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Condensation


Cleaver

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Please can someone help? My tenant complained of damp/mould on the 14th oct, we immediately responded and even though it was lifestyle condensation we had dry master ventilation system installed early December, she's now reported us to the council about the matter!! She is always late with the rent and we'd like to give notice. I feel out of my depth :(

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I'm not quite sure exactly what you need help with.

* If the condensation was due to the tenants lifestyle why install a 'master ventilation system' ?

* If the tenant is always late with the rent why have you not taken action to get rid of the tenant before now ?

* Just serve a section 21 notice or ask your agents to do it for you.

Comments assume the tenancy is

An AST,

You are in England or Wales,

You have protected the deposit in one of the  Gov't approved schemes,

You have issued the prescribed deposit  information and

* If the tenancy started after October 2014 you have complied with all the new rules that came into affect at that date.

 

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Thank you for your replies. 

We installed the ventilation system to help protect the property. We fully intended to serve notice this month but am now worried with this hanging over us that the notice will be invalid. I emailed the council letting them know exactly all the maintenance work we had done.  Yes the deposit is protected but we were late protecting it :( think I'm going to use a professional eviction company. 

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If the E/H from the council visit the property they will likely just confirm the problem is normal condensation and caused by the lifestyle of the tenant such as not ventilating and drying clothes within the property. If they think it is something else than you need to get it fixed.

If the tenant is paying the rent every month but just late (but still being paid) I wouldn't rush into giving notice, why not find out the reason? It could be down to their wage pay day and if so you could just agree to have an unofficial arrangement that the rent is paid on a different day. This will be a lot cheaper than evicting the tenant.

If we assume the mould problem is tenant caused and only in certain areas of the property one solution which we have found helps is to treat the mould, then paint with Dulux bathroom anti mould paint. It doesnt stop the condensation but does stop the mould. I now paint my properties and ones I manage top to bottom with this product (mainly flats) and it works wonders.

There is no reason for the notice to be invalid at this stage. If the last tenancy signed was after oct 2015 the notice you need is a section 21 6A and is easy to fill out, and serve 2 copies, one by hand and one by proof of postage. You will need to make sure the EPC, Gas cert, and the latest version of the "how to rent" has been given to the tenant before serving notice.

If 2 months rent is owed by the tenant also serve separately a section 8 using grounds 8,10 & 11 

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Thank you for your replies. 

We installed the ventilation system to help protect the property. We fully intended to serve notice this month but am now worried with this hanging over us that the notice will be invalid. I emailed the council letting them know exactly all the maintenance work we had done.  Yes the deposit is protected but we were late protecting it :( think I'm going to use a professional eviction company. 

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Thank you Grampa for your helpful reply. We do want to give notice though as till recently the tenant was on full housing benefit and still couldn't pay on time. One reason we didn't give notice was the fact that it did always come in a week later. Though she has now moved her bf in without permission and is pregnant with s 4th child putting yet more financial strain on herself. We have always responded to any repairs to be done immediately and we only installed the dry master last month and feel she is out of order going to the council. I suggested to my husband we respond to her email informing the council by offering to clean the mould and decorate with a special paint but he won't hear of it but I think it will help our case. 

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