loona
04-03-2010, 19:15 PM
Please excuse a long email but I have never had to deal with rented property or landlords before now I need advice and thoughts on the present situation as I am nervous about dealing with the landlord.
On the advice of my daughters health visitor we need the landlord to take steps to remove & cure mould that is spreading throughout the kitchen in her flat. I have niggles that he may not be very happy to fix things. He does not seem to take women seriously yet if my son says repeats what I have said he says how intelligent my son is. It infuriates my son who is just 20 & at Uni. I feel intimidated by the landlord because of the his choice of words when he has told me about how he has had to deal with some previous tenants. He has also sent an SMS message to my daughter before 4 am in the morning to be at the flat, which was before she moved in, for her to be there at 9 am that particular morning to let a carpenter in to fix a window. Of course she did not pick the message up in time to be there.
The mould is noted on an inventory and I have photos taken at the time the inventory & was done by myself & my son, the landlord and I have a copy signed and dated by myself and him. We made the inventory ourselves because I thought that it was important as landlord had many problems with previous tenants. He had told us it was not necessary as he trusted us as we are local & I own my house. The inventory went further than just listing items but gave a clear indication of the state of everything in detail as there were things I did not want in dispute later.
The mould was getting worse before my daughter actually moved in and is progressing at a rate that worries me. The damp in the kitchen is very bad and the tiles in the window recess fell down on her first full night in the flat which seems to me to be caused by the damp getting behind the tiles. The windows get saturated & drip onto the sill & on to the floor in front. She cannot keep sugar or anything else in packets any where in the kitchen because they get ruined by damp. One of the cupboards was showing mould on the day she moved in.
I am concerned that the open cold water tank in the kitchen cupboard (large cupboard like an airing cupboard) is getting contaminated by mould spores as that cupboard is where the mould was initially discovered & the cupboard drips with water, the tank is on an inside wall. The door to that cupboard does not close properly as the facing board is coming away from the main part of the door which is also noted on the inventory & photographed. The landlord knows of the photos but has not seen them. My daughter has a toddler & the health visitor & I are concerned about the health aspect.
We were not aware that there was a mould problem until after the tenancy agreement was signed but on first sight of it I thought that I and my daughter could deal with a small area that appeared to be confined to the cupboard but this is now not feasible. There were various problems with gas & electric & other things because of the previous tenants.
We did not realise that there was no electric socket in the small bedroom until my daughter moved in. The landlord said we could see to this ourselves but I would prefer that this was dealt with by the landlord. He said that there was no socket because it was intended as a nursery but she could not do this as my granddaughter is inquisitive at 2 ½ & we would worry that she might have an accident with the mirror doors on the wardrobes. The bedroom is very draughty anyway because the backs to the wardrobes are not the original & there are gaps there which face on to a window behind them which is causing the draught as it is in poor condition.
The gas certificate is another problem. Although he said he had one it was necessary, when pressed, for him to get an inspection done & I was present for that. The certificate duly arrived stamped with the agents stamp as the landlord but as I understand from the conversation I overheard that between the gas person & the landlord that our “landlord” was only managing the property. The agent is supposedly not acting for the landlord. I thought that our agreement was with him as the landlord. I say “our agreement” as I am a guarantor. The certificate has no Gas Safe registration number & no date and I cannot trace the gas man on the Gas Safe site. I know the gas fire is condemned but that the boiler behind which operates the central heating is supposed to be ok. The button for the pilot light does not work well though. I understand that the property is rented from the council as part of the property from which his business is carried on in the premises below the flat.
A couple of minor problems are the sink which leaks water a bit when it is emptied & the hob has only two rings out of four which work. We had thought that there were no drawers in the kitchen units but have discovered one which is broken & screwed at the front so is not useable.
Another major problem is that there is no mention of where the £500 bond that was given in cash is held. This came out of my savings & I am only on a pension. Until my daughter & I found this flat she and my granddaughter were sleeping & living in my 11 x 14 living room for the last year as she needed to return to England & there is a long waiting list for social housing. The situation was getting impossible and it is a good thing we get on well. The rent is 455 pounds per calendar month and we were charged 350 for the time from the date of signing on 13 January to end of January. The property was advertised as furnished but we were asked if we wanted the furniture & we said yes so he said he would take an extra 5 pounds a week for the furniture bringing up to the above amount per month. Every thing was agreed in just over an hour as he said he was very busy and had other property to deal with. My daughter was not able to move in until the 12 February.
Although the flat is singled glazed & mostly with plastic which is very scratched in most parts instead of glass, it is nicely carpeted, decorated & part furnished with adequate furniture. A reasonable first home for my daughter if the problems could be sorted.
I am bothered by the fact that there is a second lock on the front door which the landlord says he has the key for. He says he has it because he needed to lock out previous tenants who were a problem when he threw them & their belongs out. He said they left the place a mess & he had to completely renovate. He says it saves breaking down the door as the door there is already a replacement because of the last tenant he had to throw out. He says that the rent must not be even a day late as he has a mortgage to pay, that is ok as the standing order is dated so that it allows a few days for processing.
There is a lot of post delivered for at least 5 different previous tenants which range from utilities demands to debt collectors for other things & some to the “occupier“, some threatening court action. I find it strange that there have been so many tenants over less than half a year.
On the advice of my daughters health visitor we need the landlord to take steps to remove & cure mould that is spreading throughout the kitchen in her flat. I have niggles that he may not be very happy to fix things. He does not seem to take women seriously yet if my son says repeats what I have said he says how intelligent my son is. It infuriates my son who is just 20 & at Uni. I feel intimidated by the landlord because of the his choice of words when he has told me about how he has had to deal with some previous tenants. He has also sent an SMS message to my daughter before 4 am in the morning to be at the flat, which was before she moved in, for her to be there at 9 am that particular morning to let a carpenter in to fix a window. Of course she did not pick the message up in time to be there.
The mould is noted on an inventory and I have photos taken at the time the inventory & was done by myself & my son, the landlord and I have a copy signed and dated by myself and him. We made the inventory ourselves because I thought that it was important as landlord had many problems with previous tenants. He had told us it was not necessary as he trusted us as we are local & I own my house. The inventory went further than just listing items but gave a clear indication of the state of everything in detail as there were things I did not want in dispute later.
The mould was getting worse before my daughter actually moved in and is progressing at a rate that worries me. The damp in the kitchen is very bad and the tiles in the window recess fell down on her first full night in the flat which seems to me to be caused by the damp getting behind the tiles. The windows get saturated & drip onto the sill & on to the floor in front. She cannot keep sugar or anything else in packets any where in the kitchen because they get ruined by damp. One of the cupboards was showing mould on the day she moved in.
I am concerned that the open cold water tank in the kitchen cupboard (large cupboard like an airing cupboard) is getting contaminated by mould spores as that cupboard is where the mould was initially discovered & the cupboard drips with water, the tank is on an inside wall. The door to that cupboard does not close properly as the facing board is coming away from the main part of the door which is also noted on the inventory & photographed. The landlord knows of the photos but has not seen them. My daughter has a toddler & the health visitor & I are concerned about the health aspect.
We were not aware that there was a mould problem until after the tenancy agreement was signed but on first sight of it I thought that I and my daughter could deal with a small area that appeared to be confined to the cupboard but this is now not feasible. There were various problems with gas & electric & other things because of the previous tenants.
We did not realise that there was no electric socket in the small bedroom until my daughter moved in. The landlord said we could see to this ourselves but I would prefer that this was dealt with by the landlord. He said that there was no socket because it was intended as a nursery but she could not do this as my granddaughter is inquisitive at 2 ½ & we would worry that she might have an accident with the mirror doors on the wardrobes. The bedroom is very draughty anyway because the backs to the wardrobes are not the original & there are gaps there which face on to a window behind them which is causing the draught as it is in poor condition.
The gas certificate is another problem. Although he said he had one it was necessary, when pressed, for him to get an inspection done & I was present for that. The certificate duly arrived stamped with the agents stamp as the landlord but as I understand from the conversation I overheard that between the gas person & the landlord that our “landlord” was only managing the property. The agent is supposedly not acting for the landlord. I thought that our agreement was with him as the landlord. I say “our agreement” as I am a guarantor. The certificate has no Gas Safe registration number & no date and I cannot trace the gas man on the Gas Safe site. I know the gas fire is condemned but that the boiler behind which operates the central heating is supposed to be ok. The button for the pilot light does not work well though. I understand that the property is rented from the council as part of the property from which his business is carried on in the premises below the flat.
A couple of minor problems are the sink which leaks water a bit when it is emptied & the hob has only two rings out of four which work. We had thought that there were no drawers in the kitchen units but have discovered one which is broken & screwed at the front so is not useable.
Another major problem is that there is no mention of where the £500 bond that was given in cash is held. This came out of my savings & I am only on a pension. Until my daughter & I found this flat she and my granddaughter were sleeping & living in my 11 x 14 living room for the last year as she needed to return to England & there is a long waiting list for social housing. The situation was getting impossible and it is a good thing we get on well. The rent is 455 pounds per calendar month and we were charged 350 for the time from the date of signing on 13 January to end of January. The property was advertised as furnished but we were asked if we wanted the furniture & we said yes so he said he would take an extra 5 pounds a week for the furniture bringing up to the above amount per month. Every thing was agreed in just over an hour as he said he was very busy and had other property to deal with. My daughter was not able to move in until the 12 February.
Although the flat is singled glazed & mostly with plastic which is very scratched in most parts instead of glass, it is nicely carpeted, decorated & part furnished with adequate furniture. A reasonable first home for my daughter if the problems could be sorted.
I am bothered by the fact that there is a second lock on the front door which the landlord says he has the key for. He says he has it because he needed to lock out previous tenants who were a problem when he threw them & their belongs out. He said they left the place a mess & he had to completely renovate. He says it saves breaking down the door as the door there is already a replacement because of the last tenant he had to throw out. He says that the rent must not be even a day late as he has a mortgage to pay, that is ok as the standing order is dated so that it allows a few days for processing.
There is a lot of post delivered for at least 5 different previous tenants which range from utilities demands to debt collectors for other things & some to the “occupier“, some threatening court action. I find it strange that there have been so many tenants over less than half a year.