joandmike

I have been a long time viewer and this is my first post since arriving in 2015, so hello everyone.

I have been living in NZ for just over two years (my husband is a Kiwi and returned after 21 years), we live in Whitby with our 15 year old darling daughter whilst the eldest opted to stay in the UK.

We have just moved into our second renta property and are in a real pickle. Our first house which we lived in for two years was great but the landlord wanted to sell. To cut a long story sideways we have ended up with a family home in a shocking state. The agent is next to useless and my husband has done a lot of the remedial work but we have still had electricians,window man, plumber, builder, pest controller and roof in over the two weeks we have lived here. However we have a terrible damp smell which my husband has discovered is actually under the house - the ground is soaking and so is the side of the house.

We will of course be trying to get this sorted with the agent and landlord but any advice from anyone who has experienced this would be greatly appreciated.

To say I am shocked at the state of houses is an understatement although I know from reading the ads on this site how ghastly they are. Strange that kiwis see them as a badge of honour !

Anyway, thanks in advance.

Jo

Stuck in Auckland

Is your house on a sloping section?

I had an experience in which the water was building up underneath the house on the lower external wall. The drainage was not working, so had to take in a jack hammer and drill some holes to allow the water to exit.

Not all properties have sufficient drainage and once its full further damage is done with dead animals and crap building up and further blocking.

I also returned in 2014 after 20 years and found it where time forgot

MrsFychan

how long is your contract??

put it in writing that until things are sorted so the property is habitable you are withholding the rent, make it clear that it will be in a separate account so once the work has been completed to your satisfaction then you will negotiate an amount you are willing to pay out of that rental costs for that time. I would also speak to the local CAB office and see if you can break the lease early because of the condition

joandmike

Our contract is for a year and we are two weeks in - we issued a S14 notice on the day we moved in and those items are slowly being sorted. However the agent told me on Tuesday that the landlord has no more money to make any repairs to the property ....

Will definitely call the CAB and the tenancy tribunal people.

We are definitely on a slope so could get my husband to see if he could improve the drainage!

joandmike

Thanks for the advice.

We are on a slope so will get my husband to investigate improving the drainage. It is so frustrating, the agent is happy to take her money but not really interested in our problems.

MrsFychan

please do not get husband to sort as its down to the owner and if you attempt to sort it may backfire.
Not your problem that he has no money its his duty to do so and I would check your tenancy agreement on timeline for this sort of thing.

Residential Tenancies Act 1986 No 120 (as at 18 October 2016), Public Act Contents – New Zealand Legislation

https://tenancy.govt.nz/starting-a-t...sponsibilities

garethwm

While you are waiting to sort out the drainage, I suggest running a couple of dehumidifiers, if you can. They will suck the moisture out. Hopefully in one or two weeks you will notice a difference.

Genesis

To be dealing with the issue here and now, to make your life more comfy, have you considered buying 2nd hand dehumidifiers? I had some in my last house. They are really good at sucking out the moisture eh?

I bought all mine 2nd hand, they work on the same principle as a fridge, thus are very simple and like fridges very reliable. Loads on Trademe. they are cheap to run, quiet and very, very efficient.