# Tenant's rights? Rising damp, mould and other problems. Terminate lease early?



## PaulyB63 (27 Jul 2009)

Hi All,

My wife and I moved into a house in Mayo about 5 months ago now. 

There were some basic issues with the place that we decided to ignore and move in anyway with a view to remedying them. 

They were, a heavy smell of cigarette smoke in a number of rooms and a bland and depressing colour scheme which we used extra lighting to lift.

Since then however, a number of other issues have arisen, namely a damp patch on 2 walls in 2 separate rooms with mould growing on them. One is in our kids room. 

The other thing is that there was carpet (Ugh... I know) in the main bathroom which began to smell really badly as soon as my kids began using the bath and splashing etc. I lifted this through necessity as it was mouldy beyond belief after we'd been away for a week. I laid a beautiful laminate floor in it's place which is much more fit for purpose!!

Anyway.... My query is, if the landlady decides not to sort out the rising damp issue, we don't want to stay and would wish to terminate the lease early.

What rights do we have in this area?

Thanks

P


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## PaulyB63 (28 Jul 2009)

Anybody got any ideas on this one? The other concern we have is that if this was a big problem, the disturbance of having builders etc. in would be too much for us as we have 2 small kids and we reallyt don't feel like sticking around while our landlady digs up floors and carpets etc....


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## Romulan (28 Jul 2009)

If its black mould growing, then its more likely to be a ventilation issue rather than damp.  Homebond do a good explanatory booklet on mould problems and I'd use that as a starting point.  The mould can be dangerous and should be addressed.

Good tenants are harder to find and hold on to these days so you are in a good position.  A good landlord should happily work with a good tenant to address these issues in both their interest.

Make sure you get landlords permission if changing flooring.  

Many landlords will work with you on the cost of repairs.


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## round1 (28 Jul 2009)

I suggest you check with the housing agency Threshold (www.Threshold.ie) with regard to your rights to terminating a lease when the rented premises is not being maintained to a proper standard by the landlord.


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## DB74 (28 Jul 2009)

There is some info on citizens information website in relation to tenants rights. It's a bit skimpy though and there doesn't seem to be much regulation for house which were first let prior to 01-Feb-09.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/housing/renting-a-home


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