User Profile

[AlexR]

At the outset your plan looks good...…. but stuff happens and that's why there are rules. The rules are there because you are 5 individuals who may all have partners, individual schedules, cooking requirements , bathroom timetables etc and that uses a house in a different way . At some time the...

[AlexR]

To deal with condensation you need to think about heat and ventilation. Both the bathroom and kitchen are major generators of moisture and in the bathroom you should fit a high quality extractor fan that operates automatically when the moisture level is high, and make sure the radiator is working. In...

[AlexR]

I am probably thinking of the Accommodation for Students site...

[AlexR]

Do I recall about 6-8 years ago James instigated his own property inspection and registration scheme....was it done through UNIPOL ? I remember having an email discussion about me being registered with the Local Authority and member of the NLA (which requires a certain level of CPD) not being sufficient...

[AlexR]

There is a book called 'The Rising Damp Myth' by Jeff Howell in which he argues the case very convincingly...

[AlexR]

Because you tried that last year and its back again! Unfortunately there is no one 'expert' who can help - they only deal with their own area of specialisation. You need to look at the whole picture yourself and take a view.

I had damp issues in many Victorian terraced houses and each case...

[AlexR]

Your instincts are correct in that it won't be the DPC - you need to look at roof,chimney flashings,gutters and the gable end wall. I owned an end terrace house with a similar problem with tenants complaining about mould growing on clothes, walls etc and black patches on the walls.

The...

[AlexR]

This is something that could have been solved by the tenant. When the tenant reported the fault you can ask them to look at the water pressure on the boiler and if below 1.5 bar ( at which point the boiler automatically shuts down)top up with the cold water feed. Some systems are prone to this happening...

[AlexR]

There are Landlords Associations who have meetings where you can learn all of the latest legislation, have specific talks from relevant speakers and you can network with other landlords. They also have websites and forums. Unfortunately even small landlords are in fact treated like a business and are...

[AlexR]

There are some written guidelines by the Homestamp consortium https://homestamp.com
Once on their site I would look at the downloads page and specifically the LACOURS guidance. You will also find guidance for fire protection and escape routes; you can download ' A Guide to Fire Protection in Multi-Occupied...

[AlexR]

After you have vacant possession your first visit to the property and your first impressions will tell you what to do. You probably have a good idea already but the house will usually need a good clean and update. I would be working out what budget is available and who will oversee the work required....

[AlexR]

You have given a couple of clues as to what may be going on here but advice has to be limited because of lack of background information,

Firstly, as the landlord says the room is still damp then he must know that it was damp and have an idea what caused it. If he knows what has caused it...

[AlexR]

This service is offered by many boiler manufacturers and is useful if you have a problem that a general heating engineer cannot fix . The deal is you pay the fixed price which guarantees that the boiler would be fixed whatever the problem turns out to be- even if it turned out to be a trivial fix such...

[AlexR]

If the reference is answered honestly then it is up to the new landlord as to how the information provided is interpreted whether its good enough for them. If they go then you have one problem less.

[AlexR]

As you are letting the rooms yourself you decide what is the best background checks to make for the type of tenants you wish to have in your house. If you are taking out tenant rent insurance you will need to comply with their terms but the main area that I checked were:

1. Employed - take...

[AlexR]

I bought a small device about the size of an alarm clock which I used in these situations - but it wasn't remotely operated. When using these devices it is probably more useful to have the relative humidity in various areas of the house so that you can isolate any areas of the dwelling differing from...