No ventilation in Living Room

General Chat
1

I am wondering how much i can oush our Landlord to fix this issue.

We moved in March 2022, August we noticed the sliding patio doors were dodgy, they would shut and lock however the bottom helf would not catch resulting in a major draft. The door often fell of the rails at the top end meaning for us to call family over to help put it back up.

This was reported for over a year and nothing happened.

Then last year we had a leak from the roof thankfully this was fixed within a week of reporting (relevance will be clear later)

After a year of trying to get something sorted with the back door it was raised again.

Shortly before Christmas 2023 a handy man came round and said our options was to “seal it or leave it with a draft as the landlord had forked out for a new roof so won’t pay for new patio doors”

We have a special needs son, and at the time a 15 month old so getting rid of the cold was priority number 1 so we agreed to seal it.

Now fast forward to july. The living room is reading at over 30°c, there is no other means of ventilation as a result mould has started to grow on the curtains. Our nearest fire escape is the front door however our kitchen attaches to the hallway leading this so a fire there would prevent access to both the front and alternative back door.

I am wondering if there is any law or regulation that requires the landlord to actually fix the door? Even just bricking it up to put a window in that can open and close is good enough for us. We just need a way for the air to escape.

We do not have the money to move elsewhere, council list is ridiculous so we are truly stuck here.

Thank you for any advice :heart:

2

Yes there is a requirement to have adequate ventilation and to regulate excess heat and cold and a means of escape under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System. If there are no alternatives for this room, then I would suggest you make a formal request to the landlord in writing. If he refuses, you have the option to ask the Council environmental health officer to inspect. They have the power to force the landlord to comply.

3

If you can wait a few months Labour is supposed to end no-fault evictions so you’ll be on stronger ground to complain.

4

The letter to the landlord first will make any subsequent s21 notice invalid under retaliatory eviction legislation until the problem is solved.

5

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