t fit for human habitation. Definitely contact shelter.

[HelenaDove]

Sounds like the agency did a patch up and tosh over.

[HelenaDove]

What Purple said.

[PurplePillowCase]

that sounds bad. and possibly structurally unsafe.
I hope you have made plenty of photos and videos.

get on to environmental health tomorrow.

[CopperHandle]

Me again,
So the agency came around and boarded up the hole a few days afterwards. Said there was a leak thats now fixed.

Just got out of the bath today to find the kitchen has flooded and water seeping through the ceiling, you can see it dripping from the light bulb.
Also, the floor has subsided in the living room, leaving part of the room at a slight tilt and the floor boards loose underfoot.

Would I be unreasonable to ask for my deposit and tenancy fees back, and to be released from my 6 month tenancy?

[PurplePillowCase]

it can, possibly mean damage to wooden beams.
it needs to be assessed and deemed safe.

[wowfudge]

Which wholly incorrect info is that then? Seriously, a ceiling coming down does not actually make somewhere uninhabitable.

[innagazing]

I think the calls to go to Shelter are over reacting at this stage. The op should give the landlord an opportunity to get it fixed, and someone is due there today, presumably to assess the cause of the damage, to clear up the rubble and ensure it's not a danger.
Assuming it's not dangerous, the kitchen will be usable until it is repaired. The agents may well have their own maintenance company and it could be fixed as early as this week.
If none of this happens, then would be the time to go to Shelter, imo.
Re the broken washing machine, op needs to push for a repair or a new one, or threaten to withhold a portion of the rent. The boiler breaking down twice could just be unlucky- op must by law have a copy of the most recent annual gas safety check. It would have been deemed safe or condemned at that time.

[AnnieOH1]

Please call shelter or seek out a specialist forum. I've only read halfway down this page and you've already been given wholly incorrect information that if you acted on that basis would leave you in a weak position.

[innagazing]

Is your bathroom above your kitchen? It's usually a slow leak from a water pipe that brings a ceiling down. It's usually a straight forward job to repair/replace it, though plastering the whole ceiling may be a messy job, so make sure you put things away etc when it's done.
Ask for a estimate of how long it will take until the job is completed.

[ReanimatedSGB]

I was wondering if OP had a bad credit history and couldn't find anywhere else. Definitely talk to the local council - and also start looking for somewhere better to live.

[scaryteacher]

My kitchen ceiling ended up all over the floor one day; a joint had come adrift under the bath and so there was a leak. The house, as we owned it, was perfectly safe to live in, it was just the one joint that gave up. We lived in the house whilst it was sorted out.

[innagazing]

Stripeysleeves-If you're overpaying for a dump, why did you take the tenancy on in the first place?

My question wasn't intended to be helpful or unhelpful. I was genuinely interested in why someone would pay over the going rate for a very substandard property.

Your response was a huge assumption on your part, and as it happens was an incorrect one, as the op has now explained what happened.

Op How long until your tenancy expires? Could you start looking for a new place now? Given the repairs that are needed, could you try to negotiate with the landlord that you leave early? A subtle mention of going to the environmental health may make him agree more readily.

[specialsubject]

Just to clarify that environmental health are the place to go, even though it isn't a council property.

But really the only solution to your crap landlord is to stop feeding him by leaving.

How are the legals? Gas safe, epc, etc etc etc

[CopperHandle]

Thanks for the replies, so I went back into the kitchen and nearly got brained by more falling from the ceiling so I'm definitely not going back in there. There appears to be a lot of mould and from my (incredibly limited) understanding, it looks like the cause is extremely poor maintenance.

There weren't a lot of properties available to rent close to work and the house looked decent on the face of it. The agent whipped me around whilst the previous tenants were still here so I didn't get a good look really, but thats my own fault.

[CopperHandle]

Sorry for going AWOL, ridiculously I also had a first date with someone tonight so had to just abandon the kitchen situation and go out!

For those asking why I'm paying over the odds; probably my own fault. I lived in an awful houseshare before and was desperate to move so leapt into this house a bit quick, I actually negotiated the rent down so foolishly felt like I was getting a good deal but in retrospect Im paying about £50 a month too much (£525 a month, should be £475 ish). I'd looked at so many houses I think I just got myself muddled.

About to read all the replies and track down my tenancy agreement.

[BarbarianMum]

Making do with substandard accommodation is one thing. Paying over the odds for it is another.

[DagenhamRoundhouse]

Your local council Housing Officer should be able to help. They do in that TV show!

[ottersHateFeminists]

@slime

probably Definitely

[FlibbertigibbetArmadillo]

What ever you do, do not stop paying rent until you have had proper advice from shelter or CAB. There are very specific steps for how to do this if you don't want to get done for rent arrears. [https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/repairs-in-rented-housing/disrepair-what-are-your-options-if-you-are-a-social-housing-tenant/withholding-rent-because-of-disrepair/]
Also don't assume he has to pay for you to stay somewhere else if you have to move out. And if enough rooms are habitable you don't technically need to move out

[Slimthistime]

otters, you're probably taking the mickey out of me, but I was saying "the mind boggles" that you were asking the question.

[TheHungryDonkey]

I think the fact the OPs ceiling is in massive chunks where she may have been stood doing the washing up kind of suggests the house isn’t safe.

Call environmental health or tenancy relations at your council. If no joy, look up Acorn Communities on Google.

[ottersHateFeminists]

@Slimthistime

I know, right!

[specialsubject]

How it should work - landlord has insurance for temporary housing of tenant in case of disaster. If property remains uninhabitable tenancy ends and no further rent payable, tenant moves on.

With a crooked slumlord - straight to the council for enforcement. And get house hunting, not only is it a dump but it is an expensive dump.