Landlord issues & mold & ending things
5 answers /
Last post: 03/01/2024 at 9:12 pm
Hi, we've been moved to a 2 bed flat with support from the council (deposit) 2 months ago. Due to previous landlord wanting to sell I always paid my rent. We signed 2 years lease.
The flat has severe rising damp in my child's bedroom & when I raised it with the landlord & showed photos of a huge tide mark he was extremely rude, belittling & misogynistic towards me & blamed me for not opening the windows due to condensation!? We'd been here 1 week at that point. My child has since had to sleep on the sofa for 2 months!
My partner has tried drying the wall using dehumidifier & nothing is working. That whole side of the house needs damp proofing as the same wall for kitchen, mould behind kitchen cupboards & bathroom wall constantly wet.
We've since had plumbing issues tiny bits of loo roll can block the pipe.
The oven doesn't work properly. Kitchen window is falling apart & coming away from its frame.
We have awful noisy neighbours.
The mold & damp is really affecting my asthma & I'm on antibiotics again. The flat doesn't warm properly as the windows & damp walls cause no heat to stay in.
My partner is partly disabled & the cold really affects him, my child cannot sleep properly due to being on sofa & noisy neighbours until late.
The is a private rental through the council as there are no council houses. The woman who works for the council said the landlord is a close friend of hers & so I feel I cannot even complain to the council now!! A friend of mine got a council house in my village that I lived in for 10 years! I've had to move to a different town.
This is severely affecting mine & my family's mental health & me & my partner nearly spilt up over Christmas! I just don't know who I can turn to now I work full time & really hard to pay our expensive rent every month!
I know there is citizens advice but they would just tell me to contact the council.
I cry myself to sleep every night feeling worthless like I can't provide a proper home for my family! Whilst my friends have mortgages & their own homes, they are lucky the don't have to deal with landlords.
Work has also made me feel unappreciated & used so I'm currently looking for a new job after 15 years do a job I enjoy & am good at!
Sometimes I feel I should just end things at least my child & partner will have my pension payout to help them buy something better. The only thing keeping me here is my child!
Any advice on what to do to get me out of this place I don't want them to repair it I just want out I can't stand it! I feel so let down in a time if need by the council. Could I write to my local councillor?
I'd move to a different town but my child loves his school & has good friends.
Hi Joanna,
We've moved your thread into our drop-in clinic maternal mental health, so you can get the advice and support you need
Hi Joanna
I'm Catherine, one of the Parent Supporters here at Netmums. I can hear how tough and frustrating this is and I'm sure you are worried about how it is impacting on you and your family. There is some really useful information on the Citizen's Advice and Shelter websites - I'll link them here in case you want to explore this and contact them.
Repairs - damp - Citizens Advice
Repairs and housing conditions - Shelter England
Would you consider having a chat to your GP about this is affecting you all? They will be keen to support you but I wonder if they might also be able support you as you speak to the council? Contacting your local counsellor may also be a good plan as they may be able to advocate for you.
Hopefully some of our Netmums' community will be along soon to offer support but do come back to us, if you would to chat some more.
Best wishes
Catherine
Please don’t think they would be better without you . It’s not true x
This sounds awful - the place doesn’t sound fit for living in .
Report it - there must be somewhere Google reporting landlords . Council would be interested I am sure !
Sure they’ve tightened monitoring of living conditions since that little boy died from a chest infection caused by mould 🥲
Worst case , move - your son will soon adapt to a new school / friends etc
I'm sorry about your situation.
I'm not sure if you could call people with mortgages "lucky". I'm a single mother and my mortgage is currently 1,400 per month on just my single wage. (It was 850 per month last year). There is no housing benefit for people with mortgages, so i'm having to pay every penny of the mortgage by myself. I literally have no money left for food.
Secondly, i think the word "misogynistic" is terribly overused nowadays and it has lost it's meaning, because people use it to describe pretty much any situation / person they don't like. It sounds like your landlord is just rude and lazy. I'm not sure if he actually despises women in particular?
My advice would be to contact your councillor and include some photos. Document everything for evidence. Any contact with your landlord - make sure its either on text or email. Go to your doctor and explain that it's affecting your family's health.
Hope you get it sorted.
