DD is a student living in private rental (HMO status). She has had damp on her ceiling which has been getting worse. She has reported several times (her room is in the attic so may be a leak in the roof) and someone has been round to look at it but nothing has happened. Yesterday evening half the ceiling came down. Luckily she was out but if she had been sitting at her desk she could have been badly injured. Some of her belongings have been damaged. There is someone there now looking at it but it is currently unclear how long it will take for the room to be habitable again. She is also concerned they will do a patch up job and not fix the underlying problem so it could happen again and also that the carpet etc will remain damp which is not great from a health perspective.
It would be helpful if someone could point me in the right direction in working out what her rights are - is it just her tenancy agreement or is there also legislation i should look at. Trying to work out:
- whether she can recover for damage to property (or hold back rent)
- whether the landlord is obliged to find and pay for somewhere else for her to stay until the room is habitable
- can she go and find somewhere else to stay herself and charge it to the landlord
- if she just sleeps in the living room or shares with one of her flatmates (which is only really feasible if the repairs are going to be completed within a few days), can she still withhold rent for the period of time in which her own room is not habitable.
- Anything else to think about?
She is being proactive in trying to sort it but is clearly upset so thought i would try to help (plus i am guarantor).