Tenant moved in about 6 weeks ago and there’s been one issue after another…none are the tenants fault, more a case of things just naturally failing I think, combined with the house being empty for a fairly long period of time, but it’s frustrating for me and the tenants thst it seems to all be happening together.
Anyway, the latest issue is the tenant contacted me last week to say that one of the showers is leaking through the ceiling (there is another shower in the house but that one is downstairs). We got someone out on Friday to take a look and he said it was leaking from being the shower so needed to remove a section of the plasterboard on the other side of the wall to fix it.
He’s gone back today to do the work, and on cutting a section of the plasterboard out has discovered the inside of the wall is covered in black mould from the water being inside the wall. The plumber has said the plasterboard on both sides of the wall needs to be completely replaced as it’s soaked through and that involves removing the shower, removing the tiles on the shower side and then re-tiling once done.
We’ve asked the plumber for a quote and a timescale and waiting for him to get back to me. His priority is to stop the leak for now.
The tenant has stated that he cannot live in the house while the work is going on and while there is black mould as it’s a health risk, and has said he is going to have to stay in a hotel.
I’m just wondering what you guys/ladies would do in this situation (as a landlord).
If the property isn’t habitable then normally the tenant can stop paying rent but you not liable for the repair bill unless leak has been reported and you’ve not fixed in a timely manner. Black mold is a health risk so would depend on extent of it for it to be uninhabitable.
I have had similar where a new tenants have lots of issues, for me it was down to previous tenant never reporting anything and not new tenants fault. You could consider a goodwill payment dependent on the details.
Sounds like you need to get fixed asap, some tradesmen are very booked up so if your regular plumber cant do in a good timescale consider using a different one.
100% it’s not the tenants fault and I have no ill feeling towards them, etc. Moreso feel bad for them that all these issues are occurring.
It definitely could be a case of previous tenants not reporting anything but with this leak, there was no visible signs of a leak until last week. Tenant has presumably been using the shower for 4 weeks or so before any signs of a leak so it has come as a surprise, especially as it appears the shower has been leaking for some time.
Obviously we intend to get this fixed as a matter of priority and if we have to, will go in and rip the wall out etc ourselves. Our maintenance guy is usually very good though and will hopefully fit it in as an emergency job.
Are you claiming on your insurance? If so, there may be an option to cover temporary accommodation for the tenant.
Its hard for us to know whether the property is habitable during the work or not, but the presence of black mold that is now being treated/removed should not make it automatically uninhabitable if the area can be avoided. If thats the case, I would offer a rent reduction of somewhere between 50% and 100% for the days the work is being done. The tenant can yhen decide if he wants to get a hotel.
No, I’m not able to claim on the insurance. Well possibly am able to, but think it will be a bit suspicious as the policy only started last week (I was waiting for my original policy to end before getting a new one with a new insurer).
Either way, the policy does specifically say that it doesn’t cover alternative accommodation and to be honest, I don’t think they would say alternative accommodation would be necessary in the circumstances.
The mould is in the wall between the master bedroom and the en-suite. The wall has been re-sealed while we are waiting for the materials to arrive, and we are having the entire wall rebuilt (it’s only about 2m wide), the floorboards beneath the shower replaced, shower boards fitted, new shower (keeping original shower enclosure), and then the wall on the bedroom side skimmed and painted. The builder has estimated it will take 4 days in total, and is costing us nearly £3k including the work already done to stop the leak.
Please don’t get caught out like we did. The agent told us we had to pay for accommodation during repairs. We paid thousands before we realised we only had to stop taking rent. Following this the tenant tried to claim compensation for the disruption it caused them. Just don’t go there. Just stop taking rent and tell them to find other temporary accommodation at their own expense. I bet they find a way to stay put!
Agree with the others…if standard Openrent contract then if the property is uninhabitable then it is either they stop paying rent, or you pay to house them. Not both.
A difficult one, not knowing the full extent of the damage and the inconvenience to the tenants’ habitation.
Very unfortunate timing on the new tenants and I do feel they maybe should be given some consideration on their rent in compensation for their disturbance.
However, must move into a hotel sounds a bit overzealous, and needs to be tempered with the state of the actual circumstances. The black mould will no doubt be removed as soon as the old boards are removed and the leaks attended to, albeit a load of inconvenience and mess, does it really preclude them from being able to live in the house?
I have a tenant who is suffering the removal of half his kitchen ceiling when a moronic plumber ripped it down searching for a leak before having the ““common”” sense to investigate the flat above where he eventually found the leak under a kitchen sink above…!! The tenant has made no such demands.
Would it be an option to offer a free period - so no rent to be paid until the shower area is fixed. This would seem a goodwill gesture on the basis there seems to have been a few issues and also means you don’t get stuck with having to go back to paying council tax and utility bills. If it were me I would try to reach some middle ground and get the repair done as fast as possible (but done correctly of course).
If the initial leak has been repaired then the black mould can be instantly eradicated by putting some THIN bleach into a spray bottle and spraying it around inside the partition walls.
After that’s sorted then it would be a good idea to wait for the partition walls to dry out to see if they really do need replacing. The drying out process can sped up using a low energy electric dehumidifier.
The problem is, there’s no reason the tenants can’t use the rest of the house. The ‘affected area’ is one wall less than 2m wide, granted in the master bedroom, but it’s a 4 bedroom house with two adults and a small child living there. The repair is also costing a significant amount of money (after already spending a large sum of money last month on appliances (one of which ended up not being needed) but we’ve taken the tenants word for things, acted instantly in each case, and it’s just a fact that with houses, whether you’re renting or owning, things break and need fixing from time to time. If you, as a tenant make a decision to go stay somewhere else, it’s not the landlords job to pay for that.
I am also concerned that if I offer a free period or money to cover alternative accommodation now, it sets a precedent for anything that happens in the future and I don’t want that to be the case.
The guy we got in to fix the leak (who we know fairly well so trust) has said that the plasterboard is wet through to a point that he was surprised the tiles on the bathroom side hadn’t fallen off. He was concerned that if he started to rub the mould to clean it off, the plasterboard would disintegrate.
I also don’t feel that the tenant would allow the time needed to dry the wall out properly to ‘see if that’s sufficient’ and that would likely exasperate his argument that he can’t live there while the mould is there.
I should say, I don’t have an issue with paying to get things fixed, and with doing it properly. The property maintenance guy recommended replacing the stud wall, and that is in the tenants best interest so while it’s a painful blow, I’ll swallow it, but there will also need to come a point where I feel like the tenant and I are going to have to have a conversation about what is reasonable. So far, we have done everything with minimal fuss and almost immediately. That’s not always going to be possible but the tenant isn’t necessarily going to like that.
The same with his request for us to pay for him to stay in a hotel, I personally don’t feel that’s reasonable when we’ve acted with urgency in getting the repair done, probably at a premium due to the short notice and not having the opportunity to get multiple quotes for the work, etc.
When you spray concentrated bleach on black mould there is no rubbing involved. The mould just disappears a few minutes after you spray it. If the plasterboard is made of gypsum, which is what plasterboard is usually made of, then it is unlikely to disintegrate, and will dry out with no problem. The fact that the tiles haven’t fallen off is a good sign. Mainly because the tile ADHESIVE will disintegrate when exposed to damp.
Replacing a whole stud wall seems extreme, and it sounds like your tenant is trying to take advantage of you.
if timber is damp and not allowed to dry out ,dry rot can start and that is much worse. Hence to cut out wet timber and replace right away is a quicker ,safer job
I used wet rot wood hardener (correctly) in a similar situation, about 25 years ago, on a rental property which I still own, and haven’t had any problem since. Although, I do agree that if ‘dry rot’ has taken hold then the floor timbers will need replacing.