So, where to start?
In June we viewed a very neat bungalow. It was dated, and the carpet was bad, needed paint, and the yard was overgrown, but the estate agents told us that if we took it the carpet would be cleaned/or replaced, yard cleaned up and possibly paint the inside of the house. We then agreed we would paint the house if they paid for it.
Come to move in day, we got here, and the gardeners were here cutting the grass, we then had to wait to get the keys cause the estate agents were not ready.
Finally get the keys and come back, the grass was cut, but they filled the green bin, and left all the other cuttings all over the yard, and no weeds were pulled. Open the door and we were absolutely disgusted at what we saw. The carpets were still dirty, and kitchen wasnt even cleaned, food in sink, crumbs on counter, newspaper on counters, glasses in cupboard, toothpaste in sink.
We went straight down to the estate agents and complained, we were told "We ran out of money from the damage deposit to clean" So we spent the entire day cleaning.
Get everything moved in the following week and get everything set up, go fire up the oil boiler and nothing, not a noise. Call estate agents, they say "We will let your landlord know" Nothing after a week so I call the estate agents again, and they say "Its been fixed" I complain and say it hasnt been fixed, so they finally send a guy out, and see that the oil tank is leaking, and fix it. Fire up the boiler and nothing! Call the estate agents, nothing happens, so we go in person, and they finally get the landlord to come over and bleed the lines. This is probably over a month. The boiler works for 2 hours, then dies, and wont work. Call the estate agents once a week for 2 months, and they finally send a repair guy out to fix it, 2 MONTHS after, he gets it going, and it dies hours later, over the next 2 months we call the estate agents over and over to get the guy to come back and fix it, its now fixed but only half the radiators work, its all a bit mediocre... Told the estate agents 2 weeks ago that the heat isnt perfect, and they said "We will let your landlord know" Still waiting...
As I mentioned above I agreed to paint the house... worked on it during all of the heating issues, the house has many layers of paint over paper... Start in our bedroom, and the roller pulls the paper off the wall and all I see is BLACK MOLD! I call the estate agents and they say "we will let your landlord know", waited a few days and called the landlord personally. He finally gets a guy out to look at it about a month later. It took about 3 months for him to come out and actually "fix" it. And now the mold is back, even worse then before (oh yeah, and my wife is nearly 16 weeks pregnant!) Call the landlord personally, and the estate agents, and tell them, nothing happens.
So we finally gave up and called the Enviromental Health last week, and they came around and said its unsafe for a healthy person to be living here, let alone a pregnant person. Mold is in our bedroom, and another bedroom actually has water running down the wall, ceiling covered in mold, bathroom all moldy. Told the landlord, and they sent the same guy back, and he tells me " Your landlord is cheap, and wont let me fix it properly"
Tomorrow the Health Dept is supposed to call the estate agents and talk to them and tell them that we don't have to stay until our contract is up, and that they have to let us out now. Also Enviromental Health said they want the house gutted and treated properly for damp and mold, they want new carpet, windows, and a new boiler/radiators before anyone else is allowed to move in.
And tomorrow the Doctor is giving my wife a letter saying he wants her out of the house immediatly, and wants us to take it to the council.
The people at work have told me since we have lived here around 5 months and the boiler has worked around 1 month of the tenancy that we should be asking for some rent money back, especially because one room is unusable... What do you guys think?
I hope this all makes sense!
Thanks!
