Substandard accommodation

mycroft

Myself and my girlfriend have been living in an apartment for 1 1/2 years. It's a two bedroom in ranelagh for €900 a month. We moved in the Summer before last. While moving in the landlord mentioned that the bedroom could use some further ventilation, like a vent.

Anyway, Last winter my girlfriend became quite ill and miss several weeks work and was badly run down for months. The room had a musty smell.

Anyway, this august we started taking our winter clothes out of the closest and discovered they were riddled with mould. I mean it was nasty leather clothes was just riddled with a layer of green mold. We approached the landlord and he promised to add a vent which he did after three months. However there was still bad air circulation, my girlfriend and I scrubbed closest with vingear and soda and scrubbed the walls to fight the now obvious serious mold problem.

It's two exterior walls on our bedroom and the upstairs flat's kitchen is over our bedroom, what we now suspect at some point in the last few years the kitchen flooded and the damp course in the wall became riddled with mold. I demanded the landlord do something about it and he promised to paint the wall with an anti fungal paint.

In the mean time the upstairs neighbours move out, instead of moving on our gaff the landlord redecorated the upstairs flat first (even managed to get men in on the 2nd (a bank holiday and a sunday) early. Meanwhile we need to wait another 8 days before painting happens in our room.

A few days ago, my girlfriend became sick, very sick with pneumonia. I'm now utterly convinced that my girlfriends ill health is caused by the damp. She sleeps closer to the corner with the damp issue. I now also believe the bed is riddled with damp as is the carpet (one sleepless night with a woman running a temp of 103, all I could smell the reek of mould from the bed). I'm furious I demanded the landlord contact me by the end of today day with a plan of action to remedy the situation. He hasn't. I can't let her sleep in the bedroom, she won't get well in that room and i've got her camped out on the sofa bed.

What are my recourses? As of monday I'm cancelling the standing order on our rent. What courses of action can I take?, is there an authority I can approach?

It's worth noting that our lease expired in August of 04 and this idiot hasn't bothered to send us a new lease to renew our contract.

I'd really like some advise, aside from wandering in and hitting the pig****er.

Lump

No offence, it's like that Peter Kay sketch. We arrived on our holiday and gave our kids a bath, the water smelled of poo..... the hotel said it was the time of year, Our rep didn't want to know about it. After 3 days we were washing our own children in shít. GO HOME!!!!!


I'll say the same to you..... MOVE HOUSE!!!!

John.

P.S Apoligies if I got the lines wrong.

mycroft

Lump wrote:

No offence, it's like that Peter Kay sketch. We arrived on our holiday and gave our kids a bath, the water smelled of poo..... the hotel said it was the time of year, Our rep didn't want to know about it. After 3 days we were washing our own children in shít. GO HOME!!!!!


I'll say the same to you..... MOVE HOUSE!!!!

John.

P.S Apoligies if I got the lines wrong.

Its a little more complex than that John, no offence. Theres the damage to her health our clothes. Plus a planned move to london in the near future, going through the hassle and expense of moving as couple is not as simple as lugging your three rucksacks to white city, to whatever place you want.

Lump

Yea, I understnad, sorry about my smart arsed comment. I'd advise you to go to see a lawer, ask them what the story is. Do you have a lease agreement? It should state in that that the landlord is responsible to keep the flat in good repair. If you can photograph the damage etc, Might not be possible since you cleaned it up, I'm sure you take it to small claims court.... not much help for your GF's illness but maybe something. Is there a citizens advice group in Ireland? They're great in the UK normally can advise you on all that sort of stuff, you could try looking into that.

When are you moving to London? And leave white city alone.... It's a lovely part of the globe

John

Imposter

Talk to someone regarding your rights and where you stand, like threshold .
Cancelling your standing order may get you into more trouble than it's worth. Plus you will likely lose any deposits you have on the place. So talk to someone who knows what rights you have and then plan your next action.

Victor

This level of dampness would appear inconsistant with a one-off flood and points to greater problems - possibly including condensation and the stated lack of ventilation - but I suspect it isn't limited to that.

You are entitled to and you landlord is obliged to provide a residence fit for habitation - persistant damp and mold is contrary to this.

Try the Private Residential Tenancies Board in Canal House in Ranelagh (at the canal bridge).

http://www.oasis.gov.ie/housing/renting_a_flat_or_house/private_residential_tenancies_board.html

Don't cancel the rent just yet, it would put you in a worse position.

Etain

Document everything you can in case you do seek legal recourse. Take photos of anything in the apartment with visible signs of mold. Record the dates of conversations with the landlord about the situation. Keep copies of all medical fees. Record the dates of missed work and any lost wages.
I hope your girlfriend is better very soon.

mycroft

So to update, contacted threshold over the weekend and did a little digging on their site.

I e-mailed threshold and also found out about the newly set up private residency tenant board. Called the board and e-mailed threshold. Threshold responded back by mid monday afternoon with a mail detailed how damp is caused and the name and number of my EHO.

The PRTB took my details and promised to call me back. In the interium I contacted my landlord mentioned the PRTB and within two hours he's called back promising to drop over a dehumidifier, and while the room is being painted next week the bed will be replaced and the carpet cleaned.

I offically like both threshold and PRTB......