Landlord Complications.

[spider1 11]

Keep your eye on forum property to let 

Edited March 22, 2021 by spider1
update

[spider1 11]

On 22/03/2021 at 09:44, geared said:

Have you tried to investigate the source of the problem yourself?

 

Is it in one spot or house wide?

Do you notice a spread or increase in the mould after it rains?

Is there any obvious damage to the gutters or drain pipes?

Have you got in the loft an inspected for signs of damp or water ingress?

Does the house have air bricks, are they blocked off?

Most people in rented accomodation dont think its there job to even change a light bulb . A decent lodger would and in  return gets looked after by the landlord who hates it when they leave.   A good lodger normally becomes a friend of the landlord and gets a good reference if needed

[Jeffrey Shaw 90]

On 21/03/2021 at 20:16, spider1 said:

After 12 months you are on a rolling monthly contract . 

 

 

Not necessarily. You mean a Statutory Periodic Tenancy; that begins once the fixed term ends, which might be after twelve months- but it depends entirely on what the Letting Agreement states.

[burghley 10]

On 22/03/2021 at 09:44, geared said:

Have you tried to investigate the source of the problem yourself?

 

Is it in one spot or house wide?

Do you notice a spread or increase in the mould after it rains?

Is there any obvious damage to the gutters or drain pipes?

Have you got in the loft an inspected for signs of damp or water ingress?

Does the house have air bricks, are they blocked off?

We have and we couldn't find anything that looked suspicious/off.
 

It's in only one bedroom (ours); but mainly front facing wall. We had our very kind neighbour check the gutters when we first experienced problems to see if they'd been clogged or damaged, alas nothing was found. 
Definitely noticed when we had a large bout of rain in January it got a bit worse in terms of spread.
We can't get access into the loft - It's tightly shut that even my Dad couldn't get it open pre-COVID. I did suggest if LL could look up there, he's never done so or made any attempt. Will ask again, whenever he turns back up. (Was meant to return last Saturday, never did, still no communication from him!)
Checked air bricks, no blockages with those either.

Very odd and definitely putting us at a loss at what to do.
 

Thankfully, one of the estate agents came back to us to say the application on a property fell through and if we'd like to view tomorrow - Something positive for once in this!

[spider1 11]

On 23/03/2021 at 19:49, burghley said:

We have and we couldn't find anything that looked suspicious/off.
 

It's in only one bedroom (ours); but mainly front facing wall. We had our very kind neighbour check the gutters when we first experienced problems to see if they'd been clogged or damaged, alas nothing was found. 
Definitely noticed when we had a large bout of rain in January it got a bit worse in terms of spread.
We can't get access into the loft - It's tightly shut that even my Dad couldn't get it open pre-COVID. I did suggest if LL could look up there, he's never done so or made any attempt. Will ask again, whenever he turns back up. (Was meant to return last Saturday, never did, still no communication from him!)
Checked air bricks, no blockages with those either.

Very odd and definitely putting us at a loss at what to do.
 

Thankfully, one of the estate agents came back to us to say the application on a property fell through and if we'd like to view tomorrow - Something positive for once in this!

What kind ot house is it  semi .      detatched.  or  terraced  how old is it . ///   May be 9inch bwk  if old type  and has it had cavitys  filled  a common fault if its facing an open area were its raining on it a major problem in areas like penistone     stannington 

My 2 sons let houses and never use an agent advertise on right move or gumtree sheff forum etc   /But if you want to use estate agents thats up to you 

Edited March 25, 2021 by spider1

[geared 303]

On 23/03/2021 at 19:49, burghley said:

We have and we couldn't find anything that looked suspicious/off.
 

It's in only one bedroom (ours); but mainly front facing wall. We had our very kind neighbour check the gutters when we first experienced problems to see if they'd been clogged or damaged, alas nothing was found. 
Definitely noticed when we had a large bout of rain in January it got a bit worse in terms of spread.
We can't get access into the loft - It's tightly shut that even my Dad couldn't get it open pre-COVID. I did suggest if LL could look up there, he's never done so or made any attempt. Will ask again, whenever he turns back up. (Was meant to return last Saturday, never did, still no communication from him!)
Checked air bricks, no blockages with those either.

Very odd and definitely putting us at a loss at what to do.
 

Thankfully, one of the estate agents came back to us to say the application on a property fell through and if we'd like to view tomorrow - Something positive for once in this!

 

Would make a more concerted effort to get in the loft and have a good poke around.  As mentioned above it could be an issue with damp cavity wall.

 

Do the windows in the rooms affected have trickle vents or anything in them?

[Amyvictoria 10]

Where on the wall is the mould? I had lots of condensation on my windows and mould starting to grow on the walls around the windows. The windows, although double glazed, were old and the seals had broken down. A new window has solved the problem. As to what to do about your landlord, nothing you can do will change him into someone who is more responsive to your complaints. It does seem that you will have to accept him as he is or move out unfortunately. 

[mafya 243]

Contact Sheffield city council private  housing standards team , 

[burghley 10]

On 30/03/2021 at 05:05, mafya said:

Contact Sheffield city council private  housing standards team , 

Did report it back in January, as I suspected they didn't want to know anything about it and all they could offer to do was send a letter to the Landlord to get the mould fixed. 🤷‍♀️

On 29/03/2021 at 20:18, Amyvictoria said:

Where on the wall is the mould? I had lots of condensation on my windows and mould starting to grow on the walls around the windows. The windows, although double glazed, were old and the seals had broken down. A new window has solved the problem. As to what to do about your landlord, nothing you can do will change him into someone who is more responsive to your complaints. It does seem that you will have to accept him as he is or move out unfortunately. 

It's across the ceiling and around the walls in our main bedroom, by the windows. One of the windows was condensed up; we reported this back in 2019 also..

We will be taking him to court, as he turned up AGAIN unexpectedly last week, after we wrote to him in an email requesting 24 hours notice and copying in the section of the tenancy agreement that also states this. It's going in our favour as we're keeping record of everything and I've printed out all the emails/screenshots that were sent since the day we moved in.

We've tried to look at other properties, we managed to get a couple of viewings however the estate agents are now not communicating back with us to get an application going which is our next frustration!

[Hippogriff 10]

A Landlord who has failed in basic administration tasks like a) Gas Safety Certificate, b) Deposit protection and, now, c) EICR deserves everything coming to them (my view as a Landlord myself) because there is no excuse.

 

In reality, though, suggest you forget the GSC tardiness and the expected lack of a EICR. Apart from your own personal safety (sic) there is nothing in it for you. The Deposit is another matter.

 

A small windfall should be coming your way if you wish to progress... the Landlord appears (from what you've told us) to be liable for a penalty of between 1x and 3x the value of the Deposit x the number of tenancies you've had... don't just assume it's one tenancy if you've re-signed annually.

 

You would need to go to Court to make this happen without agreement. But it is a black-and-white, open-and-shut case - if the Landlord didn't protect the Deposit then the Court must award a penalty. The good news is that this goes to you (probably because of the pain and suffering you experienced). Note I said without agreement - the best way would be to inform your Landlord of your intentions (at the right time) and get them to settle... knowing they will lose if they go to Court. Then note I said at the right time - most people would generally wait until they've left a property - you have 6 years to initiate your case - but you may prefer to let the tail start wagging this particular dog right now (ignore the previous comment about who is in charge)? It does not matter one jot if the Landlord has returned your Deposit, it was still not protected (correctly, in time or at all)... that remains true, forever.

 

For mould, condensation etc. it is actually often the case that these issues (unless proven to be a building issue - in that there is adequate heating, ventilation and insulations) are down to "Tenant lifestyle". As with other items... if your intention is to move then who cares? Your big win is the Deposit.

[Jeffrey Shaw 90]

On 05/04/2021 at 14:55, burghley said:

We will be taking him to court, as he turned up AGAIN unexpectedly last week, after we wrote to him in an email requesting 24 hours notice and copying in the section of the tenancy agreement that also states this. It's going in our favour as we're keeping record of everything and I've printed out all the emails/screenshots that were sent since the day we moved in.

This might also constitute harassment, a criminal offence. Maybe try SY Police?

[spider1 11]

1 hour ago, Jeffrey Shaw said:

This might also constitute harassment, a criminal offence. Maybe try SY Police?

South yorkshire police  have there hands full with proper criminal activity no mind some one who has fell  out with there landlord they should sort it out between 

them selves and move on