To find this unfair? Letter from landord

[Strawberrylacesx03]

Hello,

It has not been a great thing to have on a Friday and I feel disheartened by it.

Our landlords have sent a letter basically complaining about the house we are renting.

There list of issues are as follows:

• Mold in bedrooms, claiming they did not have mold before. We have struggled with mold the whole time we have lived here. We were told by an electrician who updated the extractor fan in the bathroom and the plumber that it was because the bathroom is in the middle of the house with no window. I have never completely been able to erase the bathroom mold and we do get it in the corner of the bedrooms. The landlord has disputed this and said they 'know' it is because we do not open the windows (this is not true, they are always open).
• Scuffs on the paintwork on the stair banister - I acknowledge this happened when we first moved in as furniture was being transferred in and out of the property.
• Stains on the front room carpet - this is due to a pipe bursting around a year ago that they are fully aware of. The room was soaked and I did what I could, it has left behind some ugly black marks in areas.
• They instilled a wooden sink cabinet - this has splintered at the top. I am unsure what I can do about this? I am not sure how you would prevent water going over it, the bathroom is tiny it is directly attached to the bath/shower. The plumber also advised them that everything in the bathroom was old and needed renovating as did the sink in the kitchen but they refused and said they did not have that kind of money.
• The wrap they used in the kitchen on the cupboards and drawers was very cheap and ill done - it began peeling away within a year of us being here. They have complained that I have tried to cover it up with new wrap (it looked horrible).

I just feel like a lot of this stuff I do not want to take blame for as I feel it could bite me further down the line if I take on the acceptance?

It has just left me feeling a little out of sorts, I have two young children and am now thinking we are going to potentially have problems with the landlord.

We have not been problem tenants in any way either, rent always on time, quiet and respectful to the neighbours etc. these complaints have come rather out of nowhere.

Me. They’re opened every day, I can’t not air the house through daily, no problems with mood or condensation either.

You clearly need advice from an expert. Because your heating is high it means the difference between your internal temperature and the external temperature is much higher than most peoples that is leading to your mould and condensation call your council. They usually have a department and useful videos or just google it on YouTube.

Is there any evidence of this anywhere? Or a link ? Genuine Q @Hoppinggreen

Backed up previous poster, it takes months and months and that is when it’s very straightforward. Any tiny technical issue add another six months or more.

I work in this area .
Eviction is a long and difficult process and costs Landlords a lot of money

We met this morning and had a conversation, the carpet is going to be left for now as it's a very light older carpet, there is no point either of us spending money at this time on it.

They are going to replace the sink/unit as discovered it had not been treated with something it was meant to be hence the split wood so quickly.

I am repainting the banisters as I do agree it is not the most nice looking and I actually want to do this so I am not fussed about giving it a lick of paint.

They have asked if I will replace the drawer wrappings (at a point in the future) which i am not too sure about as I don't know how much this would cost and they were poorly done in the first place but we will see.

The mold situation is up in the air - I have got another dehumidifier for the other bedroom and will continue with what I already do, including the squeegee idea that a PP mentioned.

So, overall, not an awful outcome, mainly the kitchen wrappings I am unsure on.

What is the condition of the door wrappings vs when you moved in?
If they have got a lot worse the Landlord may be able to argue to take it out of your deposit. I am not saying he will succeed though

So, out of interest do we think it is indicative they are going to be selling up? They own three properties, have told me in their most recent email that they are struggling with the mortgage - not sure if this is designed to worry me into paying to update and replace all the things they are throwing at me or just them being (perhaps overly) honest

I think you can reasonably conclude they’re either going to up your rent, or sell the property. Strikes me as an odd comment for the landlord to make, providing you are paying your rent in full and on time.

How long is your lease OP?

So they did put the rent up by another 100 a month which tbh I was expecting.

However, it's the comment about struggling with the mortgage on top of some of the things they have asked us to pay for and modernize out of our own pockets - for example in the same recent email they have asked if we are happy to go halves with them on updating the kitchen cupboards and drawers (this is based on the two kitchen wraps that were peeling off so seems a bit disproportionate) this isn't something that affects use, it is just something that might not be the most sightly.

Also, with the urgency to paint over any paint chips. It is all just making me a bit hmm

We are on a rolling contract now, have been since last summer

As the tenant, your liabilities are limited to maintaining the property in good order (as you would any home). If the kitchen damage is caused by mistreatment, then I can understand why the landlord would look to charge you for it.

If it’s just general wear of low quality cabinets then that’s for them to resolve.

If they can’t afford the mortgage, and they’re looking to end the tenancy and sell then they need to cover the repair of the property to improve the general condition ahead of sale, or accept a lower price.

You rent, the perk of that is not having to replace kitchens and bathrooms at your own expense (subject to them not being actually damaged of course).

The piece I think is hard to follow is this thread started with LL looking in on an (unplanned?) visit / electricians opinion, and stating you’d caused damage to the property. Bathroom cabinet, bannister & kitchen. You acknowledge the bannister was you, but the rest you feel is poor quality finishes aging with normal use.
Why is the LL trying to go halves on these repairs? This really makes no sense at all, especially if they think you caused the damage. If you didn’t, as you’ve maintained, they need to bring their own property up to standard.

And the affordability of their mortgage is their own problem to manage.

You might do well to speak to citizens advice just to understand your rights here.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/347649538392335
Mums versus mould encourages it @JustMyView13

You do really need to speak to Shelter. Landlords can't just blame mould on lifestyle anymore. It sounds like that are structural issues that are aggravating the issue.

Have any structural issues been mentioned?

They haven't, no - most things are from a 'looks' perspective I guess (some of the wrapping in the kitchen peeling off, the water marks on the carpet from the burst pipe, the warped cupboard in the bathroom and the paint chips on the banister)

I only ask because structural issues are the landlords responsibility so the carpet and the cupboard are their responsibility.
If you plan on staying, couldn’t you remove the wrap and sand it down and paint the kitchen? It should’ve lasted for years, but if it was cheaply done, it wouldn’t.

If you remove the wrap then the landlord might be able to charge you for having it redone as that is not wear and tear - whereas peeling wrap could be wear and tear.

That’s true, yeah check with the landlord