Stingy landlord?

[Doglover321]

Hi everyone, I’m sharing a flat with my boyfriend and we have huge mold and drainage issues. Mold covers the exterior and interior of the property, and the toilet and shower are both thoroughly blocked. The landlord visited following a hole in the ground floor flat’s ceiling (due to our shower flooding), and has told us a plumber will be visiting today - two days after the event!! He says we will have to pay rather than him. Surely this is something a landlord would usually pay for? He also told us that in the meantime we would have to use the swimming pool showers if we needed to shower. TIA for any thoughts.

@sandyhappypeople the OP has mentioned they tried several different methods to unblock it. And depending on how long they've lived there the landlord had a responsibility to make sure the plumbing was in working order before they moved in.

We tried a loo brush (once the poo had disappeared down the pipes), the hot water & dish soap method, bicarbonate of soda & vinegar. Just flushing with hot water. Nothing worked. The flush is extremely weak!

I agree, the bathroom doesn’t even have a window - only the bedroom/living area and kitchen have windows. And the storage heater in the lounge area is tiny and just doesn’t work well. Plumber was only here 20 minutes and didn’t seem very thorough

If you don't have a good dehumidifier running constantly, then you have no chance against mould like this IMO. Ventilation isn't enough - particularly if the air coming in is damp.

You said you didn't know about the poo, but now you did know there was a load of poo there and you shoved it down with a toilet brush?

Blockage issues aside I am fairly sure that legally landlords have to provide some kind of heating for every room in the property, so unless it's a studio with one storage heater then that is a problem that the landlord should resolve. It is impossible to heat the property and prevent damp and mould without adequate heating.

I would definitely suggest calling Shelter for some advice about the heating, damp and mould issue.

No, I said I didn’t and wouldn’t use a loo brush for visible poo. Someone did a poo and then flushed the toilet and it went. However, the next time we flushed the loo, the water rose

"Unfortunately, we will not be able to cover the cost of the plumber you need to employ to make the property you are renting out habitable. In addition, we will be deducting the rent for the several days we did not have access to appropriate washing facilities from this months' rent. I suggest you familiarise yourself with this document before making such requests in future."

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/homes-fitness-for-human-habitation-act-2018/guide-for-tenants-homes-fitness-for-human-habitation-act-2018#:~:text=Your%20landlord%20must%20make%20sure,this%20can%20affect%20your%20health.

Also, check he's covered your deposit under a safe deposit scheme.

I am, quite frankly, amazed at the ignorance of some posts here and the irresponsibility of the tenant(op)
if there is black mould in a property it is lifestyle. NO EXCEPTIONS. Phone any damp company, rontokil, Peter cox. Any company they will tell you the same. Heat and ventilate. There may be water ingress from somewhere but is there is black mould it is lifestyle.
Blockages? Well duh! Should the landlord nip around every time the tenant has a big dump and cannot be bothered to flush? Regardless of how far down this has gone.

this is precisely the reason why there is a shortage of properties to rent. Landlords are leaving the market in droves.

How long have you lived there?

It does not matter how much heating the landlord has provided. It’s the tenant was not happy then he should not have taken on the tenancy. Same with windows. Not enough for you not to cope with ventilation? Do not take on the tenancy.
shelter, damp companies will tell you the same.

Irrelevant

several different methods to unblock the toilet, they don't mention the shower. I'm talking about them overflowing the shower because it was full of their hair, doesn't seem like it occurred to them to check?

blocking a shower with hair and blocking a toilet with excrement (and whatever) doesn't have anything to do with the plumbing being in working order.. if the plumber has come out and fixed both in 20 minutes, then it is pretty obvious that the plumbing is working fine, it's user error that is the problem. And like a lot of tenants, instead of using a bit of common sense, they've just pushed their self inflicted problem on to the landlord and given him a leak into a downstairs property to now deal with.

You can get a small dehumidfier for each area for approx £30 from Amazon/Ebay.
Mr Muscle sink & drain unblocker is good to have in the cupboard. Use down toilet & shower drain once a month.
An oil filled radiator in bedroom & living room will probably be more effective & less expensive than the paltry storage heater. Leave doors between rooms open for air flow
Black mould can be washed off with biological washing powder.

If it’s a case of putting stuff down the toilet that you shouldn’t then it’s caused by yourselves and for you to repair
If there’s damage to the pipes because they are old or installed incorrectly then it’s down to the landlord

OP said poo, not toilet roll.

Hair should only block the plug, surely??

Sounds like really shit plumbing that the LL needs to update.

It was fit for habitation before tenant moved in. Not fit now because tenant has allowed black mould to grow?
whose fault do you think?

Im a landlord
1 under the homes for habitation act 2018 the landlord is responsible for ensuring the property is free from hazards including mould and damp
miukd caused by structural issues (eg on the
of the building) is your landlords responsibility
you are meant to ventilate. which you are doing
if he is not addressing this contact your council environmental health department

1. heating

a store heating in insufficient and your landlord has to under the HHSRS make sure you have enough heating to keep the property warm. There in him. check thr EPC. Have you?

1. toilet. Since when did a poo block a toilet once it was down the s bend??? Sounds crazy to me!!!! Can you get the second opinion of another plumber? if the problem is with the plumbing itself your contract should say for eg no toilet paper down the loo (I have this in my contract for the macerated toilet)
2. Shower yes you should clear if hair if thst is the problem. However as he seems to be a negligent landlord I'd want to double check what the plumber says. I have a showerr that blocks and so I warn people to unblock it regularly. The tenants have reasonable expectations - it's not their fault my pipe is built at an unusually sharp angle.

finally, what kind of contract do you have? This landlord sounds super dodgy to me.

It doesn’t sound like “shit plumbing” if excrement and pubes were blocking the pipes. Do not be ridiculous.

Nonsense. See my above posts or contact a damp specialist who will tell you the same as me.

Is the “plumber” a qualified plumber or a drain clearance person? You need to know why the loo and shower blocked not just what blocked them. Has he checked the plumbing for a cause or just told you what he cleared out?

Unless the shower plumbing was already blocked when you moved in (did it drain very slowly?) or the plumbing has some issues that mean that even a few stray hairs getting through the hair trap (or there is no hair trap) are enough to cause a blockage, it is likely it is your fault for not regularly cleaning out the hair.

Poo alone really shouldn’t block a toilet. Either you or another tenant must have flushed something down the loo that caused a partial blockage (wipes, pads, food etc) or there is an issue with the system (a bend in the pipes, too narrow pipes, inadequate flush). If it’s the system, it’s the landlord’s issue.

Given that both failed at the same time, it might be the soil pipe they drain into that is blocked (which could be shared with other properties. Or the plumbing is dodgy.

If you don’t have another toilet, the landlord needs to sort it or provide an alternative within 24 hours because it is a health risk.

The landlord has to provide an adequate heating source for each room. You really need to get legal advice from Shelter or CAB or your local council if your home has serious mould issues and inadequate heating. Is everything else in order eg gas and electricity safety certificates, deposit protected, EPC, right to rent documentation etc?

TBH if the landlord isn’t bothered about legal requirements for heating, I wouldn’t be surprised if the plumbing has major issues too.

😂

I disagree, but I’ll leave you with your axe to grind.

You don’t mention a plunger, that is a pretty basic bit of kit to try for both types of blockage!

My flat was in England, in a mixed development of houses and flats - some of the houses were tiniest houses I'd ever seen. I was never inside one but they either only had one bedroom upstairs or two singles because they were so unbelievably narrow!