Hi

up until July of 2009 I lived in a housing association property in East Sussex, I am a stroke victim with a heart condition and I was advised by my doctor to move away from where I lived in order to get the peace and quite I needed to help me recover, The housing association could not find me suitable alternative accomadation fast enough so my husband and I decided to go private. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif)

Rents are high in the south so we had to look further north, We found a place on the internet which was advised on a well known property site and contacted them.

We told them that due to my condition it would be impossible for me to travel 200 miles to view the property so the agent agreed to give me all the information I required and did it all by email!! You do not expect to get shafted by an agent.

Upon arriving the property was nice, We had no-one around us to disturb our peace,
The place looked nice apart from a few bubbles noticed in the paintwork on the stairs and a few small cracks on the hallway ceiling, anyway we were here and it was to late to turn back.

3 weeks into our stay my first floor bedroom window fell out after I heard a ripping sound, The landlord came and replaced the window after I had to have it boarded up for three days. We then started to notice other cracks.......... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/angry.gif)

Each time we notice something we reported it to the agent, who reported it to the landlord, who did NOTHING.

We were told it was a quite road but turned out to be an A road, The traffic is relentless 24/7. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

I had spent three months unpacking all my boxes, putting things on shelves as you do, I then picked up something from the shelf and found it to be soaking wet just two days later!!, This was happening all over the house, I spent the next three months packing my stuff back into boxes, During this time my husband had to give up his bedroom in the back due to a seriously leaking old chimney, waking with his hair soaking wet and discovering mold all over his pillows, We had to vacate this room, reported it and nothing was done. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/angry.gif)

We asked the agent to arrange a meeting with the landlord so we could sort this out but he was not interested, he then left us without heating for three weeks in the thick of the winter ( he had removed the flue from a faulty boiler)

The house retains no heat at all anyway as there is pourous bricks and rising damp in every room!! I was wearing my hat coat and gloves in the house for 8 out of the 12 months we have been here

The cracks got bigger and bigger and water was pouring into the living room and extension every time it rained, The shower started leaking through the downstairs ceiling, Still he did nothing.

I have hundreds of photographs.

I was getting scared for our safety so had no choice but to call in the council for help and advice, We had paid our rent £800 a month on time and in full the whole time and still are. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

The council slapped four hazard one notices and many others on the landlord for disrepair and still he did nothing, he did not even appeal!!, he has not even said sorry!!

There was no nowhere left to store our belongings so we had to move ourselves mostly out into the extension (that is attached to an old barn and has no planning permission) which WAS the driest place in the house, It has since started leaking badly, I lost many of my memories and belongings due to the damp and mold and now I was losing more through water, I have since had to repack all the boxes I packed
before because they were all wet.

The final straw came last Tuesday when our toilet in the extension blocked and
while trying to unblock it discovered sewerage raging onto the floor in the extension
from an outside drain fitted inside the extension. moving towards what was left of my belongings, It had already soaked part of our sofa so we turned it on its side to create a kind of dam to stop it going any further, Apparently there is a septic tank, which we were told did not need emptying (we had never had a septic tank before so did not know anything about them) Anyway they came on Thursday to empty it and came on Saturday to clean up the mess.....We had already done that ourselves because there was no way we could have left that mess with all that bacteria. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

These are just some of the problems here, When I sent a message to the landlord via the agent telling him I would be claiming for my sofa which was now in the yard, his reply to me was to issue me with two months notice, He sent this three times!!.

HE SAYS HE WANTS TO MOVE BACK INTO THE PROPERTY!! EVEN THOUGH HE ALREADY HAS A RESIDENCE??

Needless to say I am taking him to court but that is not going to help us in the meantime, We need to find somewhere to live as the last year has been a complete nightmare, At 61 years of age I should not be keep moving around, I was lucky to survive the winter, I would not have survived another in this house.

We have been looking to find a stand alone property but having no luck and the stress is affecting us both.

Do you think I have a good case against this landlord and agent? I will need to move on October 16th and will not be able to have the stress of sitting it out and there is no way I will even consider going back into social housing, so what are my options here?

Any advice will be much appreciated. The picture shown is of a blister that appeared on our living room wall and is one of many.
Thank you for reading

This post has been edited by Elvis Presley: 17.8.2010, 10:13