Is landlord being unreasonable?

[HannahBerry]

My DH and I moved into a one bed flat in July, where the bedroom has an small extension. We noticed a cold dampness in the bedroom at the time, but naively didn't think anything of it. Then during a particularly bad storm, the ceiling leaked rain water, of which we informed the landlord. Since then, mould has grown on several of my shoes. But when we told the landlord and he says it is condensation and is down to us!

Also, I am recently pregnant (4 weeks) and DH is asthmatic, both of which we have told the landlord. I am so worried being exposed to mould spores. There is green stuff all around the external walls of the building and the extension has cracks all over it (some of which are sealed). There is also evidence of mould that has been painted over inside the bedroom.

Is the landlord in breach of contract? I would love to cut our losses and move out, but the contract does not expire until May 2012 (when I'm due!!)

Does anyone have experience of this? Please help! Thank you x x

Is the let through an agency or arranged privately? For what its worth lots of the flats i have rented suffered really badly with condensation and mould, so although i'm not saying the leaky roof helps. Two things need sorting:

has the roof been looked at?

could you and the landlord go 1/2 on a dehumidifier? about £120 and they are fab

hope you get it sorted, if not CAB should be able to advise you if you can't resolve the issue.

If your renting the property its the landlords problem that has to be fixed. I would certaintly phone citizens advice bereau as it could damage all of your health. The landlords not being reasonable at all.

If your renting the property its the landlords problem that has to be fixed. I would certaintly phone citizens advice bereau as it could damage all of your health. The landlords not being reasonable at all.

Just checked with my DH who works as a letting agent, he says go to citizens advice or your local council - it is def the landlords responsiblity.

Thank you so much for your replies. I had to get back out of bed (from failing to fall sleep) as this is very much on my mind. DH will call council tomorrow. It is the managing agent by the way not the landlord, and we have experienced so many issues upon moving in here that it is obvious they try to save money where ever possible. Thank you x x

When I was pregnant with DS we were also in a one bed flat and the bedroom was absolutely riddled with damp with black mould growing on the external wall. I was so scared I would harm my pregnancy or DS when he was eventually born, I was also worried about DH (he's an asthmatic too).

The landlord dragged their feet over resovling the issue and claimed it was condensation, they sent an "expert" out to survey it and he told us to keep the window open at all times to fix it - bearing in mind that it was a ground floor flat, we both worked full time so were out 7am-7pm, and it was the middle of bloody winter. We kept pushing and another "expert" visited who said the problem was caused by the cold and we should keep the radiator on in the room at all times. A third "expert" said the open window was rubbish and the radiator on at all times was rubbish, what we needed to do was leave the door open at all times and not have any furniture against the offending wall ever again in order to let it breathe.

Eventually we went to the council. They sent someone out from Environmental Health. They checked it over, said it was a problem with the cavity wall, had the potential to affect our health (including mental health due to all the stress), and was the landlord's responsibility. They wrote a letter to the landlord telling them what needed doing and when it had to be done by. A month later it was fixed.

Definitely go to the council if you're getting no joy from your landlord, you pay your rent and you're entitled to a home not riddled with damp. Did you take photographs of the shoes? You should be able to claim for them off your landlord's insurance if they were damaged as a direct result of them failing to carry out the work.