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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To ask landlord to replace expensive custom blinds

159 replies

PossiblyUpossiblyNot · 26/08/2020 12:55

I live in a private rented flat and have been here three years.

I have continued problems with damp caused by the windows which comes back each time I treat it. You can see some of this in the picture I will attatch.

Landlord knows about it and has had the place redecorated but it comes back.

As a result of this happening constantly the white blinds look awful, not helped by the fact I have to use mould spray on them regularly which has began to weaken the fabric itself. Three years of this happening and they look shit.

Confession: I have a child with ASD who is obsessed with the blinds and keeps pulling the weights out of the bottom which is also driving me mad and contributing to me wanting to change them.. but they are shit nevertheless.

As you can see the windows are huge so the blinds will have to be custom made I assume.

I can't afford to replace them myself so would I be unreasonable to ask the landlord to?

I'm asking to gauge who's responsibility you ladies think it is before I potentially make myself look like a CF.

To ask landlord to replace expensive custom blinds
OP posts:
NicEv · 26/08/2020 18:36

There is some really good advice on Shelter’s website about damp in rented properties , including a template letter to send to the Landlord.

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

devuskums · 26/08/2020 18:36

I found it worked like magic on persistent mould

NicEv · 26/08/2020 18:37

Sorry - I didn’t read the whole thread and can see great minds think alike ! Good luck OP - really hope the LL sorts it out for you

AnyFucker · 26/08/2020 18:43

You sound like a good tenant, op. Your landlord should be keeping you happy. What you are asking for is perfectly reasonable.

maxicheddar · 27/08/2020 17:09

OP just to say that you should read all the Shelter and health and safety info carefully as it might be that you are only protected from revenge eviction after you have made an official complaint to the council's environmental health dept. I can't remember exactly what the score is but you must take all the legal advise you can and know your rights, before you go further with your LL, just in case they turn uncooperative. Sadly you cannot afford to assume they will do the right thing.

Good luck :)

TonTonMacoute · 27/08/2020 17:23

I am the landlord of a flat that is very prone to damp and mould. It was absolutely my responsibility to sort it out and stop it happening.

A lot of it was down to the freeholder, as several of the flats in the block had the same problem, and they did do a lot of remedial work.

It is also the responsibility of the tenants to make sure the flat is properly ventilated and aired. The tenant who grumbled the most about it was found to be using his exercise bike in the flat with the heating up high and the windows shut, which made the problem 100 times worse! He ended up leaving and we have never had any serious problems since.

A good landlord would not be happy with their tenants living somewhere where mould grew so easily, especially if there was a child there too. I think YANBU to push them to resolve this.

MitziK · 27/08/2020 17:53

@WombatChocolate

How often do you have the heating on and windows open through the flat, especially in winter? How many hours per day? Do you dry washing on radiators or in flat?

Very often these are causes of damp and tenants or owners have caused it themselves rather than there being a structural issue. people don't have their heating on enough (to save money) and don't like windows open as its draughty, but the reality is, those need to happen and whatever curtains you have, the issue will return withour good regular ventilation.

That takes me back to my discussions with the local council when I lived in one of their flats.

I sat in my bed one late December night with my breath sending out huge clouds and I measured the room temperature 3 foot from the too hot to touch radiator. Minus 4 Celsius. Water pissing down the outside walls.

I was repeatedly told that it was because I didn't have any windows open, because I was cooking too much (two cooked meals a week as we ate at work/childminders), because 'teenagers are disgusting sweaty creatures' (had a nine year old and a three year old), because I was at home all day breathing (at work fulltime), I hadn't put the heating on enough, (try installing more than a single gas fire in a three room property then), etc, etc and I should make use of either the secure drying area outside or, if it was being used by the other residents, go the launderette round the corner to dry clothes, as I should remember that it was a breach of my tenancy to dry clothes on the balcony.

They'd turned the secure drying area into a bin shed approximately seven years before I'd moved in and the laundrette round the corner had been levelled, along with the rest of the row for them to put up a block of flats in the last five. They should have really known this, as they had tried to evict but had been ordered to rehouse all the tenants of the flats above the shops in order to start demolition.

I finally found somewhere else to live and gave notice. They told me that I would have to pay to dryline the inside because I'd caused a structural issue through letting it get so damp inside. I requested this in writing, together with an estimate/bill so I could seek legal advice and confirmation of the reasons why they had been taken to court by five other tenants in the block immediately prior to drylining their flats, replacing their furniture and making compensation payments to each - at which point, they forgot all about charging me.

After I moved out, they apparently failed to let it to anybody for a year because the Fit Homes Standard applied to new tenancies, then, rather than lining the external walls, they glossed them and removed the opening windows to replace them with non opening ones that had passive vents in them. so they reduced the ventilation and increased the likelihood of condensation.

Anyhow, an electric humidifier will be useful. Net curtains and IKEA curtains will be better visually and because you can clean them and they'll take out draughts (absorb lots of water too, but we won't mention that). And a polite audit trail of you requesting repairs because the LL's inaction is resulting in the damage will be useful for making sure he doesn't accidentally on purpose try and charge you for damage.

Inkpaperstars · 27/08/2020 20:11

We all know what living 'normally' in a home is. You should be able to shower, cook, dry clothes etc without the whole place getting mouldy.

Most flats in London have no dryer for clothes and no outside space to dry them. A house or flat with no underlying faults can handle normal living. Of course people need to open windows and put heating on, and perhaps use a dehumidifier if drying a lot of clothes but that should be enough.

Veryverycalmnow · 27/08/2020 21:01

I'd explain to landlord in writing that the mould (caused by shitty windows- his problem) is causing you to have respiratory issues and damaging the blinds. Explain that this is not ok. You shouldn't have to put up with it. You're going about it very reasonably if you ask him to replace with darker blinds.
Another douchebag landlord.

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