Landlord sued over damp apartment.

mickmac76

I was interested to see a report this morning on the Irish times website concerning a landlord being sued after a child in the house developed bronchitis. The report is https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/circuit-court/child-who-got-acute-bronchitis-from-damp-home-awarded-20k-1.3275024

I'm wondering what other landlords make of the story. I know my own apartment can be damp during the winter but I'd think an awful lot of Irish properties are effected the same way. How can you tell if the property is OK to live in or if serious renovations are needed. Would the landlord have to pay the compensation themselves or would your insurance cover it. To me this looks like another reason to avoid the landlord business if you can.

mickmac76

mickmac76 wrote: »

How can you tell if the property is OK to live in

If it’s damp, something should be done.
How could anyone sleep at night knowing their tenants were paying to live in a damp property

Spanish Eyes

Just to mention, and I am not for a minute saying this is what happened here, but if there is no vented tumble dryer, (and often even when there is), many tenants dry damp clothes on racks all over the place, and leave windows closed while out at work or whatever. Recipe for damp and mould.

Sleeper12

A good landlord will ask themselves, would I be happy for my own daughter / son to live here. If the answer is genuinely yes then most likely the property is fine. If the honest answer is no, then you need to spend some money to make it right

Eric Cartman

I'd be interested to know the cause though. Ive seen tenants block up vents, close all windows and never heat houses and then complain when a room gets some mould. Or leaving clothes horses full of wet towels in the utility room / kitchen all the time.

Askthe EA

Eric Cartman wrote: »

I'd be interested to know the cause though. Ive seen tenants block up vents, close all windows and never heat houses and then complain when a room gets some mould. Or leaving clothes horses full of wet towels in the utility room / kitchen all the time.

Yup. Had a similar one. House rented for years, no complaints and no mould. New tenants move in, mould within a month. I would think, from my experience, tenant actions cause mould in the vast majority of cases. Drying on rads is the biggest cause "dryer too expensive", especially when vents are closed "too draughty" and lack of heating "too expensive".

Generally, mould caused by a failure in the fabric of the house are easily identified and fixed.

Mind you, a dehumidifier might have helped in this case...