"In 2016, I bought an apartment to live in. After living there through lockdown while working as a midwife at the local public hospital, my flatmate and I needed a bigger space and in Dec 2020, moved to a rental property, at which point I rented the apartment out to tenants.
In 2022, after 6 years with no issues in the property, I was made aware that mould had developed. I acted immediately to treat it by engaging a qualified tradesperson and supplying the tenants with a dehumidifier in the interim.
Over the period of May to January the mould issue was professionally treated five times and a professional ventilation unit was installed, during which time I made it clear to the tenants that they were able to break the lease with no penalties, all while trying to determine the cause of the mould and putting in place a permanent solution. Over the course of the tenancy, two separate instances of water ingress from the apartment above were identified and subsequently resolved.
Eventually it became clear that this issue was very complex and the property was not safe to live in. At this stage I advised the real estate agent to issue the notice to vacate out of concern for the tenants’ health and safety. The tenants vacated around 4 weeks after the NTV was issued, and I offered a backdated rent reduction to compensate for the situation.
All renters deserve basic living standards - that’s why, at every point in this scenario I acted quickly as I could to protect the health and safety of the tenants.
I did not take on any further tenants, and sold the apartment on June 2nd 2023, after I was able to ensure any issues had been fully resolved.
I can't stress enough that I never wanted to be a landlord. When I bought this property, it was my home. I always thought I would move back in, but for multiple reasons, I realised I would never live there again myself, and therefore made the decision to sell.
I am currently a renter and own no property. The housing system is broken, and I will keep fighting to fix it."
Roxane Ingleton
15 Oct 2024