Comments on: How to Report A Landlord That Doesn’t Comply With Health And Safety

By: Shrinath

Shrinath — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:38:22 +0000

I have been complaining about bad heating system and wall dampness to the landlord agency; but have not got any support from them. How should I get these issues resolved. Staying in this house has become a nightmare and make me rethink on my decision to move to London, UK. Please suggest.

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:29:03 +0000

Hello Deborah,

You do not mention the building has any deficiencies which could encourage damp. A lot of sources of the conditions which allow mould to appear are related to lifestyle, so if the building has no obvious defects then you could waste a lot of time / money for an inconclusive answer, if you want to the Small Claims process of the High Court.

Sorry, this is not what you wanted to hear, I expect.

By: Kareem Shermer

Kareem Shermer — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:25:12 +0000

Ladies who want to have a child but can’t are some of the unhappiest people inside the globe. You want this 1 thing so bad, but no matter how hard you try, it is not happening. What’s worse is that in this day and age, a lot of females have waited until later to have young children, and added to the frustration and heartbreak would be the panic and fear which you could have waited too long, that the window could possibly have closed.

By: Deborah

Deborah — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 09:10:46 +0000

I currently live in a property that has got mould on every external wall. The mould is very bad and spread over vast areas, my health has been compromised by it and the land lord has done nothing about it just said open the windows and have the dehumidifier on, but neither have worked. It has ruined a lot of my stuff like DVD cabinets, wardrobe and chest of drawers. I’m moving out in just under a week as I can’t take it anymore, but I think she is going to not give me my deposit back. Can I charge her for the loss of items that the mould has damaged as I have got photo evidence of the damage the mould has done?? Also do I have a case to maybe take her to a small claims court? Hope you can help. Thanks debs.

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 23:46:20 +0000

Hello Pingman,

My suggested course of action is:
- Sue for your pain, suffering and current and future loss of income (as you’re doing);
- Look for somewhere new to live.

By: Pingman

Pingman — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 14:21:29 +0000

Been a tenant in a bristol house for nearly 2 yrs. In sept I fell down the stairs as there were NO BANNISTERS,HANDRAILS.I suffered a badly broken leg pinned and plated nearly died of lung blood clots as a result of the operation, been unable to walk or work since september and now in the process of being evicted for non payment of rent.I am currently sueing for damages but this will take a yr or more.

Anybody with any ideas as a good course of action. Wrote to my MP he was USELESS Surprise Surprise,Council same although the risk assessor did describe stairs as a death trap After The accident.

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 09:46:25 +0000

Hi Mahira,

I don’t know Austrialian law, so I’ll give you an English perspective answer and leave you to decide if it will work down-under.

If I were in your shoes and I were absolutely certain that my lifestyle (polite word for food storage and general cleanliness!) was doing nothing at all to attract the rats in then I’d call in the Pest Control people. Not to kill the rats. But to do a report of how they are getting in and that nothing you’re doing is attracting them in.

Armed with this, I’d go the the agent and offer the landlord one last, time-bound, opportunity to sort out the problem. If he does not then quit the house, irrespective of how long is left on the agreement. In England there’s an implied term the law assumes about every tenancy agreement that the property is fit for ocupation and if it was not advertised as “Rat Infested” then you can make the contract voidable via Frustration.

Lets assume nothing happens: If your landlord is a nasty piece of work and not just a bone idle idiot then he might try to take “revenge” for you quitting his kingly palace early by whitholding the deposit. So just take care to do all the rat communication in writing and get lots of photos when you leave. If Australia has an equivelent of our despsit holding dispute services, then they will treat you fine.

Let us know how things go, please.

By: Mahira Ahmed

Mahira Ahmed — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 05:32:34 +0000

Hi. We are living in a fairy old house for 2yrs+ which has cracks all over, has missing door knobs ( which eventually we fixed ourselves as the landlord didn’t pay any attention) have other major problems but the one i really want to address is the rats in our house. it very unhygenic having to share your house with rats, we have no food that would be an easy acess and encourage them to come back and they still do. we left traps, blocked all possible holes we could find that may be a way for the rats but they still manage. in the last inspection, we mentioned it to the agent and she said it was our responsibility as well and to get rid of them the cost needs to be shared. this house is in a pretty bad condition, such that we had leaks in the roof right under our bed, in the door way, a few places in the lounge. and after alot of pushing they had a guy over to fix it, he did say it was a temporary fix and would suggest to the landlord what can be done to make it good permanently, he never came back. Now the real issue, with the rats.. it wasn’t that bad last year, but has gotten worse this year, is it really also our responsibility to pay for the rat exterminator? i dont see any reason we should, the house being in a bad condition cos even getting the exterminators would be a temporary resolution. anyway. Please let me know what i can do and how we can handle this?

By: Mahira Ahmed

Mahira Ahmed — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 05:25:37 +0000

btw.. we live in Melbourne Victoria.

By: Mahira Ahmed

Mahira Ahmed — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 05:24:41 +0000

Hi. We are living in a fairy old house which has cracks all over, has missing door knobs ( which eventually we fixed ourselves as the landlord didn’t pay any attention) have other major problems but the one i really want to address is the rats in our house. it very unhygenic haveing to share your house with rats, we have no food that would be an easy acess and envourgae them to come back and they still do. we left traps, blocked all possible holes we could find and may be a way for the rats but they still manage. in the last inspection, we mentioned it to the agent and she said it was our responsibility as well and to get rid of them the cost needs to be shared. this house is in a pretty bad condition, such that we had leaks in the roof right under our bed, in the door way, a few places in the lounge. and after alot of pushing they had a guy over to fix it, he did say it was a temporary fix and would suggest to the landlord what can be done to make it good permanently, he never came back. Now the recent issue, with the rats.. is it really also our responsibility to pay for the rat exterminator? i dont see any reason we should, the house being in a bad condition cos even getting the exterminators would be a temporary resolution. anyway. Please let me know what i can do and how we can handle this?