advice required for tenant.

[flyingterrier]

Hello all,

This is my first post so please bear with me. I hope I have put this in the right section, as I am a tenant and not indeed a landlord, I was hoping as those in the know that you could offer me some advice.

I have recently moved into a top floor apartment, about two days ago in fact. I completed the inventory highlighting to the estate agent any problems in the living area of the flat. the flat has an attic as it is top floor, however this did not feature on the inventory. What did feature on the inventory were the sunken lights in the roof of the bathroom, which were not working. I rang the estate agent to inform them of this (as it is a managed property) and true to their word they sent an electrician round to replace the lights and an extractor fan in the bathroom....

Now the problem I have is as this, when the electrician left I noticed what looked like small lumps of white/brown plaster on the bathroom floor, I got round to sweeping them up and noticed that there were small husks of insects embedded in the 'plaster' not to mention what looked suspiciously like bird droppings, in fact quite a prolific amount (about 10 droppings after an area no bigger than a cigarette packet was exposed to replace the extractor fan and light fitting.) I decided that I would ascertain the source of these droppings, so the first port of call was up in the loft. To say that I was disgusted is an understatement, The loft is literally caked in bird droppings and a whole menagerie of dead insects (I'm talking thousands. The insulation is full of it and underneath the insulation is pretty disgusting too). My skin is crawling literally sitting here as I type the email knowing the extent of the bird sh!t above me. Not to mention I have eaten from the cooker who's extractor fan pipe is sitting amongst this contaminated insulation.

What I want to know is this;

1) What solutions are available for cleaning up the droppings/loft in general?
2) What are my legal rights with regards to the above, I'm pretty sure it is in breach of environmental health regulations.
3) What is the best course of action to pursue?
4) What can I reasonably expect as a renting tenant?
5) any other thoughts

I am at my wits end with renting, I feel disappointed and pretty upset about the state of the loft as until I discovered the state of the loft, the place was shaping up quite nicely, I spent over £700 on things to make my new place beautiful and now it feels 'tainted' if you understand what I mean. I am literally heartbroken that what I thought was my perfect place has gallons of crap and detritus resting on the panels 3 feet above my head. Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Flying terrier

[westminster]

This forum is for landlords and tenants.

I can't see any breach of contract in this; even if there were a breach, it wouldn't entitle you to end the contract.

Contact the managing agent firstly, and if you get nowhere, contact the Environmental Health Officer at the local council.

Bear in mind that it is possible that the loft area is not owned by your landlord and is the responsibility of the freeholder/block owner. It's also very likely the agent has never looked in the loft (why would he?) so is completely unaware of its condition, so don't assume he has been deceitful (that goes for the landlord, too - from the sound of it, no-ones been up in the loft for quite some time).

[flyingterrier]

Hi thanks for your swift reply,

Its not so much that I want to end the contract, to be honest with you up until about an hour ago I was pleased as punch with the place, I guess I have just managed to scare myself by reading the potential health implications, that and its kind of taken the shine off what was otherwise a perfect place.

Fair point about the landlord and indeed letting agent, i'm just hoping for a positive solution when I contact them, so thanks for your input.

Flying terrier :-P

[flyingterrier]

So I have contacted the letting agent, I was kind of fobbed off and told 'the woman who deals with your property is on holiday', I explained the situation and they said they would 'look into getting it sorted', which for me isn't good enough, as far as Im concerned the place feels uninhabitable. I took pictures and actually went into the estate agents, who then agreed it was 'pretty bad' they have now contacted the building management company but again there seems to be a lack of urgency, any ideas?

Oh I forgot to mention, I am pretty sure that they were aware of a bird problem beforehand and a recent one at that. When I went into the estate agents and the guy was speaking to the management company he said 'I believe you have spoke to my colleague previously about a bird problem at (my address)'. I questioned him on this and received a very vague answer that 'the property did have a bird problem... but that was earlier this year'. So there is no way on earth that they didn't know about the sh!t in the loft. yet they sat there and let me sign a contract.... Is there any way whatsoever that I can just cut my losses and negotiate a way out of this? I have only been living here 4 days, but would never have even gone near the place if I was made aware of the state of the loft.

What they seem to forget is that at 5:00pm they shut the office and its forgotten about, but for me its my home and I have to live here with this.... its making me so unhappy its untrue, yet nobody seems to be doing anything.

[westminster]

Is there any way whatsoever that I can just cut my losses and negotiate a way out of this? I have only been living here 4 days, but would never have even gone near the place if I was made aware of the state of the loft.

What they seem to forget is that at 5:00pm they shut the office and its forgotten about, but for me its my home and I have to live here with this.... its making me so unhappy its untrue, yet nobody seems to be doing anything.

I refer you to my previous comment.

I can't see any breach of contract in this; even if there were a breach, it wouldn't entitle you to end the contract.

Contact the managing agent firstly, and if you get nowhere, contact the Environmental Health Officer at the local council.

The EHO may serve notice on whoever owns the loft (either your landlord or the block owner) ordering them to clean it up.

The only alternative is to ask your landlord whether he will agree an early surrender.

Meanwhile, remember that it is a solvable problem, and the mess can be cleaned up, so try not to get too depressed about it.