Since Covid many peoples sense of smell has diminished especially older persons. this may be a contributing factor to this ladies being oblivious to the issue.
Having old food festering or a pet in the property, alive or dead could be other reasons. either way time for the scheme manager to intervene and get to the bottom of this ladies issues in a compassionate way.
Thanks Chris,
To be honest, I’m now tired of being dormant in a smelly flat watching a can being kicked down the road by First Port and my Landlady as they casually take their time in asserting that the other is responsible for remedial action. The place stinks, it needs sealing off from the kitchen above and no-one has lifted a finger to act upon the obvious.
That is, except me - who has just ordered a set of ‘Moving Boxes and Bubble-Wrap.’ Once a new place is offered, it’s two months notice.
Hi Ray,
She, in herself, is pretty well presented and apparently clean. The problem is her hot flat and the concentrated intensity of her ambient air inside her rooms and her own natural body odour. It all ends up in my kitchen and lounge and by the time it arrives through the service shaft, it’s contaminated by the dust, residues and additional odours. In short, I have become tired, then gradually repulsed by being forced to breath someone else’s B.O. - in my own private rooms.
I just ordered packing items and I’m gone as soon as the market picks up. After all, it’s only two months notice now, so I don’t need to be tied to the original minimum tenancy term. Sad - but sometimes you have handle matters yourself.
1 Give notice, be sure you do it exactly right
2 give notice
3 give notice
4 report it to the council, they can smell an RRO from an even greater distance
5 i have a couple of properties still with firstport, fine upstanding people who put service before profit ( T/F?)
If there’s a few weeks before the date to give notice, I would give your landlady your findings and suggested solution (isolating the service shaft) and tell her you intend to give notice.
Maybe she’ll take it more seriously and get it fixed before you have to serve notice. If not, serve the notice.
Hmm 
Thanks for your reply, Candid, but I’ll ‘pass’ - on your comment praising First Port. In my brief, but too long experience of them they really are on a different level.
Thanks Peter,
I currently await the communication from First Port being emailed to the Landlady confirming their opinion that the problem is her responsibility. 
I had intended to await her response and then prompt her into remedial action. Unfortunately, it appears that she’s happy playing ‘responsibility tennis’ with First Port - but, of course, more than happy to bank my on-time rent payments.
I’ve begun looking elsewhere now, but need to evaluate the loss in paid rent upon moving because Landlords aren’t going to keep their properties vacant for two months while awaiting notice being served elsewhere under the new Tenant’s Rights Act - permitting two months notice at any time. As usual, the tenant will be the one out of pocket in legitimately leaving a sub-standard property because they’ll need to move pretty quickly - whereby needing to pay two rents as notice from one takes its course.
The market hasn’t settled into this new timescale yet and I think it’ll take time to stabilise.
Just to check, is this England, Wales, Scotland or NI?
Actually in England under RRA it’s 2 months plus the time up to the day before the next rental period- so can be almost 3 months. As LLs cant guarantee a property will be available on a specified date before current tenants move out, they either have to take a risk on that or have to expect a longer void period, which costs them in rent. Both LLs and tenants lose out from notice periods of 2 months by default vs 1 months previously. But some tenants gain from not being tied in initially to 12m or 6m.
Worth discussing with your LL whether she’ll accept less than 2m and checking your contract- the 2m is simply the RRA default if not agreed otherwise. Explain that if she insists on 2m you’ll call the council environmental health officer in.
Best
When you check up on First Port I am staggered by the charges against them . The bad service and all the complaints.
Yes but do you think any such company gets rave reviews? Doubt it.
You are now able to give 2mths notice and leave.
There are multiple issues here.
1 your uncomfortable situation and you are paying for it!
2 ping pong between management, LL and FP
3 Health and safety
4 the neighbour upstairs situation
5 The situation will be played forward to new tenants
6 If an agent comes around whilst you are there for photos or you know its going up for rent again or sale, should you give notice , write to their offices with the problem. They will then have to notify all interested parties or be liable, plus it helps the next person.
Have you put in writing to the LL the situ, chain of events and given them 10 days to resolve ( appreciating how long it can take to get a workman)?
You can state they can argue ownership of the costs separately during or after the works completion, as you are suffering.
If the works are not complete or started within 10 days you will pay half rent or request paid accommodation whilst works are completed.
By getting workman in it will prove liability and photographs should be used to apportion responsibility.
We have had this in a similar way, in the end you can still be kind but notify the correct ‘parties’ of the situation.
The latest revisions to the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, (HHSRS) went live this week. One of the categories is “air pollutants” and so the local authority would have a duty to investigate the smell if requested.
Thanks David,
I’m confident I could persuade my LL (with a bit of ‘blackmail’ concerning publicity etc.) to agree on a one month notice period. She’s hardly in any moral position to decline.
Given that leaving is my preferred last resort, I tried a call to Environmental Health at Worcestershire CC yesterday and they said that they have no legal durisdiction over tenancies and their associated LL requirements.
They did, however, put me through to Wychavon DC - their Private Sector Housing Department - who were very attentive for quite a long time. They asked for an email with all communications with my LL to be attached, as well as addresses and contact details. While many of us have little faith in the Authorities nowadays, my call to Wychavon could well prompt a call or letter to my LL as a preverbial ‘boot-up-the-a**e’ - which, I think, she well deserves.
Thanks Brian,
After researching any available legal timescales for Private Landlords to carry out obligatory repairs, the rules are pretty vague and certainly open to interpretation where categorising problems are concerned. Typically, there is no extensive list of ‘faults and times to fix’ rules. The issue with my smelly kitchen could fit into a category concerning ‘suffering and uninhabitable’ - which is expected to be resolved with two weeks, I recall. My problem has been around ten weeks now.
I have contacted a County Council Environmental Healt Department and was forwarded to a District Council department for renting in the private sector - who sounded reasonably concerned. They requested full details and contacts etc. via email. I wait to see if anything comes of it.
Thank you very much.