Landlord dragging his heals

[WhatevaTreva]

Right.

I’m currently paying £700 rent a month for a two bed, and it’s about to go up between 2.5% and 5.5% in March.
I am a reasonable tenant. I have a fairy good relationship with the landlord but I’m shy and tend to play down my concerns because I don’t want him to sell up because I’ve bothered him (I have anxiety), as there are no other affordable homes local to me and I need to stay in this area.
Anyway, a few years ago my power shower broke, it took him 6 months to fix, 6 years ago my fence fell down (the one which is a partition between my garden and my neighbours); it took him 3 years to fix. You get the jist?
So, in November I messaged him that my garage roof was leaking as we were already communicating about something else (a leaky pipe 🙄). He sent someone round the next day to give him a quote. He’s since had 3 of his own quotes and one quote that the estate agents arranged.
Having 4 children in a 2 bed means I need a lot of storage. All 4 are the same gender so there are lots of hand-me-down clothes and toys stored in the garage. As well as this there are car seats and other children parifamaluia. Yesterday I went into the garage and there is mildew and mould on lots of items so now by belongings are ruined.
My question is - am I unreasonable to think that rent should be withheld until this problem is fixed, and once it’s fixed to pay the outstanding I owe? As a passive person I don’t want any conflict, but also, I now have to replace ruined items, and don’t see the problem being fixed any time soon.
I got an email today from the estate agents to say they have tried to call and have emailed him today after I emailed yesterday to see if they could rush it along.
I’m asking for advice as I know I’m in a contract with them to say I will pay the full £700 a month, so would it be wrong of me to suggest withholding rent? Also, one of my worst fears is saying my bit and then the other person (estate agent in this case) going - “actually blah blah blah” and shooting me down.

Thank you for taking the time to read, and I look forward to reading your advice/comments

Move everything out of the garage. Do your parents have room for you to store some things temporarily?

Environmental Health will not care one jot about damp in a garage. It's, well, a GARAGE!

This just isn’t true in the most part I’m afraid. Landlords are getting out of the rental market in droves due to increased rules/regulations and having to jump through more and more hoops in the rental market. The fact that so many smaller LL’s who only have a few properties are getting out is the reason there are so few properties for rent now.

I think if you get arsey or mither too much you are more likely to have a section 21 filed against you as they’ll view you as a troublesome tenant. Maybe not but that’s the risk - I know several LL’s who are getting their tenants out and selling up.

Could you not cover that area of the garage with a tarpaulin for now until it gets fixed and move your stuff? I don’t think you can claim from the LL for the damaged items, no. Ultimately most garages are a bit cold and damp and probably shouldn’t have valuable things stored in them.

@Yeahrightthen I completely agree with all of that.

my anxiety is a fact, but I understand what you mean by - it doesn’t really matter to the landlord himself

Thank you for your message @Yeahrightthen
this is exactly what I’m scared of. I feel like I can’t kick up a fuss and I need to be a mug because if I bother him too much he might sell up, and there is nothing in the area at the moment, but within about a mile radius there are houses for £800+, which would be a struggle for me to pay, so I need to just be invisible to him

Sorry about all of your belongings.

For future reference, car seats should never be stored in a garage or loft, even if you keep them sealed in a plastic bag. They are exposed to extreme temperature swings in both locations which can damage the seat construction and may cause them to fail.

Sadly, if your car seats are mouldy, they should be thrown away.

I thought this too. It’s not the house. It’s not causing physical problems to me

As a rule of thumb requests/complaints etc always tend to get a better response when emotions are removed from them. Just present the facts and leave out how you feel about them, as it's not relevant and somehow seems to press the wrong buttons in the reader. I'm sure someone who understands psychology could explain why that is. I just know how I react to reading both types of requests/complaints, and I've often read similar advice on here, so I can't be alone in that reaction.

Thank you for this @thecatneuterer
its too late now as I’ve already sent it 🙃 but will take this into consideration next time I email

Does the temperature of a loft or garage fluctuate more than the temperature in a car parked outside? It seems unlikely to me!

Thank you @thecatneuterer
its too late this time 🙃 but I will consider this next time

also, does anyone know how to post something on the landlordzone? I couldn’t work it out. Do I need to pay for a subscription? I made an account

Thank you @

Thank you @

Thank you @thecatneuterer

Thank you @thecatneuterer
its too late this time 🙃 but I will consider this next time

also, does anyone know how to post something on the landlordzone? I couldn’t work it out. Do I need to pay for a subscription? I made an account @

Thank you @thecatneuterer

Thank you

Never ever ever withhold rent. It's a different issue. You pay the rent and deal with the issue s via correct channel s

does Anyone know how
to use landlordzone?

Thank you

.

Landlord here. You're paying for that garage, so yes, keep on about the repair. The contents are irrelevant so keep them out of it.

Stop contacting the landlord directly, go through the agency. It will provide the distance your anxious feelings might need. Apart from anything else, they need to know if he's fucking around, which he is. I'm not saying they can do anything, just more formal.

It’s the damp

garages are usually single skin with porous bricks which isn’t the case for a car which is sealed.

it’s the damp not the temperature that causes mould.

Thank you