Since we’ve moved in we’ve had increased allergies. This was manageable and we figured it was just something that’d be solved with good housekeeping.
It’s getting worse despite having to bring in more air purifiers than we’ve ever needed, and a dehumidifier.
It’s not unlikely we’re facing mold or insects, or something else I don’t even know about.
What are my next steps? I don’t mind having to hire an inspector out of pocket to get it done ASAP, but if it turns out there is an issue then I’d like to be reimbursed for it. Is that reasonable?
If it’s something with the flat/house that affects your health, your landperson (landlord/landlady) will have to fix it.
But the issue here is: Since it’s affecting your health, you need to get it done as soon as possible. However, if you simply pay for an inspector and then pay to get a problem fixed, it would be unreasonable to expect that your landperson will just reimburse all these costs. Another question is, of course, whether you caused/worsened the issue of whether it was out of your control since you’re saying that it wasn’t that bad when you moved in and got worse.
I would just talk to your landperson asap and hope that they’re reasonable and you can come to an agreement. Try to formulate it in a polite way without implicit accusations. Since you say that it wasn’t so bad in the beginning, I would give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that they aren’t aware of anything. But if you can’t get it fixed, moving would be your next best option. Staying at a place that destroys your health isn’t a good idea.
It’s not necessarily the case that the landlord would have to fix it. It depends on the cause and whether that falls within the landlord repairing obligations. The most common causes of allergies are things like dust mites, which would be a tenants responsibility.
Yes it is reasonable for the landlord/lady to reimburse but it depends on the cause. And Ryan should talk to the landlord/lady first, not just hire someone and only tell the landlord/lady afterwards.
There’s a mold issue growing from a poorly installed fixture that frankly I can’t tell you why it exists. It’s a box with a cable that was cut when we moved in, located in a bedroom. We don’t dry clothes in the bedroom, there’s really nothing we’ve done that would increase mold growth there.
Thanks for the advice. I’ve told the landlord and she’s claiming no knowledge even though we told the letting agent on move in. (Not surprising the letting agent is crap, sadly we didn’t put it in writing)
She’s going to have the fixture removed I’ll broach dealing with the mold afterwards.
If it ends up towards reimbursement - is there anything I should do to make it more valid? Do I need to get quotes from multiple places?
If the landlord doesn’t address the mould issue to establish the cause then you may be able to pay for it and deduct the cost from the rent, but there is no general provision for this. Shelter have a procedure that they believe works if followed to the letter and its on their website. Have a look at that.