Can i pick your Brains?

Just been offered a house from a local housing authority in my area and the rent is half the price i am paying privatley.
We had been on the HA list for 2 years when we discovered rising damp and damp rot in the private rental we are in.
My landlord lives opposite me and doesnt do anything to the property, just wants paying every month.
Whilst he went on Holiday at Christmas i invited local enviromental health over and they ran some tests, they wanted to force my landlord through the court to fix the damp problem (would have cost him thousands and he would have evicted me, rather than fix the problem) so we keeped it quite from him.

We have found out that the previous tenent left for the same reason, and the landlord papered over the cracks and let a young family move in, Us

Enviro health agreed to wright a letter the housing association on our behalf, espacially because the damp was near electricity sockets and i have young kids.

My daughter has been sick (3 years old) with respitory ilness atributed to the damp problem and my doctor again has wrote to the HA and they are going to move us to a nice house quickly now.

our contract in the private rental will not end until August 2008. I am afraid that my landlord will go to court and try and force me to pay the remainder of the contract, can he? considering that enviro health/Doctor have deemed the property to be dangerous to my kids health, i am afriad he will cause a problem as we will aslo give him no leave. The only person whom has a get out clause on the contract is him/if he sells he can give us 4 weeks notice

Shelter also advised that my landlord has not followed the new procedure of depositing my deposit in the new scheme and therfore could be liable to pay up to 3 times the security deposit to me, unless he complies? He is not aware of the new scheme and it is not my job to tell him either.

I have advised him of nothing for fear of eviction, we have mentioned damp problems to him before, his advise, open the windows!

I am planning to use the enviro health letter and doctors letter Plus advise from shelter regarding tennants security deposit scheme as ammo against him if he threatens court action and gets angry when we tell him we are leaving with little or no leave,

where do i stand?

I'm no expert but I would have hoped that, with all your evidence, no court would force you to pay the remainder of the rent.

As for the tenancy deposit scheme, that's certainly strong on your side - he should have told you details of the scheme within 14 days. Ask him now for those details. He might start thinking you're a pain and want you out. When he can't provide them, your position gets stronger.

You said that you didn't ask environmental health to go forward with proceedings due to fear of eviction. Well, now you know that you have somewhere to go, why not get them on to the proceedings? You have nothing to fear.

Also, you say that the rent in the new place is half what you pay now. So given that you will be saving half the rent and also hopefully be awarded compensation for your deposit being unprotected, is it not worth the risk so that you can get out now and save your child's health - and all be happier?

Finally, if you do suffer any financial loss, do go to your MP about this, it is important that they feel pressure to protect renters' rights. Drop hints that you vote for him/her, even if you don't, they won't want to lose a vote!

Thanks for your advise, i think i will wait until i have the 100% go ahead for the new place, i am a bit nervous about telling him i am leaving within a week or two and that i will require my deposit back, because the first thing he will do is advise that i will owe him rent until august or he will sue me, he will then advise that he will be keeping the deposit for damage done to the house ( normal wear and tear as no damage has occured, in fact i have encured large heating bills as the conservatory doors wont close due to damp and we have had to throw away 200 pounds worth of clothes due to damp rot)

that is when i was going to say to him, OK no worries, here is a letter from enviro health stating that the house is unfit to live in, now i am going to ask them to force you to fix the damp problem through the court, here is also a letter from our family doctor saying that the problem has made my kids ill, and lastly, why have you not deposited my deposit with the new scheme or informed me about the new scheme? And that i am going to my solicitor to seek my deposit x 3,

any thoughts?

I dont think this ******* can touch me do you? Looks like he has cut his own greedy throat?

Definitely wait until you have the 100% go ahead on the new place. I think he wouldn't stand a chance in any court. I'm no expert so I would advise Citizens Advice and others have mentioned CAB. One thing I do know is the words Enviromental Health should send the ***** right up him.
Good luck let us know how you get on.

Thanks i really appreciate it, i am so happy that my housing nightmare is coming to an end and to be honest, i am so angry at the landlord and his cretinus wife whom have spent 2 years pretending to a friend to me my wife and children.

They look down at council tennants, (wife balked at a near buy ex-council house that was up for sale, saying whom would want to live in an ex-council house, all from the generation whom's greed knows no bounds)

think there old Volvo sports is a classic car. before we moved in, the house we now occupy was for sale for 1 whole year, it was on the market for £240,000. They had 2 viewings in 1 year before they decided to rent it.
An identical house across the road just went for £130,000 (1 year ago before market turmoil). Gonna be funny whatching them try to sell it now for such a ridicolous amount of money, they deal are deluding themselfs thinking it is worth 230,000. Can i make sure that they are not able to rent it again without repairing the damp rot? because he is to tight he will not do it, and instead he will try and sell it at that ridicolous price in an area with pretty high unemployment at the time when there has been many many properties come on the market all at once?

Smiffy I didn't reply earlier because I wanted to think about it and I know there will be better informed people along who will give you sound advice.
First concentrate on getting out because you will be going somewhere much better and half the price.
To me they sound like slum landlords and I don't mean you are living in a slum but when LLs don't do anything about repairs and the place is unhealthy then that is what they are.
There must be something you can do to stop this happening to future tennants and maybe that is where Environmental Health come in. As to them putting it on the market at that price well it won't get many viewings like last time, and if anyone was to offer to buy then they would need a surveyor who should pick up on the damp.
I personally think you should get your deposit back because of the conditions he has made you live under though it may take time. Take photos of the damp and you have the reports. All the best Tigs.

Smiffy, that is disgraceful what he's done - please please please get down to the Citizen's Advice Bureau and get something sorted. You need to know what your rights are, what legal action you take, and then you don't need to be worried about evictions etc. He needs to be taken to task (if not court) for knowingly concealing a problem that has caused actual physical harm to your daughter - don't let him get away with it!

Thanks Tigs

Enviro health took plenty of photo's and wanted to take court action against my landlord, they also wanted to inspect the outer walls, but for fear of a close friend of my landlord whom is like a policeman and would have seen them examining the property i had to ask them not too. Imagine, i have ayoung family, 2 girls aged under five and i was shaking with fear when enviro came just in case the nosey neigbour spotted them.

Criminal how these landlords get away with what they do.

Went looking for info. for you there and came across this:

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/forums/printthread.php?t=6987

It seems landlords do evict in order to repair the damp. But I would DEFINITELY go to the Citizen's Advice Bureau is to find out what your legal rights are, and if you can lodge the information anywhere for follow-up once you're away from that house. My initial reaction was stand up to them and don't feel intimidated! But I've no kids, so maybe easier said than done. Would hate to think that you could hand away your rights is all.

Actually, just went onto Citizen's Advice Bureau too and they back up the fact that you can get evicted - so you need to find out your individual rights. You can read bit of info. and find your local bureau here:

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/family...commodation.htm

Please don't put it off - it'll put your mind at rest!
Best of luck - keep us posted..
WBS

Good point on the MP TeddyBear. Smiffy, if you don't already know who your local MP is, or how to contact them, find out here:

http://www.theyworkforyou.com/

Hello Smiffy, your life is full of woes, lose your job now this. So sorry.

My advice is as Tigsrenting has said and I think you know is best.

Have your path planned ahead for 100% definite. The law is dog slow at acting and nothing will happen before your term is up.

As soon as you are absolutely sure you are moving, stop paying rent and demand the deposit back as the premises you are in are unfit for human habitation.

I appreciate the stigma of council housing, but once you have that very firm base under your feet, the only way is up.

Get good local advice and good luck.

May I suggest you try shelter, they have an E-mail service to talk to an advisor. I've never used it yet myself so I can't recommend it personally.
Rootin' here for you Smiffy. pm me if you need someone to have a moan at.
Good luck with it all, and take care of yourself and the littleuns.

Edit; missing word

Their helpline is 0808 800 4444 and is open 8 AM until Midnight. I recomended a friend to them and they were raving about how good they were.

Yes I used the helpline, that's where they told me about the E-Mail jobbie. The phone advisor told me that all the E-mails are viewed by an advisor and they reply quite quickly. It may be as well for Smiffy to go to see an advisor. I understand this is by appointment only. This can be a problem but as I just read poor Smiffy has lost his job, so time may be easier.
Life's a bast&rd at times, it really is/

Thanks guys,

listen i have been back in work since December 24th and have an interview with Hewlett Packard on Tuesday for a long term contract role, things are on the up and up, also the Housing association whom look like they are going to fast track me into a property have real decent homes, south Shropshire home finder, all rural villages and towns so at least the girls get the grow up amongst the hills and farms, i feel sorry for all those inner city kids, i dont feel sorry for me and you lot should not either.
Life is always a roller coaster, as for my landlord, i am gonna shaft him big time, when i get notice from the HA i will give it to the LL big time!

My only worry was that he would sue me for remanding rent and wreck my credit, he also knows somethings up because he lets him self in when he feels like it and i am sure he reads some of the letters i have lying about. My wife caught him in here last week, can you believe it?

What can i do? If i call the police and say he has trespassed he will get pissed and evict us, the only thing i have going for me is all this if he wants to enter court, i have a good solicitor and will be in touch as soon as i get my new home from housing assoc.

Well done Smiffy. I am pleased to hear about the job and future prospects.
My hairdresser has a HA flat and pays only £60 a week. You can only normally rent a box here for a minimum of £200 a week. So I reckon you are quids in plus it will be in a nice place. I don't know why anyone would bother to buy if we could all have rents like that plus you have a sense of security and know repairs will be carried out.
Your LL really is a cheeky b*stard. He has no right to enter your property without 24 hours notice. Keep a record of the dates and times you can prove he has entered without permission.
He can't sue you for the rest of the contract because from what you descibe with the damp the place is uninhabitable anyway. Do try and phone the number OPs have mentioned. Keep in touch and let us know how you are getting on. Tigs.

Good stuff Smiffy, glad there's some good news on the horizon. The landlord maybe thinking something is afoot , cheeky beggar letting himself in like that! Would give me a nasty turn if he came to my house when the old fella was out. Still hopefully you will be shot of the whole thing shortly and you can get on with living in peace. All the best, keep us posted EG.

He's not being cheeky - he's actually breaking the law by entering without giving you 24 hours' notice. Add it to your file...

And even if your landlord gives notice, you don't have to let him, no matter what your contract says. You can refuse him access under all circumstances except an emergency. The law says you are entitled to "quiet enjoyment".