AIBU? Private Landlord wants to be evict for the following...

[Maddie2019]

Hi all, I’m a little stuck to say the least and am gobsmacked by the morning I’ve had.

We have lived in this rental for the past 3 years and I love the property and the location! We have never paid the rent late and have thrown so much money into being here. The house has a fair amount of problems as of expected for a house built in the 1800’s. We have awful damp issues on the front wall of the property which affects our bedroom and living room, and as the walls are granite they have no cavity wall insulation.

The front wall needs repointing, the loft needs insulation, the chimney stack is leaking so needed to be rebuilt and we are missing a fascia board on the front of the house. Our rent is rather considerate so I’ve been happy to put up with these issues until the landlords can Afford fix.

Landlords came this morning for an inspection and are convinced me and my partner don’t use the heating!! We have a 3 year old, of course we do! The heating tends to come on for 2 hours in the morning and around 6 hours in the evening. They said the damp on the front wall is down to us (we ventilate and heat the property accordingly). I have explained that without a fascia board being on the front the water will run in, particularly
Through the poor pointing where the weather hits the worse.

They called me and my partner liars and that we never use the heating, and even if we do it should be on everyday while we are at work as well as in the evenings to. I disagree with this, we have not got money to burn for heating a property when we are at work!

Because I disagreed they have said we will be served our notice. I’m gobsmacked and don’t know how I should react. The last thing I want is to move, I love it here. Do you have your heating on all day everyday despite not being in? I’m thinking maybe I’m being unreasonable with their request. I have never been raised to have the heating on when you’re not home, I think it’s basically just chucking money at nothing! It’s frustrating when the builder has confirmed the houses issues but they still blame us! Arrrrrgh

@Maddie2019 exactly, I've always been told by letting agents to heat the property with the windows ajar (which makes sense but seems like throwing money away!)

I agree with you 100%!
I live in a Welsh cottage from the same period, and had real problems with damp on the front of the house as the pointing was such a bad mix (previous owners responsible) and although the walls are 1.5 feet thick, rainwater was working its way into the front room.
We ended up rendering the whole wall and painting it.
No matter how long your heating is on for, waters working its way in, and causing damp and condensation.. In fact i'd say the landlord should get you a dehumidifier and contribute to your electric bill!
Oh and if the chimneys leaking that water is going to be adding to the problem too.. and not your responsibility!

My son and family are in a rented property and raised concerns about damaged pointing and penetrating damp, particularly in one of the bedrooms which always felt cold. The landlord arranged for a builder to come and look at it and in addition to the pointing being repaired, he recommended additional work to the bedroom. A new double glazed window was installed, insulation was fitted to the inside of both the external bedroom walls which were then replastered and redecorated. That is how a good landlord behaves.
I too live in an older house - our central heating is set to come on for 2 hours in the morning and 5 hours in the evening. We do run it longer at the weekend but that is because we are at home!

england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/repairs/damp_and_mould_in_rented_homes

england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/repairs/how_to_report_repairs_to_a_private_landlord

england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/repairs/complain_to_environmental_health_about_rented_housing

Well you already spend £125 a month on oil, so if rhey want the heating burning oil all day whilst you are at work that is going to take your bill up to about £200 a month.

I pay £48 in total a month for gas & electric, I am in a smaller property I expect and its only 5 years old but still, if you found somewhere more energy efficient you could put the £150 a month you save on oil towards the rent on a new place!

I think he wants to sell and this is his way to do it.

Doesn't sound like they get it. If you close all the windows and crack the heating up it's going to get very humid in there (and the damp will make it feel colder).
It's also going to make the damp and mould grow very enthusiastically and do even more damage.

Tell him to pay your heating bill if hes not going to fix the actual cause

I live in a similarly aged property and also leave my heating on low/tick over. Partly because it takes so long to get warm that it's better this way.

Sadly if they've decided to give you notice I doubt you can so anything about it. I had similar when a landlord decided I caused the damp issue because I didn't leave the windows open 24-7.

They cannot serve you notice for that. There are new laws about serving notice to tenants and it’s actually quite tricky to do so, many landlords make mistakes and serve them on the wrong date (has to be served on a specific date linked to the tenancy agreement).

I would suggest you go to the House Selling and Renting page on Money Saving Expert forums. There are several professional landlords & lawyers who give advice on there.

Do you know if they have protected your deposit in one of the 3 government schemes? If not, you can take them to court and you are 100% going to win up to 3 times the deposit value in compensation.

Also, if the house is in such disrepair you could get the local council housing officer to come and inspect it, they can serve notice to landlords to put right issues that affect the habitability of a property.

Worse case scenario, an eviction can take upwards of 6 months anyway so you don’t have to rush.

From April all rented property (not sure if UK or England) has to be EPC E or above. I think there might be some exemptions about listed buildings and the landlord only has to spend 3500 to try to meet the standards. Loft insulation would certainly come under this.

Absolutely YANBU. I think hardly anyone would have their heating on all day while they were out- not for any reason at all- it's too expensive.

My bestie gets damp and he just keeps the windows slightly ajar to help prevent it- but you can only do so much if there's something wrong with the place.

If he thinks you need to do that then it's a sign there are real issues with the place that he needs to sort out.

So sorry this is happening. :( His response does seem excessive. Maybe he wants someone else in so he can up the rent really, or he's had enough of renting the place out or something? :/

Thanks everyone, is reassuring to know the majority of the opinion and also interesting to hear those opinions of a landlord to.

I think the outlook will be us moving out. I don’t want to take them to court as I honestly cannot deal with anymore stress, however I want to be able to find somewhere first.

The landlords never taken a deposit of us in the first place so atleast that’s not a worry to be had. I don’t want to leave on too bad terms so will ensure the property is clean and give it a repaint. I’m really not a confrontational person and maybe that’s the majority of my problem!

Thanks all again!

Give notice op...we did after we lived in a similar for sixth months..agents not at all surprised...two months later had lovely email from next tenants (sent via agents) asking about the damp..refused them backto the agent but made us sooooo glad to leave the rent trap

What on earth makes you think you need to take them to court?! You don't.

They are the ones who would have to take legal action to evict you.

@AnotherEmma my apologies it was in relation to previous messages regarding rental law tightening up and being able to take landlords to court over poor living conditions.

No need to apologise.
Legal action is often not necessary, usually a reminder of the law and the threat of legal action will suffice.
But in this case the two actions I suggested will do nicely and neither require going to court

The landlords never taken a deposit of us in the first place so atleast that’s not a worry to be had

I thought they were legally bound to and put it into a deposit scheme? Or is that only if they take a deposit?

One thing that might help is a window vacuum - quickly run them over the windows first thing and you will pick up a lot of water which can go straight down the sink, reducing moisture levels without having to cool the place down by opening windows. I think the original ones are karcher and pricey, but cheaper ones are available.

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz I have no idea! Although it does concern me because if they do truly believe we have caused these issues then they may likely try and approach us another way with collecting funds!

I think they want you out to sell.

If they have to raise the rating of the house to an E by April, and the house is an 'F', that's going to cost money to keep it as a rental.

If you want to stay, you could use the fact that it is illegal to rent a property with an EPC of less than E as a bargaining chip, so the landlord will have to improve the property if he evicts you. Even if it is a listed building, the exemption wouldn't apply as there are things that can be done to improve it's energy efficient that wouldn't be affected by it being listed in this case ie loft insulation.

If you get in touch with environmental health and the landlord is compelled to make improvements, he can't evict you a further 6 months (to stop retaliation evictions). I would be straight on the phone to environmental health, that will at least buy you some time to find a new home.

Could you ask your local Building Control Officer to come and have a look at it? Pose it as a possible structural issue and they will be there PDQ! Free advice and a bullet you can fire back at the LL! They don't put stuff in writing but just having got the opinion of a BCO might be enough to stop the ££ signs appearing in The LL's eyes?

As a side issue, I do think I would want to keep low-level heating on in a stone building. I worked in one where the heating was off over the week-ends and it took all week for the place to warm up again.

I live in a stone cottage with solid walls, we have the heating on about 7 hours a day and don't have any damp problems. We did completely replace and reinsulate the roof when we moved in, and I keep it well ventilated as well.