Landlord ignoring me

[NotAllowed]

I’m about to lose it with my landlord and need a sounding board to see if my anger is justified.

I moved into this property since June. The garage, a major selling point, has an old roof which is leaking badly. I did not know this when I viewed and took on the property as it was early summer. It’s been a very wet year as we all know and my belongings in the garage are soaked, so much so that I’ve had to cover everything with tarp. I reported this as soon as I noticed it back in July. A roofer has been out to try and fix the issue on two occasions, which has only made things worse. It needs a new roof. There’s been no progress and it’s only getting worse, despite being reported 6 months ago. I call and text and largely get ignored.

The chimney breast is also leaking, there is a stream of water now pouring down one of the bedroom walls inside. There’s mould on all the windows and in the bathroom, and bad condensations for which I have requested a dehumidifier and been ignored. I open the windows and ventilate the house as much as possible given it’s winter and wet outside.

I’ve tried to call and text with other questions and concerns, as is understandable when moving into a new property. Lots of empty promises upon moving in such as replacing broken fencing panels which at this point I’m not even bothered about. I am constantly ignored. Calls go unreturned. Texts don’t get replied to. He replies on occasion. If he does pick up the phone there’s no acknowledgement of that fact I’m ignored, I find it weird and awkward. I’m 9 months pregnant and due any moment. I’m tired and irritable. The room that the water is now pouring in through is my baby’s nursery. I know that when I do eventually get through to him, I’m going to explode. Would an explosion be justified? I’m so angry. I’ve never experienced this level of rudeness and ignorance with a landlord.

You need to move, a newborn in a damp house in winter is seriously going to impact its health you need to reach out to the council and report him and the home for being inhabitable. Shelter may also be able to give you advice. I'm sorry your living this way.

Is it rented via an agency you can call?

It’s a private landlord who I deal with directly.

I think you're at the formal complaint (recorded delivery, setting out the situation, all the times you've made contact and the lack of action, and how it can be remedied - eg all issues repaired within one calendar month, reimbursement for the dehumidifier and the cost of running it, a reduction in rent for the garage being non-functional) and complaining to the council in parallel. Given the health implications of the lack of repairs, this is one where the council can intervene and order the landlord to make repairs.

I would be looking for other places it doesn't sound fit to live in, which would make your tenancy agreement invalid anyway. Did you pay a deposit, and was it protected?

I used to work for a large solicitors firm dealing with housing disrepair complaints, and have also dealt with a very unreliable landlord myself (roof fell in while I was pregnant and it took months to repair).

I would be looking for somewhere else to live as other PP suggested but it might be worthwhile contacting a solicitor. They’ll chase him to do the repairs and put the pressure on him to resolve the situation at his expense, however as a private tenant he might not take kindly to this action and he might look to end the tenancy -
But contact from a solicitor could definitely give him a kick up the behind, just a suggestion. The council won’t be able to do much for a private tenant I wouldn’t have thought.

Moving isn’t something I’m willing to deal with at the moment as I’m about to give birth to my first baby. It’s a largely nice house and I’ve put a lot of effort into it over the last 6 months to make it nice, upstairs is just humid which is creating condensation and damp/mould on the windows and some black mould has started forming in the bathroom. My electric toothbrush and silicon head massager that I’ve had for years with no issue have gone mouldy. I’ve been cleaning the mould with hydrogen peroxide but it needs a dehumidifier. The garage is outside and external/separate to the house so it’s not impacting my day to day but it is also raining inside when I go in. My belongings in there have been affected. I’ve been very calm and reasonable with him, and even tried to communicate directly with the roofer to save him a job as he clearly won’t respond to me. I’m just at a loss at the nerve. He’ll gladly take £1000 a month off me though.

It sounds like the seals have perished on the windows based on where the mould is appearing, that would be an easy fix for a workman and should resolve the issues.

I also dealt with a terrible landlord while I was pregnant and postpartum and I know how stressful it is, please don’t explode… It won’t get you anywhere and it’ll only make you feel worse.
I would send him photos of the damage to your belongings and advise him that you are heavily pregnant and you need this resolving as a matter of urgency. You could tell him that you were going to speak to the housing ombudsman/seek advice as the issues have not been resolved in a timely manner.

Thank you for the point on the seals. It does appear to be where the mould is collecting so I’ll broach that with him when I do eventually speak to him. I’m just so angry, I find it unbelievable people can knowing ignore you like this. Especially when you’re paying them for the privilege and there is an expectation that they do what they are paid for.

Contact your local council who will have a department that deals with landlords like this. Once they are involved he has to do what they say or face prosecution

If you'd like to write a formal complaint feel free to put it on her.

I cannot believe that people like this exist. I'd probably mention about going to the council as the issues have not been dealt with in a timely manner; throw a newborn into the mix and it'll paint him in a very bad light indeed.

Sorry OP, I also have mould and leaky roof issues which is causing a tonne of stress so I can sympathise on that end!

You will be causing the humidity.
Do you dry clothes in doors?
Do you open your bedroom windows each morning?
Are you heating it adequately
Are you opening the bathroom window after showering- and keeping the bathroom door closed at all times?
Are you using an extractor when cooking or opening a window?

I know it doesn't help with the leaks but you are most likely causing the mould I'm afraid

Yes I dry clothes indoors, it’s winter and rained for months where else are you supposed to dry them? Windows are opened every day, bathroom window is permanently left ajar, and opened wide when showering, door is left closed. The heating is on daily. Kitchen window is open when cooking. I do everything I can to mitigate it.

Then you need to buy a dehumidifier to take in the humidity from drying your clothes indoors.

That's your responsibility as a tenant.

Is it? Where is that stipulated? Every resource I’ve read clearly states if damp and mould is present, this is landlord responsibility. It can’t all be pinned on drying clothes. I’ve lived in my last house for 7 years and never had this issue.

It's your responsibility to live in the property in a manner that doesn't cause damage. By drying your clothes indoors without a dehumidifier you will be causing mould. You can either choose to help yourself or not.

Water pouring down walls sounds terrible and both issues sound like big jobs to fix and he clearly is ignoring you possibly because he can't do the work. I would look for another property, not easy in the current climate I know.

How is drying clothes causing damage? I did it for 7 years in my last house without any issue. There was mould already present on the windows when I moved in here which I cleaned. And what about the structural damage where there is water coming through the walls? Am I supposed to “help myself” there as well?

So some causes of damp (like water pouring down the chimney breast!) are the landlords responsibility and others damp caused by clothes drying or not heating/ventilating the property adequately are the responsibility of the tenant.

In your case though the landlord clearly needs to pull their finger out. Thing is though, it will be really hard to make them.

My advice to you is to move.

@NotAllowed

I would buy a dehumidifier and have it where it's humid upstairs on to try and clear the inner condensation from clothes/cooking etc.

Go after the landlord for the bigger things like the garage and leaking roof/windows.

I'm in rented and bought my own dehumidifiers to take the moisture out of the air in the winter.

It will make a big difference to how quickly
Mould builds up but he does need to sort the structural stuff out definitely

I had 2 damp specialists round to a house who both said the fault is whoever lives there, drying clothes on radiators/not opening windows/lack of heating. I agree, you need to move, not right now, but asap. Your ll doesn’t sound like he gives a shit.

Drying clothes indoors can cause horrible mold problems, especially in older properties- our 1930s semi had persistent problems with mold until I bought a condensing dryer and put the heating on more. But yeah, you have far bigger problems.

Contact environmental health at your local council. In my last job (SW) I did this on behalf of a young family who rented privately and had terrible damp issues. An EH inspector visited and instructed the landlord to make improvements or they'd prosecute. Funnily enough the landlord did after being threatened.

Just because how you lived/did laundry in one property didn't cause humidity related damp, does not mean it won't in this property.

Every house is different, and whilst yes it shouldn't leak, you will get nowhere until you can demonstrate that the problem is 100% nothing to do with you - so buy a dehumidifier.

However I think you have little choice but to move unless you can afford to do the work yourself!

Your landlord isn't going to do it.
If you complain to the council, which I would do, the chances are your landlord is going to end your tenancy as soon as he can, rather than do the work.

It isn't fair... none of it is, but you have to play the game!